Now online: One of the most popular topics from the 2015 conference!  Few things are as important to a potter as their hands.  Check out Branfman’s article on pages 101-103 of the 2015 Journal, and view his session below.  NCECA would like to thank Allison Zimmer Guiliotis for her video editing work on this session!

As you manipulate mud on the wheel your hands sense and send signals to your brain.  moisture, texture, temperature, and thickness.  The hands’ unique abilities are carefully orchestrated by a precise amalgam of arteries, nerves, tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles encased within a specialized envelope of skin and fascia.  The hand comprises only 1% of the body’s surface area, yet of the human skelton’s 206 bones, over 25% of them are contained within the hand and wrist.

-Gary S Branfman, MD FACS