like putty in his hands

The last time I updated Chet's blog I mentioned the pottery class he was taking to build a chessboard he thinks is so cool. (It is.) He started those classes last Thursday. When we got there, Yodi and Sherry had a surprise for us. They told the owner of the store that he wasn't there the week before because he had beeninthe hospital, and told her about him being sick. She is a nurse, and feels that pottery would be a great form of therapy for Chet, and has given him a scholarship for all of the pottery classes and materials he needs. What an incredible gift!

So we sat down and got started. The first thing you learn to make are "pinch pots"- pieces sculpted by pinching the clay into shape.

We started by making simple little bowls.
Then Sherry showed Chet how to combine two pinch pot bowls to make a rattle.
Then she showed him some coiling techniques to practice making some of his chess pieces. By the end of the class, he had a whole plateful of clay pieces to bake. Beth had made little teeny tiny pinch pots that we turned into mushrooms, and we made some beads and an arrowhead with the scraps. We also made 5 different pawns. They crack me up. Sherry gave Chet homework this week, and asked him to spend some time drawing out what he would like his chesspieces to look like. These won't end up on his chesstable. And I am glad for that. I don't think I could play chess with them and keep a straight face.