Does Anyone Make Pottery??

[AndyL]

I'm curious. :?: Are there any pottery or ceramic hobbiests in the community here? :?:

[Moley]

I probably should get into it, since I buy so much pottery and love it so. The only thing I ever did which came close to ceramic painting was painting and firing a bisque doll head as part of a doll club project. It gave me an appreciation how delicate and vulnerable the stages are from forming to final baking. Lots can go wrong.

Tell us some more of your interest, Andy. :)

[AndyL]

Moley, I take classes in pottery at our local community college. I don't have the space for a home studio to install kilns or major studio equipment so it's a Godsend. They have a reduction gas kiln there and several electrics I can fire in. To tell the truth I really enjoy the workshop atmosphere there. There all levels of students there from newbies to people who have been in it MANY years so you learn a great deal thru observation. Basicly I'm more of a handbuilder when I make pottery. I rarely work on the wheel. I find I can do more things sculpturally that way http://www.pixhost.com/pixa/aslasl/test-ex-pinch-planter.jpg I'll also do glaze testing ocasionally for the college. (I'm up to about 150 glazes so far) :wink:

[Moley]

Andy, that is beautiful! I love the color. Wonder if any other members do this, too. It is certainly a fascinating and expressive craft. Thank you for sharing! :)

[WillCAD]

I did a little bit of pottery in a craft class back in high school, but I haven't done any since. I never did master the wheel, although I made a few nice free-form pieces. My mom still has one that I gave her.

[AndyL]

The nice thing about pottery/ceramics is you really don't need to do the wheel. For most of ceramic history everything was handbuilt using pinch, coil and slab techniques. You don't even really need a kiln either since you can just as easily fire in metal trashcan, fireplace or BBQ if you use a clay designed for those temperatures.

[Esmerelda]

Andy,

That is absolutely beautiful! I hate to admit I have absolutely no talent or confidence with anything remotely artistic. One of my favorite things about this site though is getting to experience the talents of others. I would love to see more!

At what age do you think children can take beginning pottery lessons?

[AndyL]

Esmerelda, thanks for the compliment. If you go to this site look for the mask titled Anza. http://www.lightonecandle.com/clayartgallery.html

The age to start a child in pottery? I'd say the earlier the better 3 or 4 years maybe. Give a child clay and you'll be amazed how fearless they can be. You can start them off with play dough, air dried clay or oven (kitchen) fired clay now and when they get a bit older kiln fired clay since they'll need to learn some simple precautions about clay thickness and not trapping air in a piece. A good teacher will make that understandable.

[BetsyAnn]

Hi Andy!

What a great question! What beautiful pieces!

I did some pottery back in college! I loved the feel of the clay. It was one of the most relaxing classes I ever took!

Thanks for recalling those memories for me!

[Esmerelda]

Oh my gosh! That mask was absolutely splendid. You must have the patience of a saint. My daughter just turned seven and they have an offering of pottery classes at a local studio. It is so tempting-I absolutely love to "view" the art, but hopefully she might actually have some talent.
Thanks again for sharing :-)

[dvcreg]

You're very talented. Thank you so much for sharing your creations.

My DD is going to Alfred U in the fall. It's known for it's ceramics program. We've visited twice and I'm always in awe of the amazing work that the students produce.

I'm looking forward to some really nice homemade Christmas presents over the next 4 years. :wink:

[AndyL]

My daughter just turned seven and they have an offering of pottery classes at a local studio.

Esmerelda, I think your DD will really enjoy the lessons. Children never seem to have limits when it comes to ceramics as far as their ideas go. If the instructor is good they'll let that potential take flight. If your town or county library has a ceramic/pottery area let me recommend two early reading books for youngsters on pottery to look for, Ceramics By Slab and Ceramics By Coil. There's lots of ideas in each that are simply explained and illustrated.

[Esmerelda]

Andy, thanks for the book recommendations-we will certainly check them out. My daughter is developmentally delayed, but she would love the pictures. It is amazing to me though, how much creativity she has and it seems to me that with pottery or ceramics, you don't have the exact fine motor coordination that you have to have with drawing, or am I totally off base? Her art teacher at school is outstanding and I was totally shocked at some of Elayna's creations.

[AndyL]

Esmeralda, I have a mild palsey that affects my coodination. I don't have fine control of my hands among other problems. It's one of the reasons I got into pottery.....for therapy. She'll do fine with this.

[Esmerelda]

Thanks for your patience with my endless questions and of course, thanks for sharing pictures of your masterpieces with us. Your talent is something to be proud of. I am going tomorrow to sign my daughter up for the lessons!

[#1disneyfan]

Andy, your work is very very good. I love pottery. I've mostly worked on the wheel but I have done some hand building too. I took classes in college and then through the local university about a year ago. I still consider myself a newbie though. I enjoyed the class and especially seeing what everyone else would create and learning from them.
I totally agree with the creativity as a young child. My DD made a few things here at home and I brought them in to be fired. She loved it and says that I need to go back to pottery class so she can make some more stuff. Unfortunatly there isn't a class available for young children here.
I have lots of bowls, mugs, pitchers etc around the house. My first piece I made is right here on the desk being used as a pencil holder. I'll get back to those classes soon. The university is actually building a brand new studio so I'll have to see if classes have opened up again yet. I made a cool birdfeeder and it was broken into about 50 pieces hurricane Lili :( so I'd like to make another. I hope you'll share more pictures of your work if you can.
Holly

[AndyL]

Holly you might want to check with your county's park system. Some will have craft centers with pottery programs your daughter can use. You could also check with your daughter's art teacher who may know if any local programs or private studios would be available either to work in or fire pieces your daughter makes at home. Thanks for the kind words about my pieces but I'm curious to see any pictures you have of yours?Yes I know how it is not having a home studio. The college I take classes in is winding down for their intersession so I won't be able to work again till early June on pieces :( But till then I'll prolly do research or small pieces I can transport to the studio when it reopens for firing. One of the projects I'm planning is a set of planters for our front door so I've been testing Red Iron Oxide washes and playing a bit making stamps to decorate them
http://www.pixhost.com/pixa/aslasl/test-ex-pinch-rio.jpg

[Rosebud]

My DD takes art classes, but not pottery. In high school she signed up for it and it turned out to be first period. She hated it because it was so messy and being first thing in the morning was hard to clean up sufficiently for the rest of the day. Luckily her painting teacher created an independent class for her to take so she could drop pottery and still graduate.

However, even though she hated doing it, we both love to look at other's creations. She is now also attending a community college and we both enjoy seeing the creations of the students at the art show. It is amazing to see some of the things they come up with.

One of her friends last year tried to talk her into taking a class with her and she turned her down and tried to talk her out of it. The girl thought it would be an easy A. My DD warned her, but she signed up anyway, only to drop it when she realized how hard it was and that you actually needed talent.

[#1disneyfan]

Andy, I'll have to check into the park system. It would be a great project for DD for the summer.
I am totally clueless about how to post pictures on the web.
I like to make functional things - like planters, birdfeeders, bowls etc. Where do you get ideas for your projects? I often struggle with the creativity side of pottery. I think that's why I stopped going to the studio. Do you plan your projects out ( maybe sketching) or does it just come together as you're working on it?

Holly

[LimeGreenCheri]

AndyL, I've never done pottery, but those pieces are just beautiful!! We have guy here in the North Georgia Mountains that has his own pottery shop and your pieces are just as good as his! You could have a new means of moneymaking!! Keep sharing the pictures! :D

[AndyL]

Thanks for the encouragement Cheri. I've sometimes thought of doing some sales of pieces so it may be a pathway in the future.

Holly planning happens both ways sometimes the clay tells me what to build, sometimes I sketch a series of ideas in my notebook (believe me the pictures are not de Vinci quality) to develope ideas for pieces. A lot of my ideas come from nature but also I try to remember texture and forms I've seen and put them into the piece. Also sometimes my "sketches" are small models of a piece or a pot that will have elements I want to test out.