Something New: Take an Art Class

This fall I took a pottery class at the local community college. There was so much about it I loved. It was wonderful stress release as I was transitioning from employment to unemployment to high stress volunteer work. And I also got a huge kick out of being on a school campus again. The classes gave me some forced relaxation time where my mind would clear as I focused on forming slabs of clay into something functional. I enjoyed the class so much that I signed up for a second term.

A few of my favorite pieces:



I'm in love with these bird plates. There are four in total (one's still at the studio) with two styles of birds. I made them by stamping the image and then forming the clay into a plate. After the plates were fired I painted glaze into the impression and dipped the whole piece in a clear glaze.

Lace impression jewelry plate which now houses all my silver baubles. I used a similar method of pressing the pattern into the clay and then painting glaze into the impression. I have a few ideas for next term for improving my technique and for isolating shapes in the clay.



I tried to spend my class time divided between wheel work and hand building. By the end I was making some pretty decent little bowls. The walls weren't too thick, the sides pulled evenly, smooth bottom, and a nice lip. I also pulled a few decent plates. My goal for next term to to pull bigger bowls without the sides collapsing. I also want to try pulling some plates and then imprinting them.