VIDALIA — It was center stage and high drama at Donna Jones’ pottery studio Saturday morning.

Former Natchez artist in residence Lindsay Rogers took center stage, but all eyes were on her hands as she transformed balls of clay into works of art.

This was serious theater for the local potters who came to watch Rogers demonstrate her craft.

The audience sat transfixed watching each flick of a finger and twist of the wrist. The theater of pottery is made up of a series of small moves and positionings of the hands.

“Just watching her you can always see something,” local potter Jacque Stahlman said.

For some it was like witnessing that sudden moment of creation that kept there eyes fixed to the potter’s wheel.

“It’s almost like watching an oil painting being made,” local potter and instructor Robert Rasberry said. “Anyone can push a brush.”

But few can make a painting Rasberry said.

“To see this fluid motion which makes this maleable material change, well, after so many years it is still fascinating to me,” he said.