MudTalk Podcast - Pottery, Ceramics, Business – Details, episodes & analysis

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What do you listen to while you are working with clay? How does it affect your work?

Transcript

This is episode 29 of the Mudtalk Podcast and it is a fun one. The topic  is, “what do you listen to while you work with clay?” 

There were so many responses that I won’t be able to read them all! But if you are in need of some new audio content there will be plenty of ideas in this episode. I thought this would be a great topic because I’m always looking for interesting things to listen to while my hands are busy with clay. Unfortunately it has taken me forever to get this episode recorded so most of the following responses were from a very long time ago.

Thank you for listening to THIS podcast. I hope you are currently working with clay as you listen.

A short disclaimer: I will include a few clips of some of the great suggestions. I don’t own the copyright to any of these works of audio but they are presented here for educational purposes only.

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, let’s hear what other potters and ceramic artists listen to as they work with clay.

Silence

A few people including Pubali909, and Ingridj1957,  enjoy the peace and quiet and listen to the sound of the process or complete silence.

Audiobooks

A few people including Nicolaashley1101, Moequintana1, Anna C-N all mentioned audiobooks.

Rawstudios Audiobooks; the best combination ; the intense meditative effect from the throwing makes the books even more vivid .

Dtaylorsatm Audible books, Perry Mason and Agatha Christie mysteries

Angela M Audiobooks and pottery. Complete bliss

I also enjoy audiobooks. You have probably heard of audible.com, Amazon’s audiobook site. You pay a monthly subscription fee and get to choose a certain number of audiobooks every month. There are also some other similar sites. But did you know there are resources out there that offer FREE audiobooks? 

One great free resource I’ve found is called Hoopla. I get free access from my local library. I can can borrow digital items such as ebooks, audiobooks, movies, and music. I think they raised the number to 10 per month during the pandemic! The selection isn’t massive but there is enough to keep me listening.

I have also started using an app called Libby which connects to the Indiana Digital Library. I get access through my local library. They have a much bigger selection but only have a limited number of each item so you may have to get on the waitlist for certain items, just like a physical library.

One more free resource is Librivox. It offers free audio versions of public domain books. Lots of old classics available.

If you are interested I’ll put a link to some of these audiobook resources in the show notes.

Podcasts

Podcasts seem to be a popular choice for a few reasons. Most of them are free. There is always new content. And now you can find a podcast about almost anything you can think of. Just think about the podcast you are listening to right now… One guy with a laptop and microphone reading his favorite replies to social media posts about pottery. What a time to be alive!

Pen and ink pottery Podcasts!! #2dopequeens #codeswitch #sooomanywhiteguys #savagelove

Canmore pottery Strictly podcasts. Is it a pottery podcast??!!!

Scetinozkan Podcasts how stuff works and some Turkish podcasts about philosophy, [and] technology . Learning something helps the creative process for me.

Dundeepottery Podcasts...CBC, Annemarie at The Current, Out in the Open with Piya Chattopadhyay, Planet Money, This American Life, Someone Knows Something, Serial, S-Town, trying Sawbones today... and of course Red Clay Rambler. So much to learn so little time!!

Jeffszarzi Podcast: Meat Eater, 99% Invisible, Radio Lab, tales of RCR, Potterscast, trumpconlaw, freshair.

Penni.q.pottery @casefilepodcast best ever👌🏼👌🏼

Paula C I’m a podcast listener. Tales of a Red Clay Rambler, Dan Carlin’s Hard Core History, Stuff to Blow Your Mind, etc.

I enjoy listening to podcasts and audiobooks as well if I’m doing part of the process that doesn’t require a lot of thought. I love the idea of maximizing my use of time so if I can learn something AND make pots I feel super productive. So I’ve listened to quite a range of podcasts, including topics like being a better writer, selling things on Etsy, and building a brand. And of course some of the other pottery podcasts.

One of the more “fun” podcasts that I listen to is called Nateland. It is comedian Nate Bargatze and a few of his comedian friends talking about random topics. It is good clean fun without getting into politics or any depressing issues that are common today. If you want something that isn’t too serious and will probably make you smile, maybe even laugh, I would recommend it.

The really cool thing about podcasts is that just about anyone can create one. In fact, if you have an idea for a pottery related podcast, we could help you publish it on ExpertClay.com completely for free. Something to think about.

Music

Of course many responses mentioned music! And there was a really nice selection of styles and artists.

Maddi.laine Pop and indie music 🎶

Crw_designs I have an ‘art’ playlist that has over 700 songs... everything from Led Zeppelin to Dispatch to Fleetwood Mac. I can’t work without music. I’ve never tried podcasts.

Paolarb Washed out station on Pandora ... it’s a dream! 😍

Sar_in_dip_ity Songs that pull deep emotions from me. It helps me relax and put intention and creativity in to my work. It’s therapeutic

Ole_ole_arts Always have Pandora on...can't be creative with peace and quiet. Most of the week it's CSN, Steely Dan, Beatles, Eagles, etc. But on Fridays have to mix it up with Earth, Wind & Fire💃

Wanderingforward Worship music or Celtic music. But mostly worship music these days - I have MUCH to praise Him for. ❤

Sarafreedom_ I love listening to metal and psych rock. Puts me into a focused meditation and makes me feel bad___! #blackcedarceramics

Gomezceramica lately I've been obsessed w/ the Into The Wild soundtrack

Landrum_pottery I find a classic rock and country playlist, and pop, sometimes EDM each song effects what I make it's a direct link to how I feel usually. I'm Working through spotify playlists. A friend of mine recently showed me 'Yellow' by Gourmet. It's a fun song @potterymakinginfo

Carmenarrowood 60's oldies

Theatre nerd 3 Fleetwood Mac. Because it’s fun.

Annick_and her pottery Bee Gees because there is nothing sweeter than their music and their harmonies!

The_signing_gimp Fall Out Boy's new album because it helps me wedge better...lol

James clements1962 Steely Dan, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Widespread Panic, etc.

Falcon fire ceramic studio I'm the first to admit my music tastes are strange, but most days I'm blaring German metal, the likes of Rammstein, Eisbrecher, Unheilig, BlutEngel, and a few others. Also love trancy stuff, like Amethystium. It helps that I make fantasy creatures and other handbuilt creations.

My apologies for not knowing how to pronounce most of those names.

Nicholson_terry 70’s and 80’s Music

Pathwaypottery Pandora. Been listening to a lot of Needtobreathe lately!

Desiredstatecraft Mainly jazzy hip hop or mellow stuff like Moonchild, Tom Misch 😊

Jeikobu_jeikobu Dub. because vibes.

Prrpots I like to listen to music while working, but I hate headphones and work in a public studio space, so most of the time - nothing. When I do give up and put on the headphones it’s usually either folk music or electronica depending on my mood and what I’m working on.

David van S Michael Hedges

Jane L H Reggae

Laurence P Peter Gabriel with a huge cup of tea !

Denise B-D 60s that I can sing to, lumineers led zepplin radio and many other random genres on spotify. But classical especially Chopin help my creativity the most.

David S I have my thumbprint Pandora station dialed in to ottmar Liebert, Pink Floyd, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Beach Boys, the Beatles, Yanni, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young... it’s very eclectic but I love it... oh, and I stream NPR, especially love Terry Gross

Karen S I have a bunch of my own made CD's with all kinds of music that I listen to. Lately it has been modern/contemporary country music. Darius Ruckus leading the way with Wagon Wheel song.

As for me, I love to listen to music, especially when I’m doing something that I actually have to think about and can’t focus on dialogue. Measuring glaze ingredients. Answering emails. Listing pots. Or maybe I just need a little energy that music can bring. These are the times where I crank up the tunes. I’ll listen to just about anything… from Bob Dylan to NF. Chuck Berry to August Burns Red. With the streaming options available now we can listen to just about anything we want!

Radio

And even with all the other on demand options, it is good that some people still enjoy the good old radio.

Paco L and Studio gallery pi said simply “Radio”

Earthartam NPR

Jackie C NPR. As I no longer watch the news or read the paper, for the sake of my sanity. So NPR is how I stay informed.

Susan D W NPR - National Potters Radio.

Jericho studio pottery Pretty much always BBC radio 4. Nothing beats it really.

Sunshine_pottery CBC radio! I love listening to the different documentaries and the news from a Canadian perspective.

Mix

There are also quite a few people, like myself, that listen to a mix of things.

Lahceramics Spotify playlist called Sunshine and Lollipops or library audiobooks- spy, mystery and biography.

Dowidat.ceramics Audiobooks, podcast, and jamming music

Shedceramics Radio dramas or jazz.

Motherpotter It varies from music to audiobooks, but often it’s musicals.

Svartfalk Music or podcasts. It helps me focus on monotone tasks like decorating by carving scales

Nu.prayana @potterymakinginfo I listen to different kind of things, sometimes Tina Malia for quiet and chanting mood, sometimes Relaxing music for creativity on YouTube, other times I listen to Louise Hay affirmations podcasts, they are great! Sometimes I listen to Simon Sinek’s videos on YT, and other times I listen to the wheel going round and round :) what about you? 🎶 🎧 📻

Atelier dume janet_pottery Movies, series, documentaries, my favourite playlist on Deezer, Radio Brussels... the birds,the wind, nature (if the digital sounds annoys me :)

Hilly K Usually the radio but sometimes an old movie too......depends what I'm doing! Either way, its always wonderfully peaceful......even when things go wrong..

Diane S Any old movie in the background

Process Dependent

One thing I thought was interesting is that many people listen to different kinds of audio during different parts of the process. For example,

Stonecropstudio Decorating? Audiobooks! Throwing? Silence😉

Kds_studio For throwing, I listen to Dave Mathews, classical or opera. For glazing, audio books or podcasts. My favorite podcasts are npr, Ted talks, and Ted radio hour.

Jenbavpear Silence for throwing, bluegrass for glazing.

Rex.wares I love this Spotify playlist, Lush Vibes, for throwing. It sounds like rain in a jungle. Podcasts for trimming and decorating.

Myers.mckimm.ceramics Depends... podcasts for the throwing, music for cleaning and mixing glazes, netflix for assembling (handles, earrings, underglaze\overglaze decals.

Sigueceramics Throwing is meditative for me, so Dead Can Dance, or David Whyte's interview with Krista Tippett on OnBeing. While trimming, Florence and The Machine are a favorite.

Colibripottery Classical for throwing and hand-building. Heavy metal for decorating. Yeah i know.

Wildfirepotterypenn It depends where I am in the process. EDM or something upbeat for throwing to aid creativity and to keep myself in a rhythm. Trimming is more mellow so maybe new age, jazz, or opera, glazing can be monotonous so something harder like hard rock to help break that up. Rarely spoken word.

East2westpottery Depends on stage in process and mood;blues/jazz, rap/mo-T, psychedelic rock, soft 70s, chill/lounge😁🎧

Anna R Depends if I’m on the wheel or decorating. Sometimes podcasts sometimes classical music.

So there you have it. A great but somewhat dated list of what our fellow potters are listening to when they are making pots. I wonder how many people would have a different answer now. There are always new podcasts coming out, artists dropping new albums, more audiobooks, etc. Anyway, maybe you have heard something here that is new to you that you can explore further. And of course, I can’t even tell you how thankful I am if you are listening to this podcast. It is an honor to be part of your process and share some perspectives from all over the world.

Our next episode will be about how we can grow the clay community. Until then, keep listening, keep making, and stay muddy.

Links to Original Discussion

What is your favorite pot?

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If you had to pick just one pot that you love more than the rest... Why is it your favorite? What do you like about it? What does it look like? Feel like? Tell us all about it!

Transcript

This is episode 28 of the MudTalk Podcast. Thank you for tuning in. And a big thank you for subscribing so you know when a new episode drops. Especially because my posting schedule seems to be completely random. And the biggest thank you for sharing the podcast with anyone else who may be interested.

If this is your first episode, or first episode in a while, the MudTalk Podcast is just a collection of thoughts about a certain topic. Designed to be short and sweet without a lot of fluff. Something to get you thinking or hear some new perspectives.

This episode is all about your favorite pot. Why is it your favorite? What do you like about it? What does it look like? There weren’t a lot of responses to the original post which I thought was a little odd. I mean, most potters I know love to talk about pots.

So I reposted more recently to get some new thoughts. And still didn’t get a LOT of discussion.

But that’s okay. We will work with what we have. But if you would like to share something, feel free to reach out through email or social media.

I intentionally left the question a little bit vague. Some people responded with their favorite pot that they have made. Some responded with a style of pot. Some shared one specific pot that they have purchased or use. All good options. I love that the concept of ‘a pot’ can bring up so many different things. We won’t talk about our favorite recreational or medicinal plant. But maybe this question didn’t have the same engagement because the algorithms got confused and thought the content was questionable.

Anyway, let’s hear about some favorite pots!

Sarahannebkr 

Deep Bowls, with a rolled rim, and you can still see the last pull, with a ringed foot

Trippelgrow 

Agate ware coffee cup unglazed outside and opaque white inside. Fits my hands just so and I slowly awake studying the rings and curves

Jenny2ren 

A generous deep bowl, thinking of filling it with salad or mixing a cake in it!

Jessica ewton ceramics 

A shallow blue bowl with lots of cut outs. I spent a long time on it and it paid off!! You can see it on my page :)

Havanow 

As wide as it is tall. Like a Gywan 😍

Thepeddlerman 

A tall, abnormally large mug in a glaze that wasn't exactly mixed entirely (my bad) but the color gradient, from a nice bright red, to a brown almost black is beautiful

Marianwilliamspottery

A huge bulbous thrown vessel with an added neck or throat and pulled handles- glazed in a beautiful runny (probably barium) blue on top and satin white on bottom- it’s big, showing makers hand marks in the handles and neck.

Landrum_pottery 

My fav I've made is a 10 lb. Infant piggy sculpture. I almost didn't keep it but after a year of it sitting on the greenware shelf I finally decided to try to fix the damaged ear... I layer glazed it also which turned out great. I feel like he's a high psychedelic pig. :)

Betty J

Brown clay, larger at the bottom than the top that has a narrow, tapering neck. No glaze. Just natural.

James Shock

The handle makes this teapot, and seemed to take longer to make! Mudslide glaze over dark brown clay. The lid knob is a miniature of the actual teapot. An afterthought, but worth the effort.

Naomi Zacharias Unrau

A B-mix thrown 1 pound bowl, rim cut, black slip carved, dots sliptrailed. A play-surprise.

So those are the comments that were shared. But as I’m thinking about this, maybe there are a lot of people out there having the same problem that I have: it is hard to pick a favorite!

If I HAD to pick one… okay I can’t. How about I give you three of my favorites?

First off, I have to put something by Dick Lehman on my list. Local legend. National treasure. International traveler. Magazine covers. But most importantly, he makes some amazing pots. I have a small cup that I’ve mentioned on the podcast before back on Episode 6. It was part of my reward for helping him run his booth at the Michiana Pottery Tour one year. So the experience that goes with it plus the texture, and glaze surface and size all make this one of my favorites.

Next, I’m going to go with a bowl by Andrew Linderman. It is in my heavy rotation and it makes me realize that I don’t have enough unique bowls by other artists. The glaze makes me think of a toasted marshmallow over a nice dark stoneware. The facets around the outside are clean and lead to a little bit of an undulating rim which adds to the uniqueness. The foot is narrow so it fits in one hand comfortably. Nice weight. At first I wondered if I would like the rough, slightly textured surface on the inside. I do take the process of eating very seriously. But no complaints about that. It cleans just about as easily as any of the smooth surface bowls I have in my cupboard.

Finally, I’ll include my favorite pot to make. This is also a tough choice because I like to make a lot of them. I’ll go with my world map cups. When I say cup I’m talking about a drinking vessel without a handle. I love the simplicity of the form but the various details that can make each cup unique. I love the idea of having a continuous design around the exterior. No beginning or end. I like that a cup can be used for so many things.

Alright, that’s probably enough of me blabbering about what I think. But I think it is important to talk about pots. I couldn’t explain exactly why so I did a quick Google search to see if anyone had a good answer. And Google pulls through again. I came across a blast from the past: legendary potter / philosopher / blogger Carter Gillies. I loved reading his blog for years. Unfortunately he passed away a few years back. In his post from 2012 titled “Talking about Pottery” he had this to say:

And interestingly, without the words, sometimes we don’t really see things so well. Its as if we learn new things about the world in the company of language. Words tend to help us focus and differentiate. Words give us nuance and value. Its amazing what we can do in the absence of words. But its also amazing what we can do once we do have the words. Learning how to talk about things also teaches us how to look at them. Sometimes we discuss things to help bring clarity to our own thinking. The feedback of testing ideas against the world is simply how we grow.

He goes on to talk about how as a beginner we don’t have the experience to talk about pots. Then later he says:

Well, eventually I started taking classes that were academic, and I did find myself in positions where there were conversations about pots. How others talked about pots helped me see what I was looking at. Some of what got said was nonsense. Some of it was ill informed hogwash. But occasionally it helped to have an opinion from someone with greater experience or a contrasting viewpoint. You even get to see your own handiwork in a new light once you find the tools to discuss it. And so a light bulb suddenly went on. It turned out there were words that could help me talk about what I was doing.

As Carter alludes to, there are some great benefits to thinking about and discussing what we do and why we do it. I hope this episode has given you some things to think about. If you need some more to think about, I’ll include a link to Carter’s blog which is filled with thought provoking topics. And remember, you are always welcome to drop a message to brandon @ expertclay .com or leave a comment on social media.

Even though this is a shorter episode, I think that is a good place to stop. Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast. Our next episode will explore what potters listen to when making pots. So, until then, keep making, buying, and discussing your favorite pots, and stay muddy.

Resources

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T-shirt Giveaway!

Free Course: Make 2019 Your Best Pottery Year

Transcript

This is episode 19! Since it’s the last episode of 2018, it’s kind of an important episode. First of all, this is your last reminder to win a pottery shirt! Listen for more details at the end of the episode. It’s also important because it’s a small milestone. I can look back and see that I put together 19 episodes in 2018. That doesn’t seem like much over the course of an entire year, but considering I didn’t even know how to make a podcast until February, I’d say that we have done okay. Thanks again for listening. I definitely wouldn’t be motivated to keep going if all of you weren’t showing support.

You may not find the topic of this episode as helpful or informative as some other episodes. I really enjoyed reading all the responses though because I feel like I got to know the community a lot better. It was really interesting to see what other skills and passions you have. And sometimes it’s fun to imagine how things could be different.

There were a lot more comments than some other MudTalk Mondays. Perhaps because it was an easier question to answer? There were a lot of similar answers so I tried to group some of them together.

So let’s hear some of these responses to: What would you be doing if clay did not exist?

Painting

Dtaylorsatm Painting

Shari.sutherland.art Still painting…. just wouldn’t be as exciting.

Stonecropstudio More painting, for my soul! And maybe woodcuts for a tactile fix?

ArtbyGretaMichelle Painting in oils.

Caseydepasquale Making paintings that are thick and juicy and full of #texture!

Metal / Jewelry

Mudbird_ceramics Making jewellery/silversmithing or painting:)

PathwayPottery Metal sculpture

Conor.jensen Keep doing metal sculpture probably

DoubleMusePottery I’d be making jewelry and glass etching. So many things to create.

Pitchpinepottery Still making! I’ve always wanted to try metal smithing and make jewelry.

Food

Poteria_oficina_ceramica I would be making food!

Bdeterling @ioceramicarustica I agree! Specifically baking since it’s similar to making clay and firing kilns ?

Connie J Cakes probably

Wood

Reidthepotter Woodworking

KathrynBurnsClay Turning wood on the lathe.

Ebboren Carving wood, which would probably include some trips to the ER!?

LittleCharlieWheeler Leather or wood. Have to be tactile.

Measa C S carve wood :D

Textiles

Marisol_blamey quizás bordaría alfombras! pero…. no es lo mismo! (Maybe I would embroider rugs! but it’s not the same)

Debra_lee2 Quilting!

Sandywithaq Back to the knitting needles!

GardenGateDesign Hooking more rugs now I split my time between the two and making beeswax candles . . .

Monstriss Knitting

Dawn I Crotchet

Marg F textiles

Glass

Maxschreifels Blow glass like a man lol

Jean_faith_vanderheyden Soap stone carving and or stain glass making.

Anni_s_t Blowing glass..

Madeleinevinkceramics Definitly glass blowing!

Photography

Yopanama I would be doing photography

Mike W Photography.

Clay_lady I’d have more time to practice piano and work on photography.

Other

Desoet_ceramics Nice question ? anyway i would be sculpting. Doesn’t matter from what material ☺

Syrihee.ceramics Architecture probably :/ and painting

Bluee_pottery Rock climbing

Sudima Drawing

Olisny Printmaking! I had a fund saving up for an etching press I instead used to buy my kiln and wheel. ?

Nancybloklandpottery The garden would be the next best thing

Jojo.hare I’d still be making candles ?

KaraMorrisPottery Writing books ?

Suits._p architecture

AmyThomasCeramics Midwifery ?

KaroArtCeramics I’d be an illustrator, that’s my plan for when my body fails me

Susan H D Mosaics

Another_day_wiser I was a music performance major in college until I switched to ceramics, so probably that ?

Multiple Things

Paulinepotspottery Still creating – maybe get back into macrame or painting or baking – just need to keep those creative juices flowing ?

Littlepotteryshop Gardening, cooking, sewing… all things I do as hobbies anyway ?I couldn’t live without my creative outlets! To make money though I might be a professional organizer.

Apicio72 Only drawing and cooking. And eating? of course!

Gia_mcc Reading, cooking and dancing like no one is looking at me!

Thistle_dew_nicely_ceramics Before clay I did tole painting, painted saws, painted canvases. Made jewelry, sewed lap quilts, paper crafts. I did lots of craft type stuff.

Ingridj1957 I’ve tried and loved making silver jewellery in the past. If I had a lathe I’d do woodturning and make bowls again. ❤️

Lauren_johnson_studio I make ceramics and I also do woodblock carving and abstract painting. It’s a lot of money and work to have a clay studio so I get it in when I can take a class.

Beemajabee Stamp carving, fountain pen sketches, water color, maybe go back to quilting.

Marisepu Painting, doing mosaics, writing…things I used to do before I fell in love with Clay !!

Laurel F My back up plan is water color, drawing, quilting. But if clay didn’t exist, we wouldn’t be here. There wouldn’t be an earth.

Lorna B I would have finished the brick paving a long time ago and finished more paintings done more mosaics and the garden would have fewer weeds There is nothing quite like clay ??

Kim W Paint, knit, glass work … gotta make something!

Just Make Something

Lucyfagella Make something else…#makersgonnamake.

Sandysunpottery Finding another medium! When you have this internal need to create art, it doesn’t go away if you don’t have your favorite medium at hand ?

Annelie57 Any other creative art

Amymskemp Creating something…food, drawing, painting, fibers, and babies❤️

Maria S A sad thought , but pray God would put another desire in my heart to creat. Have a blessed day. From this Cotton Pickin’ Potter from Beautiful Beaufort SC by the Bay.

Find It / Invent It

Some of you are not giving up hope.

Bobbie141 Wait till it returned …or go and find me some ?

Earthartam Inventing clay

Expiredin2012 Invent clay

Bateendje Invent it ?

Tanya K I would be inventing clay!!!!!!

Mental State

Some of us sound like we would be in rough shape without clay.

Hnilebo Go mental!

Finbarness Probaly be dying I coulndnt live without pottery

TeenaMartinArt Insane asylum

Jane N Would be mentally in rough shape

Estrovan Crying ?

Pirkitta P Perish the thought! ?

Libbi H ???

Other Job

It was interesting to hear about how some mentioned other occupations.

Mariekennedypottery Maybe still sitting in a cubicle and collecting craft hobbies waiting until something grabbed me and wouldn’t let go… Like clay did.

2frogsstudio Getting a job that makes money… lol

KaraleighCeramics I’d probably still be working in visual merchandising & my soul would be searching for something it didn’t know it needed. Thank God for pottery!!

Kali D G Still be in advertising and marketing…. and suffering an ulcer…..

Robinhoodgrl I would probably still work in fashion; but unhappier. I would still paint, draw and all the rest though

Deeper Meanings

And some responses just required some extra thought from me.

Mils0nrisas I’d have a life! ?

At first I wasn’t sure about this response. But I don’t think Milsonrisas means that we don’t have a life if we work with clay. At least not in a negative way. But more that clay just consumes us and some of us devote our entire lives to it.

Ceramica_agostini I’d have an easier life with less failure but also with less excitement and experience ??

This was an interesting response. I suppose if I didn’t work with clay my life would be a little easier in some aspects. I would have a lot more free time. I wouldn’t have a pile of pots that suffer from glaze faults, cracks, or that are just mediocre or terrible.

Ben.fields If clay didn’t exist, we wouldn’t exist.

I think this response is valid on multiple levels and we could really dive deep. But we’ll save that for another time.

So that’s it. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. Some of these thoughts got me thinking. I like how so many people have other interests and skills. I would be interested to know how your other interests impact your work with clay. And I know for myself, I like to pursue some of these other interests along with clay. I know everyone is different, so do you think it would be better for YOU to try and split your time between interests? Or are you more of a person that lets one thing consume you?

I know that I’m a little bit of both sometimes. I think of it as creative ADD. I get really into one thing for a while and put all my effort and thoughts into it. Then I plateau, or feel like I’ve accomplished what I want, or something else comes along. Then I get consumed by this new thing for a while. Usually I return to the original thing at some point but usually at more of a sustainable level. As new things come and go I just have to decide what I want to keep pursuing and what I want to take a break from or put on the “someday” shelf. Back in college I focused on oil painting and ceramics for my two senior projects. We lived in a tiny apartment after college so I painted. Then when we bought our own place I had room for the wheel. I tried to do both but eventually I decided that I needed to focus on one thing. Clay won. But all my painting stuff is packed up into a tub on a shelf just in case SOMEDAY I want, or need, to get it back out.

That doesn’t mean I’m actually focusing on one thing though! Sometimes I like to take photos, sometimes I just like to use computers to design stuff. Quite often, it’s clay.

It seemed like a major theme in all the responses was that if we weren’t working with clay we would be creating something else. I can relate to that. There is something that drives me to create. It doesn’t really matter what medium. I just need to make something. Maybe to know that I exist? Maybe to let other people know I exist? Maybe it’s just the chemicals in my body? I know that after I create something, especially if it turns out pretty well, I feel accomplished and I want to make more stuff.

Another thing that makes ME happy is that many of the responses seemed to come from people who are happy. We found clay. And that is what makes us happy. We don’t have to keep wandering in the wilderness. Some people don’t even have to keep working at a job that isn’t their dream job. Even though making pots is hard work, and it doesn’t provide big paychecks like some other jobs, it is what some of us were born to do. I’m glad I can be a part of a community like that. So thank you all.

And before we get to the last reminder about the t-shirt giveaway I have some year end promotional propaganda. Errr, opportunities.

The biggest announcement is that I’m offering the first official course at Expert Clay which will begin December 31st. The course is called 2019, Your Best Pottery Year and I’ve set it up so we can work together to set, plan, and achieve our goals for the new year. I’m calling it a course, but I hope it ends up being more of a team project. This year it is completely free. We all know that the ceramics community is amazing and we can do awesome things when we work together. Just listen to the MudTalk Podcast as one example. I hope this course will let us help each other through critique, accountability, and encouragement. I know it won’t be for everyone, some of you are already goal achieving superheroes. But you are still welcome to join and offer advice or help. It is set up with 4 weeks of content to get our year off to a great start but the class doesn’t actually end until the end of 2019… Or until you achieve your goals for the year! The course content can be finished at your own pace at any time really but there will be opportunities for discussion which may be better if you are working at the same pace as everyone else. So if you are interested in making 2019 your best pottery year, sign up at https://expertclay.com/2019/. Again the official starting date is December 31st but you can sign up for free and get started now. Even if you hear this much later you can join in and work at your own pace.

After I get this course going I hope to offer some more courses, some free, some paid. I have been working on a course for complete beginners as an introduction to start making pottery. I also have some ideas about sharing some techniques that I use myself. And of course, I’m always looking for other people to share what they know whether it be in video format or slides or articles or podcasts or whatever way you are most comfortable. Get in touch if you want to share something at Expert Clay.

As for this podcast, I plan to keep going without major changes. My goal for 2019 is 20 new episodes. I have been considering the idea of an additional podcast. More of me just sharing some opinions on certain topics. And eventually I’d like to do a podcast with an interview format. But I’ll probably just stick to the MudTalk Podcast for 2019.

The Expert Clay Blog is off to a solid start. There are some quality articles covering topics like throwing taller, pricing your pots, and managing your time. I hope to add some more throughout 2019 and share some videos of myself and other potters working and showing off their techniques.

There are a lot of cool things planned. If you want to be notified of some of these opportunities you can join the email list at expertclay.com.

But now, let’s get to the fun part. Someone will get to choose a free t-shirt from potteryshirts.com. All you have to do is fill out a survey or share a comment. Do both for two entries. And even after the last reminder, you still have a pretty good chance to win, especially if you get two entries. The last day to enter is December 31st. So get it done! And tell others to listen to the podcast so they can enter too. To get all the details and see how to enter you can go to expertclay.com/giveaway.

As always, thanks so much for downloading and listening and sharing. After a quick look at the stats before I started recording, we have had over 15,000 downloads in 2018. That is amazing to me. Thank you all so much.

As we start the new year we will have episode 20 of the MudTalk podcast. It will be a discussion about form vs. function. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and get to spend time with loved ones and take care of yourself. Until 2019, rejoice that we have clay and stay muddy.

 

Resources

MudTalk Monday on Instagram

MudTalk Monday on Facebook

Make the Most of Your Time in the Pottery Studio

Giveaway Details

Transcript

Welcome, this is episode 18 of the MudTalk Podcast. This is the one about time management. How do you balance your time? This is a great topic for a few reasons. First of all, as potters and ceramic artists, I think maybe it’s a little tougher for some of us than for other people with a more common 9 – 5 job. We have a lot more flexibility and freedom with our schedules. It’s also tough because we have to do so many different things. Sure, we get to play with clay… but what about the shows, the photography, the listing, the marketing, the ordering, the finances, and everything else? And some of us are trying to balance clay with another job! Another reason that I think it’s hard is because time in the studio seems to go so fast. I look down at the clay and all of a sudden a couple hours have passed! The best thing that makes this a great topic for this episode is that some people have really figured out what works for them and you get to hear some great ideas and helpful tips.

But before that, just a reminder, this episode is “sponsored” by potteryshirts.com because we have a giveaway happening. That’s right, you could win a free T-shirt from potteryshirts.com as a thank you for listening. Make sure you listen to the end of the episode to hear details about how you can enter.

But now, let us hear some thoughts from other clay people about time management. We’ll start with the comments from people that seem to be struggling and then we’ll hear from some of you that have started to figure out what works.

Struggling to Balance Time

First off, we have

NewSpinOnTradition For those that are making their living from clay, how do (you) divide your day between the making of work, marketing and taking photos, social media, applying for opportunities, etc. Is it a free for all, or do you try and follow an actual regimented schedule. I’m a very slow worker, so making the work seems to eat 95% of my time. I know I’m not paying enough attention to the other aspects. And trying to squeeze in time for friends and family barely happens. ??

Next up, responding to How do you balance your time?

Olisny I don’t. ? I’m struggling…I have two kids under 6 and stay at home with them. And my studio is at home! Balancing making art, household management, business management, kid education is something I’m getting closer to figuring out. It’s hard seeing people produce so much when I’m slow; I have to remind myself I’m following a lot of people online who are students without kids. ?

OctopusCeramics I don’t ??

GlynnisLessing So easy to go into the studio and not come out all day. Still struggling with balance!

PathwayPottery I don’t balance very well! Feast or famine!

QueerlyClay I’m supposed to balance my time?

This response got me thinking. I guess nobody is forcing us to balance our time. So you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I suppose some people want, or need to, work on something for 4 days straight and then sleep for two days straight and then wake up and do something else. Some people probably don’t have a lot of close friends or family or are very introverted so they don’t worry about spending time with others. So there is no single right way to do this. But many people feel that it’s healthy or ideal to find a balance in their lives. You have to decide what is right for you.

The next response covers a lot of topics along with time management.

Other

HarryChoePotter My goal in life is to be a potter and studio owner full time. How do you live off pottery? Not possible for me. I work full time and run a studio part time. Not enough time in the day or night. How do we stay happy? It’s tough trying to market your business and create art. In Korea, pottery seems like it’s a dead art. Schools don’t offer pottery anymore. It’s all diy based now. Artists can’t make a living just from selling art. What is balance? Just surviving is tough enough. I truly wish all artists the best of luck. I’m really happy to see artists succeed. Stay true to yourself. See love in people not hate.

So it seems pretty clear to me, there are some people that really struggle with balancing their time. And that’s okay. It’s not easy. But the good news is that time management is something you can get better at. Next, we’ll here some tips and ideas that seem to be working for people.

Ideas and Tips

DamarisOakleyPottery Very challenging, but I do look at Monday as the start of something new, new day, new week, more pottery!???

I love the positive vibe! When you’re working with clay, Mondays aren’t so bad!

Anita R I make reasonable goals that I’d like to achieve for each week in order to stay on track and write them down and check them off as I complete them. Sometimes it works like a charm, other times life happens and you deal with it. I make lists of things to do in ceramics, family life, exercise, and include fun stuff on those lists to attempt balance. Whatever I don’t get to, I add it to the top of the following week’s list.

Thanks Anita. I like to make a lot of lists for myself too. Mostly to remember what I need to get done. If I don’t write things down I often forget to do them. Just ask my wife. I also like making lists because when “life happens” as Anita says, I can come back and remember where I left off and get right back into it. Lists help me stay focused. After I write something on a list I don’t have to worry about remembering to do it. I can focus all my thoughts on the thing I’m doing at the moment.

Artofawen It’s (balancing time is) a big challenge. I need outside motivation. I work full time and have a young child. At the end of the day if I don’t have a deadline looming I’m probably not going to make it to the studio

This response really resonates with me. I feel the same way a lot. If I don’t have a show coming up or a sales season, I don’t get into the clay studio nearly as much. That outside motivation really helps me get pots made. Not just because I want to play with my kids or watch Netflix all day, sometimes I just have a lot of other kinds of work that I want to do. Like a podcast, or a website. Outside motivation helps me prioritize things.

Quigley_ceramics I put my head in the sand and make make make until I bring so much work home that my husband says “Time to rent a storage unit” and I say “No! Time to sell!” I finally bring out the photo booth, spend a couple days editing and listing items on the website and Etsy. This probably happens every two months. Having a new baby has totally changed my studio time management. That’s a whole post unto itself…❤️

Thanks Quigley Ceramics. Many potters talk about working in cycles. I think the long production process forces, or at least encourages this. For some it works really well to focus on one part of the process for a while and complete that part, then move on to the next part of the process. Once all the pots are made, or sold, you can start the next cycle. There are definitely some advantages to this. I generally work this way because I’m making pots for an upcoming event. But alas, I feel that I never have quite enough time in the clay studio so I have a variety of pots in different states of completion. This is actually a good thing though because sometimes I have just a little bit of time to work. So I may not have time to throw a dozen mugs but I may be able to glaze the inside of a dozen mugs in the time I have. In general though, it seems efficient to work in batches or cycles.

Claybylaura This is a toughie! Hours pass in the studio in the blink of an eye. For me, I need to remember to get out of the studio, stay social, exercise and enjoy friends. All of it helps keep me happy and productive when I’m immersed in the clay.

Very good point Laura. Take care of yourself first and it will help you do your best work when it’s time to work.

Bridgespottery I am a full time studio potter. I teach one to two mornings a week at a local studio. To balance my time I map out my week(s) on a calendar just like project management. Time dedicated to making,marketing and admin, as well as fun, off the grid clay time with no pressure. Then I balance work with home and family just like any other working person does. Like the accountant, I have busy seasons where I work early and late. It is a juggling act. I have a husband, kids in HS and animals that fight for attention. Everyone feels like they are dfl sometimes, some more than others.

Well said Bridges Pottery. After a little google search, I think DFL means dead freakin’ last. But anyway, the main takeaways from this response are fantastic. A lot of people plan their schedule week by week but the key word is plan. With all the different things that potters have to do, it’s a good idea to plan all the things. Even the “non essential” things like exercise, quality time with others, and time to play or explore. Those things may not be essential to your next deadline but they are essential to YOU. Making pots isn’t like a lot of other jobs but you can still treat it as a full time job and balance it with the other parts of your life.

PigeonRoadPottery I’m a full time potter. I tend to work in the studio most days from 9 to 6 with an hour break for lunch. Some days I am more disciplined than others but for the most part I treat it like a job. I only work in the studio at night when I am under deadline but I regularly do marketing and business stuff in the evenings. I also teach a class at night once a week. If I need to schedule an appointment during the day I try to make it either at the beginning or end of the work day so I can get at least 6 hours of work in. I take one full day a week off to do things with friends. It’s nice to have a flexible schedule and the freedom to make my own hours.

I love this response from Pigeon Road Pottery as well. Again, if making pots is your job, treat it as a job. I also like how getting into a routine can make things easier to balance your time. And making time for friends is important. It can be easy to isolate yourself if you do nothing but work in your studio.

Awesome responses everyone! This is the kind of discussion that I was hoping for with the MudTalk Mondays. And it’s one of the main reasons I started Expert Clay, and even this podcast. We can explore an issue, maybe admit that we struggle with it, let other people offer some advice and tell what works for them, everyone gets better and our community gets stronger. I’m not saying this is the first great discussion we’ve had but it is a great example of what we can do as a community. So thank you to everyone who participated.

Reading some of the responses reminded me of a short conversation I had a while ago with another ceramic artist. Brooke Millecchia was explaining during a video that she didn’t make a lot of pots but put more time into each one and she was fine with that. For myself, being a part time potter, it was reassuring that it’s okay not to make a million pots each week. It’s okay for me right now to only complete a cycle of pots every month. Or even less if I’m working on some other projects. I loved this quote from Brooke: “Beatrice Wood made pots until she was 104. We’ve got lots of time to make great pots.”

I don’t expect to live 104 years but even if I come to an unexpected and early demise, would it really matter that I didn’t get 12 more mugs made this week or learned a new technique or got my work into that gallery? I mean, there’s something to be said about your legacy, but if my life is much shorter than I’m expecting hope, I want people to see that I cared about my family first and then cared about my work. So maybe I’m just trying to say, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. But it’s also, well, a balance to determine what kind of pressure you can stand and how important it is for you to grow or accomplish certain things. Maybe that’s the real question. What do you really want to accomplish in life? It’s all about priorities. If you really get things prioritized, it would probably be a lot easier to devote enough time to your most important things.

I have one other thought about managing time but I can’t remember where I heard it. It’s not my original thought but I really agree with it. “Balance doesn’t always mean equal.” Or it doesn’t mean everything is equal.  For example, say you have a box full of clay and a box of styrofoam packing peanuts. If the boxes are the same size the clay is going to weigh a lot more. To make them weigh the same you would need a lot more packing peanuts. When we’re talking about time, you shouldn’t feel like you have to spend an equal amount of time on each part of your life. You can try, but that is going to be tough to do. Instead, think about the quality of time you spend. Do you think my kids would rather spend 2 hours with me while I work on my laptop or 30 minutes that I focus completely on them? Of course I want to spend more than 30 minutes a day with my kids but I can schedule in at least 30 minutes where they get to pick what we do and have my full attention. And of course on weekends we have opportunities to have much bigger chunks of family time. You just have to decide what “balance” means.

One last resource I have for you: if you haven’t been over to the Expert Clay Blog, go check that out at your earliest convenience. I’ve written some articles that have come straight from MudTalk Monday conversations. In fact, I have a whole series of articles about how you can make the most of your time in the studio. There are definitely some ideas in there that may help you balance your time.

And finally, if you haven’t heard, or you forgot, we have a giveaway going on right now until the end of 2018. One winner will get to choose a free T shirt from potteryshirts.com. You can enter two ways. First, fill out a quick survey about potteryshirts.com. It should take 2 minutes at the most. Second, leave a comment or message at expertclay.com/mtp. It could be an idea for the MudTalk Podcast, or a response to one of the topics. It could be your favorite thing that you’ve heard on the show or a question about the show or myself. It could even be something you are trying to get better at yourself or a recent accomplishment. For more details about the giveaway and links to the entries, go to expertclay.com/giveaway. Remember, you can enter both ways to double your chances and currently you have pretty good odds because there haven’t been a lot of entries yet. Feel free to tell others about the podcast as well, especially if they would be interested in winning a free shirt. And thank you all so much for your participation and support.

That pretty much wraps up episode 18 of the MudTalk Podcast. Be sure to subscribe with your favorite podcast subscription service. Look for the next episode sometime in the last half of December. As we start looking toward 2019, we’ll have episode 19 about what you would be doing if you weren’t working with clay. So until then, I hope you have all the time you need. Thanks for tuning in and stay muddy.

Resources

Link to instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BUHDrs4FOPu/?taken-by=potterymakinginfo

Link to FB: https://www.facebook.com/potterymakinginfo/photos/a.10151503193013457/10154547366953457/?type=3&theater

PotteryShirts.com

Hack the Entrepreneur Podcast https://hacktheentrepreneur.com/podcasts/

“You have to be chasing something.” http://www.stearthpottery.com/discursive-loop/archives/678

Giveaway!

More info and links: https://expertclay.com/giveaway/

Entry 1: Survey

Entry 2: Leave a Comment or Message

Transcript

Welcome to episode 17! I have probably never met you before, but I’m glad you are listening. Thanks for your support. As a thank you to all of you who are downloading, listening and sharing I’m going to offer a small giveaway for the holiday season / end of 2018. I’ll share the details about that at the end of the episode so make sure you listen to the whole thing.

In this episode we’re going to see some of the top reasons for success. The question was “What one thing that you do has been the biggest contributor to your success?” I love this question because it really gives us some insight into what is working for somebody. I also like the phrasing because it is asking for something that you make a conscious decision about, not just something good that has happened to you or something someone else has done for you.

I’ve grouped related responses together to find some common ideas or themes. The first few responses are all related because they are about the way you work. So here are some things that you do that really contribute to your success.

The Way You Work

Jeffszarzi Incorporate my drawings on my pottery.

Piperpottery Finding my style

Ebboren Keep my hands on the wheel when I start centering!

I think using a certain technique can really affect your work. Especially if you master it or combine certain techniques into your own style. Sometimes just remembering how you find success on a small level, such as centering, can set you up for larger successes. The next group of responses were about

Work Ethic / Dedication

Angelagrahampottery Repetition and sticking with my gut, if I think it will work, it might not at first. But stick with it!

Pritpalbharaj Practice.

Mcginnispottery Practice

Ladytokioblue A LOT OF PRACTICE!! and more patience ?

Damarisoakleypottery Practice, practice, practice:)

Dallas_wooten_ceramics Just keep working!

Earthartam Because I love what I do doesn’t mean it’s a hobby. It’s a full time job with regular hours. Be dedicated to it!

Drurygirl5 Being selfish with my time -(trying to remember that I can say ‘no’)

Benjamin W Dedication

These kind of responses seemed to be the most popular. And for good reason. Most people that find success have to work at it. Working hard can help you overcome other faults or setbacks.

Confidence / Belief

Sweetpixels_thesudsypotter Accepting that I’m not perfect and learning not to compare my work to others in a negative light. I make art and art is subjective someone somewhere is going to love what I create.

954lla Believing in my design! #L2Apottery

Maridmartini Being more confident

Claybylaura relax and listen to/trust my own (creative) inner voice.

It seems like a lot of us don’t have enough confidence in ourselves at times. I know I’ve struggled with fear of failure or rejection before. I just have to remind myself that if I don’t take chances, sure, I won’t fail, but I also don’t give myself a chance to succeed. Even if I take a chance 100 times and fail 99, that 1 time I succeed is still more success than I would have had without taking a chance at all.

Mindset / Taking Care of Yourself

Jerichostudiopottery Afternoon catnap.

gonemoondancing Pray

I put these two responses together because you need to take care of yourself. You are going to be more successful when you feel good and have the right mindset. Getting enough rest is important, whether it’s getting enough sleep at night or recharging during the day. Prayer or meditation, or whatever you need to do to get in the right frame of mind is worth the time it takes.

Growth

Casapangea curiosity

Jo A Keep learning

Gxdesigns Loving the imperfections and then improving!

Thepotterslounge Never being satisfied.

Ana C Working hard. Improving all the time.

This was one of my favorite groups of responses. I feel like having a growth mindset can really help most of us.

Flexibility

Ken_bull If I make a dud pot, or cut the bottom too shallow, I modify or add to it on the wheel .. making it into an “organic” design succulent pot. ?

There was only one answer in the flexibility column but I think that ability to adapt can really give us an advantage sometimes.

And here are a few other responses that I didn’t categorize.

Other

Bridgespottery #bridgespottery good quality craftsmanship and marketing knowhow

Rachaellpotter Turning up to the wheel. No pun intended. ?

Anita R Patience/Nintai/Paciencia. You gotta put in the time and work on things and not rush them…don’t expect instant gratification…expect your patience to be tried and just know you have to keep trying, you will have to do things several times before getting something that’s decent. Persevere instead of giving up and moving on to another project. Good things come with time and practice and to persevere you need patience.

Man, I feel like this could be the beginning of a self help book for potters. Some of the main ideas I pulled out include confidence, dedication, work ethic, growth, flexibility, and mindset. Lots of important ideas, not just for working with clay, but any area of your life.

I didn’t try to pick out any favorites this time. I mean, I love any response that identifies something that is working for you. So they are all my favorite! I did notice that there weren’t as many responses as some of the other topics and it makes me wonder why. Maybe the social media algorithms didn’t put it in front of as many people? Maybe it’s just a hard question to answer? Maybe the background image wasn’t as eye catching as some of the others. Maybe some people don’t feel successful yet?

Even though there weren’t as many responses, this happens to be one of my favorite MudTalk questions so far but I have to admit that I stole it from another podcast. Jonny Nastor does a podcast called Hack the Entrepreneur which I listen to sometimes. I even stole part of my intro from his intro. He interviews people and usually asks a few standard questions, one being about the biggest contributor to each guest’s success. So thanks to Johnny! I’ll put a link to his podcast in the show notes.

I’m glad I haven’t been asked the question myself because it’s hard to pick one thing. It would take some time to really think about what one thing is actually the biggest contributor. Luckily for you and me, I’ve had some time to think about it since I started looking at all the responses.

It’s hard to pin down one specific thing that I do that is the biggest contributor to my success. In fact, it may actually be a couple related things. Or something I haven’t even thought about. And really, maybe the biggest contributor to my success isn’t even something I do. I mean, having a supportive family that did a fantastic job raising me is pretty important.

I would say, however, the thing that I actually DO myself is that I always keep learning or growing. Maybe that is due to my drive to get better as a person. Maybe I’m just curious. I know for sure that I like to solve problems which seems to be part of the drive to learn. Some people may describe it as never being satisfied. I wouldn’t go that far for myself because I try to take the time to enjoy successes or just enjoy life in general. I think you should feel satisfied if you hit a goal or accomplish something. But I guess I do set a bigger goal or find something else to learn eventually. So I know what people mean when they say that they never want to be satisfied. In fact, Steven Tyler once sang, “Life’s a journey, not a destination” and I agree. I don’t want to ever feel like I have arrived at a place in life and feel like I have nowhere else to go. Nothing else to learn or try. This reminds me of when a fellow potter named Scott Cooper wrote a blog post a while ago that really resonated with me. Basically, he said, “You have to be chasing something.” Just always having something to chase, a reason to get out of bed in the morning or a challenge to inspire me. That continued learning has helped me develop my personal style and then keep evolving as I try new things.

In just the last year I’ve learned how to create a podcast, learned how to mine cryptocurrencies, learned how to trade currencies, trained for and ran my first 10k race, set up an ecommerce store, tried a couple different techniques in the pottery studio and have added a few new forms to my inventory. When trying each one of those things I started with the mindset that I’m not going to be very good at the beginning but if I can keep improving, I may figure out how to get good at it.

Then… As I was reading through the responses from everyone else I had an epiphany. It really depends on how you define success to figure out the things that make you successful. So maybe I should have asked that question first, how do you define success? Perhaps you’ll hear this question on the next MudTalk Monday!

So anyway, I feel like I’ve rambled on enough, let’s get to the fun stuff. I’ve decided to have a small giveaway for the listeners of the MudTalk Podcast to show my appreciation. I started this podcast really as an experiment and a learning experience. And then people actually started listening to it! So thank you! The winner of the giveaway will get their choice of one T-shirt from potteryshirts.com. As you may know, this is the site I started to sell shirts I’ve designed. There will be two ways to enter. First, you can go to expertclay.com/mtp and leave a written or audio message. It can be a response to one of the topics we’ve covered on the podcast or a future topic, or feedback about the show or a question about the show or myself.

The second way to enter is to complete a short survey about potteryshirts.com. Go to https://expertclay.com/giveaway to complete the survey. Basically, help me with a little market research so I can improve potteryshirts.com.

If you do both, you will have two entries. You can enter any time during 2018. I’ll draw the winner sometime by January 7th and contact them by email. If that person doesn’t respond in 7 days I’ll draw someone else.

This is for the listeners of the MudTalk podcast so I won’t post it anywhere else except for the show notes on expertclay.com. But feel free to tell other people about the podcast if you think they would be interested in participating in the giveaway.

So I hope this is a fun opportunity. I wish I could send everyone a shirt to show my appreciation but we don’t have the budget here for that quite yet!

Our next episode will be about balancing your time. This will be great especially for me as I keep trying to learn so much! Look for that episode around the first part of December. Until then, keep doing those things that make you successful and stay muddy.

Resources

MudTalk Monday – Instagram, Facebook

Handle With Care Workshop Notes

6 Ways To Develop Self Discipline

Books (affiliate links)

Mastering Cone 6 Glazes (out of print)

Complete Guide to Mid-Range Glazes

Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes

Mastering the Potter’s Wheel

The Ceramic Spectrum

High Performance Habits

Start With Why

Steal Like an Artist

Seth Godin Amazon Page

Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode 16 of the MudTalk podcast! Thanks for listening. In this episode we’re going to hear about which skill you would like to increase the most. The original question was “If you could increase one skill or attribute overnight, what would it be?” Of course, you aren’t going to magically change yourself overnight. But what would you like to get better at? There were a lot of great answers. Even some that I wouldn’t have thought about. But there were many things mentioned that I would like to improve myself. As you can imagine, many of the responses were clay-related. So we’ll start with the clay related answers, including wedging, centering, throwing, trimming, glazing, and decorating. Then we’ll hear some more general, what I’ll call, life-skills. At the end, I’ll share some of my favorite resources that I’ve found for improving some of the skills mentioned.

And remember, if you want to share your own thoughts or favorite resources, go to expertclay.com/mtp.

As always, thanks for listening, subscribing, sharing and just being awesome in general.

Let’s get to the responses and hear which skill you would like to increase the most. We’ll start with the clay related comments.

Wedging

Kathleenevil5 Clay related: wedging! ?

Marian H W Spiral wedging

Centering

Kathy K Centering!

Cyndi L A I’m with Kathy K, centering.

Jenmf CENTERING!!!

Jim49_ Better centering

Darkfruitbat I would love to be able to center more than ten pounds of clay, but I’m weak!

Lunetca Clay related, centering. Life related, work ethic.

Throwing

Merskata Throwing!

Woolandclay Throwing!

Sandyvanderwyk Throwing!

Artofawen Throwing on the wheel. I love it, have taught it but never gotten past a certain level of expertise. And I second the life energy!

Dtaylorsatm Wheelthrowing. So jealous of those plates and huge jars thrown on the wheel. Unbelievable skill. I’m just happy if i can center and create a small bowl. Oh, well…got to start somewhere.

Czpotterys Even pulls

EsterLipscomb_pottery Throwing speed! I have a space quota to meet each month and I wish I was as fast as some of the other potters I work with. There is a reason my family always called me the poky puppy.

Lakinkceramics Throwing on the wheel! And fully developing my ideas before making a piece. I’m working on both of them this summer!

Stonecropstudio Increase my range of throwing to include new forms!

Blackbirdfarms2017 Shaping

Kristacford Pulling walls and handles!

Throwing Bigger

Samyam1667 I would love to work on throwing large forms

Mudandsticks Throwing tall cylinders @mudandsticks!

Gingerbarrheafey Throwing LARGE pots. 10+#’s

Handsinmudpottery tall forms

Teresa.gagne22 Bigger pots.

Mike W Throwing bigger pots. (bottle forms). :)

Bridget_kiara Throwing taller vessels! (Taller than 7 inches)

Miragrl22 @bkiara88 That is my height max also!!! What is that about????

GiselleNo5ceramics @bkiara88 @miragrl22ME TOO! ? We should start a club. 7 Below.

Handles

Octopusceramics Making handles

Mcginnispottery Making handles

_avonlea__ Handles haha

Claye.by.jaye Handles handles handles ?

Trimming

Mgwalsho TRIMMING

Ebboren Trimming!

Glazing

Studio2ceramics Mixing glazes

Thats_my_art_teacher Mixing glazes!

Alybee_ceramics Glaze consistency at cone 6

Barroceramicstudio Mixing my own glazes.

Karamorrispottery Knowledge of glaze chemistry

Iloveceramics2015 All of the above especially glazing?

Pamelabarclaysatx Creating new glazes.

Zephyrinmontana Glazing! Ugh. My Nemesis! Figuring out colors drives me crazy!?

Decorating

Bluelotuspottery Decorating

Ladytokioblue I would like to work on my decorations. I honestly really suck at anything after throwing. Even my glaze work isn’t so adventurous… I could use a whole class or workshop on decorating ?????

Other Clay Related Skills

Catherinedanielceramics Throwing, mixing glazes, and business know-how. Oh – that’s 3 things, so Maths as well.?

Elmacb Being able to finish things cleanly.

Marzipana_ Technique, technique, technique!!!

Andrea G If telepathy and flying can’t be included, then I’d have to say sculpting.

AngelaGrahamPottery Dishes

Piperpottery Consistency

Dowidat.ceramics Consistency I’m getting better but its like “wow out of these ten, six are consistent. I measure, use same amount of clay but form still varies a little

Tarihuffaker Consistency and self-expression, both in life and clay.

There were a number of people that responded with skills that weren’t related to clay. Since they can be applied to many different things I’m going to think of these as life skills.

Life Skills

Earthartam Self control, discipline

Annelie57 Life energy!

Kali Di Grassi Networking

Olisny Networking. So many other potters with knowledge out there, and I’m too shy and lack confidence in my own skills to reach out.

Forgottenfern Social networking. How to get my work seen by people who like, admire, and want to buy it.

Claybylaura appreciation — learning to value what is.

Giselleno5ceramics Thinking before I react.

Claudia_magalhaes_ceramica Focus. I’m always trying new things

Zeldalune confidence

Tweeter_williams Business savy. I don’t want to take away from the ups and downs of learning and exploring new things – figuring it all out for myself. However, my business mind struggles and needs improvement.

Allisonqpottery11 Marketing/confidence. I have hard time believing in myself or thinking my pieces are good enough to sell. I get compliments from family and friends all the time and badgering to sell but it’s hard to change that mindset.

Nicolahartstudios Making money!

Other

Veredceramics Writing!

Imzarana Dancing

Lionainsoma Piano

Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on the MudTalk Monday posts on instagram and facebook.

As for my own thoughts… Boy, I’m not sure if I could pick just one. I would like to try some more complex forms on the wheel, get better at making lids and spouts, and maybe explore assembling multiple pieces to make a pot. I would also like to improve my online presence and marketing, get better at networking, make more money, and help other people learn about pottery and improve their skills. And then there are some other things like running a faster 5K, learn more songs on the guitar, and do more digital illustration. But if I had to pick just one thing… I’ll have to go with self discipline to cover almost all of those things.

Now, you may ask, how do I plan to get better at something like that? And I guess I would say that it goes back to Episode 3 about setting goals. Not just any old goal, but a SMART goal. Looking back at the show notes for that episode, found at expertclay.com, I can see that first, I need to specifically define what I want. So, overall, self discipline is pretty abstract and hard to measure. Maybe time management is closer to the skill that I want to improve. So to be specific, I’ll say that I want to get things done in a more systematic way and finish things at a more constant rate. Okay, now I need to break it down and focus on one thing at a time. It could be a new article every month or a certain number of hours in the pottery studio. But to really make this interesting I’m going to put out two MudTalk podcasts per month until the end of 2018. That is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time sensitive. So next, I would set up my plan. I won’t bore you with the details of that but basically I’ll set my publish dates as the 1st and 15th of each month and then work backward to set up a schedule to keep me on track through the month. Now the cool part about this is that all of you listeners have heard my goal. So if it is a week past the publish date and you don’t see a new podcast, feel free to send me angry emails to keep me accountable.

But enough about me. Let’s talk about some resources that will help you improve some of the skills that were mentioned in the comments.

I’m working on an article on the Expert Clay blog with some tips for throwing taller pots.

For centering large amounts of clay I’ve centered 4 or 5 pounds first, then put 4 or 5 more pounds on top of that and center the new ball of clay. Keep going until you have a large enough amount centered.

Some of my favorite glaze books include Mastering Cone 6 Glazes by Ron Roy and John Hesselberth, John Britt’s Guide to High Fire Glazes and Guide to Mid Range Glazes, and Robin Hopper’s Ceramic Spectrum.

There are an abundance of books and videos about throwing. I really like Ben Carter’s book Mastering the Potter’s Wheel.

As for handles, I used to hate making handles. Then I made a bunch of handles and got a little better. Then I went the the Handle With Care Workshop and learned some great handle and decorating techniques from Todd Pletcher, Eric Botbyl, and Matt Schiemann. I wrote a blog post about the experience and I’ll have a link in the show notes.

As for the life skills, things like energy, discipline and focus, I’ve read or listened to a plenty of books and some of my favorites off the top of my head are High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard, Start with Why by Simon Sinek, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon and anything by Seth Godin for marketing.

I’ll have links in the show notes to all of the resources mentioned here.

What I’ve found to be the best resource for networking is simply showing up. If there are pottery or art related events in your area, show up. If there are festivals or shows where another potter is displaying work, show up. Tell them you like something about their work and ask them a question. If you follow potters or groups of potters online show up in the comments. Let them know that you like something.

One of my favorite overall resources is attending workshops. Not only do you get to learn from other potters in person and ask questions but it is a great opportunity for networking. All the other attendees are most likely potters and some workshops attract people from all over the country or even the world. And I’ve found that the learning isn’t always focused on one specific technique. Presenters and even other attendees will also discuss selling, marketing and some of the life skills that have been mentioned already. So if you have a chance, I would recommend attending as many workshops as you can.

As you know, there are many other kinds of resources out there. I’m sure you have some favorites as well. If you want to share, go to expertclay.com/mtp to send a note.

There’s really no other substitute for practicing most things. Putting in the time and working at it consistently.

So, as we wrap up this episode, I hope you have already improved some skills since you left the comments. In our next episode we’ll have one of my favorite questions: What do you do that has been the biggest contributor to your success? Until then, keep improving your skills and stay muddy.

Resources

Great info: 13 Things to Consider While Pricing Your Pots

Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BTQ-5Malakj/?taken-by=potterymakinginfo

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/Uu_qFDanGPY

Potters network discussions about pricing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/219780908063139/search/?query=pricing

Pottery shirts(!): https://potteryshirts.com

Transcript

And we’re back! After a break that was much too long you are now listening to episode 15 of the MudTalk Podcast. And boy, let me tell you, this is quite an episode! In my opinion it has been packed with some of the most helpful thoughts I have read yet. But that may be because pricing my work is something that I’m still trying to figure out. So get excited if you are in the same boat. But first, a couple news items.

I just want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has listened and shared or done anything to support the MudTalk Podcast in any way. Just before recording this episode, I took a quick look at the stats. In July there were over 1800 downloads and then in august we had over 2500 downloads. We’re at  over 8000 total downloads since episode 1 was published in February. That blows me away. Thank you so much just for giving this thing a chance and especially to all of you who have shared your thoughts. I know the last few episodes have had some long breaks in between. But I hope to get back into a more regular schedule. I’ve had some big things going on this summer.

One upcoming event I’ll be participating in is the Michiana Pottery Tour on September 29th and 30th, 2018. If you are located in or near southern Michigan or Northern Indiana, it is a great event full of talented potters and ceramic artists. Get a map and find out more at michianapotterytour.com.

I’m itching to get into the responses so I’ll save the next announcement for the end of the episode. Stay tuned for that.

So, pricing our work… The elephant in the pottery studio so to speak. It can be a little uncomfortable, maybe even stressful. There are so many variables and everyone has a unique situation so there doesn’t seem to be a one formula fits all solution. Hopefully some of these comments will give you some ideas to make pricing your work a little easier.

Instead of sorting the responses like I usually do, I’m just going to read them in approximate order of when they were made. But at the end I’ll share a list of 11 things that you can consider as you price your work. So let’s get to some of the responses to the question: How do you price your work?

Billy H Number (of) hours plus material and add a little extra because its handcrafted

Kate P There was a very good thread on Potters Network recently about pricing which would be worth looking up. Lots of sensible formulas and ideas.

I’ll put a link in the show notes to the Potters Network group on Facebook and some of the pricing discussions.

Kimberly W I’d love to hear everyones formulas on how to price their items. I love making pottery so much I have trouble putting a price on it. Plus I look at other peoples sites and sometimes have to take a second look (be)cause the pricing isn’t anything like mine. When i started selling my stuff, The advice I got was: Charge enough first off so your not always changing your prices and make sure to charge enough because its a competitive field and we need the pricing scale to stay constant. Its a place to start, but a clearer formula would be nice.

_avonlea__ The going market price (for example a lot of mugs go for $30-$40) along with personal thoughts about the piece, time, and material. Then add 10%-20% that way if it shows in a gallery setting it’s the same price as outside the gallery. Clients then know that’s the price regardless of gallery

Dallasbradbury shared a youtube video from Make Something. In the video you are encouraged to come up with a day rate, at minimum $500 per day. Then figure out your prices based on your day rate plus cost of materials. There will be a link to the video in the show notes.

Hunter_maypottery @acr_art I price my work this way so that my online prices roughly match gallery prices. Prices of pieces may vary based on firing process, glaze, and clay body. Since some take more time and cost me more resources than others.

Annaugustinpottery I use a base price of $12 per pound of wet clay and adjust upwards from there. So a basic 3# bowl starts at $36 and that’s for a bowl that’s not footed. I factor in how many times I handled the pot – footing, carvings, etc. Also, I consider glaze. If I use something other than my normal glazes I might have to account for any additional costs. ?I keep my prices the same across all selling platforms.

Dtaylorsatm There are several warehouse pottery dealers in my area. I am a small batch clay crafter, therefore i price a little below their price to add my creations to the retailers selections.

Indefatigable2 I am the same..time, material and creativity…but then how I feel in the moment really affects it too

Bcoffman_art Everyone says people appreciate high priced items because they see it as quality. If you live in the “Walmart” Midwest, that isn’t true at all. I have to sell at a lower pric point to even make a sale. It’s all about context when selling.

Pinezenpottery I just can’t figure this one out. But I am a total newbie. My friend @snewceramics has impressed upon me the importance of not under pricing my work because it devalues my efforts AND the efforts of other makers to make a living. She also feels that pricing too low eliminates your ability to get wholesale opportunities that can make money. It’s really hard as someone just starting out because I just don’t feel confident enough to price too high. So I started pricing a mug at $22-$25. This last firing I decided to jump it to $33/mug because a lot more work went into each mug. (and 3 is my favorite #) ? this past Saturday I bought one of Mariko’s @foragestudios Wonder Woman mugs for $75 and I wouldn’t even blink to spend that much again on a mug she makes. But as another clay person I can appreciate all the work that went into making that mug a piece of art that also happens to carry my morning coffee to my mouth.

Theclayteapot I’m a newbie and haven’t actually sold anything yet, but I am working in that direction. I’m a logical thinker so I needed to create something I could remember and that seemed fair. Here’s what I’ve come up with (it may change): charge a base price for any object. Larger size – add $5, trimming add $5, additional glazes used $5, (or $5 each depending on design), carving or other decorations add $5, handles, etc add $5. You see where this is going. Quick to add up in my head. So a regular mug with 2 layered glazes and a trimmed foot would end up being $25 if the base price was $10 (for a new potter). I’m not looking to make a lot of money, this is my hobby. Hope that helps, I’d love feedback on my idea.

Foragestudios I think a lot about pricing and what goes into things.. it’s no use trying to compete with Walmart etc, but if you put more one on one love time into say, a one dipped wonder in a souvenir shop then yes.. more than 25 should be your starting line for sure! Plus, if you are giving up to 50 to a gallery you need to seek a price out that makes it worth it just to get up in the morning!! Right?! When I started off I looked at where I wanted to be pricewise, and then looked at my work to see where it was in comparison..when in doubt, ask friends in the business and even gallery owners! Sometimes I find we sort of get blinded by the task and can’t see or evaluate straight!! Enjoy your coffee!!!

Canmorepottery Ideally, I’d like to figure out my hourly wage! By now, 8 years in, I have a pretty good idea of a mug’s worth when I see it. (I see underpriced cups often!) But more creative pieces are really tough. A good mug should never be less than $25.

Hmpottery Pricing is the difficult part and there are a few things I consider. Pricing equals valuing our own art. And I am my own worst critic. But I feel if we don’t believe in ourselves and our Pottery, our buyers won’t either. The value of our pieces is reflected in the $ we put on it. I also feel that a person’s experience, time, and money invested in perfecting their craft should be counted and respected. As I have taken classes, gotten more creative and my own style started emerging, I increased my prices. I have learned to be more confident in my skill, and really believe the value I am putting on my own pottery.

Twistedwoodpro I am a newer potter and at first I just made stuff and gave it away ??I knooow I knooow ? but it made my heart happy n that was payment enough. Now I have a website up n I specialize in necklace Pendants (so unlike mugs … I’ve had a harder time with pricing) I do “one offs” at about $35-$55 depending on complexity and glazes/Time (because I still usually make 3 just in case there is a casualty when sanding or firing) lol! My standard rate has been $25-$35 per piece n that includes a tediously handcrafted wire necklace and quality closure. My close friends n family say it’s to cheap for what I actually do, however I think it’s more important to share the beauty and get my “stuff” out there and shown to the wonderful world ??? (I sure don’t know what’s best or right for everyone, but I would say, follow your heart and your dreams if you live with happiness n love, you’ll never be wrong ?)

Ibtis_pottery where I live ppl are not much into pottery, sometimes I’m the only Potter in the market, my prices have to be low, as I love making pottery I always have loads of it, mostly functional. From the start I decided on my prices by just looking at a piece n say to myself, well I think it should be this much, so I ended up by selling dinner plates for $ 18 , side plates $8 , cereal bowl or soup bowl 13, I’m not so good with handles so I make hand less cups usually smallish $8 platters are around $ 30. I might add a very few dollars if I took more time to decorate or special glaze, I do not make much from selling specially if my kiln is taking time off, then I must pay for firing

Favorite

Piperpottery I believe I’m currently using a dart ? board and a blindfold…

Okay, this may not be the most serious response. But I love it because it helps us see how difficult pricing our work can be.

Claybylaura This is a GREAT question and I look forward to seeing what other people say. I confess my method is not totally scientific. I take into consideration time and materials AND I also try to account for my creativity. I have one or two lower priced items that I consider advertising. I believe I need to have an item that any potential customer can afford; then I try to make them a repeat customer. It does not work every time — but in the long run, has led to future sales. Sometimes I research a little to see what other people charge for items. For me, this is one of the hardest parts of the clay making/selling process.

I love this comment from Clay By Laura. She considers a number of variables and has thought through why she prices things a certain way. But even after all that, it’s still not easy.

Final Thoughts

So, what do you think? Do you have some new ideas to work with when you price your pots? Hopefully you have a little more clarity. I don’t consider myself qualified enough to offer advice on pricing your work but I will say this: Your work and process and situation are not the same as anyone else. So don’t feel like you HAVE price your work a certain way. Figure out what works for you.

There were a few resources mentioned and I’ll have a link for those in the show notes. Go to expertclay.com and click on PODCAST in the top menu to find the list of episodes and you can click on each episode to read the notes.

Here’s another resource you can get your hands on. I’ve written an article at expertclay.com that lists 13 things for you to consider while you price your pots. You can read the article to get a little more detail but the list includes things like:

• Expenses
• Your Time
• Financial Goals
• Creativity / Uniqueness
• Your Experience or Expertise
• Your Market
• Your Customers
• Price of Similar Products
• The Pottery Community
• The Economy
• The Purpose of the Piece You are Pricing
• Supply and Demand
• Your Overall Philosophy

Go to expertclay.com and click on BLOG in the menu to read more about each idea.

Pottery Shirts

And now for the big announcement before we close this episode. Okay, maybe not big… but something pretty cool. If you didn’t already know, I’ve designed some pottery shirts and have sold them through instagram and potterymakinginfo.com for a little while now. But now I have launched a site dedicated to nothing but pottery shirts. Find it, of course, at potteryshirts.com. Now you can get a better selection of shirt styles and colors than before. I still need to make a few small fixes and organize some things but you can order yourself a new shirt as you listen to this. And I’m currently working on a new design made just for the listeners of this podcast. I should have it ready by the time you listen to this so go see if you can find the new design. If you need a hint, just listen to the very end of every MudTalk podcast episode. Head over to potteryshirts.com and take advantage of a special site-launch discount. Yes, for a limited time you can save a few dollars on every shirt that you order to celebrate the new site. Remember, every purchase helps support this podcast, potterymakinginfo.com and expertclay.com.

Thanks again for all your support. In our next episode, we’ll find out what one skill you would like to increase the most. Good luck pricing your pots and until next time, stay muddy.

Resources

Start with Why by Simon Sinek – mentioned in the podcast (affiliate link)

Leave a message: share your thoughts about the podcast!

Expert Clay Blog

Transcript

And we’re back. Finally. If you’ve been following along you may have noticed that there has been a long wait for this episode. I thought over the summer I would have more time… but then I got really busy for a while. Mostly doing awesome things. I’ll probably post some of the awesome things on my instagram @artbyfuzzy. You can check it out there so I don’t have to bore you with the details here.

Anyway, thanks for your patience! This is episode 14 of the MudTalk Podcast and it’s a great one. The topic is: Advice You Would Give Yourself As A Beginner. There were an enormous amount of responses so I trimmed out quite a few that were similar to others. Sorry if your comment didn’t make the cut.

As always, you can check the show notes at expertclay.com. One thing to note before we get started is that the advice offered here was aimed at someone else so some of it may not fit your business, personality, style or situation.

There was a variety of advice. We’ll start with some very general advice and then hear some encouraging words. There was also advice to keep learning and stay focused. At the end we will hear some really practical advice and then a couple of responses that were MY favorite.

General Advice

So let’s start with some general advice, mostly short and sweet.

Pradnyagulwani Let go…

Tara_bane Let it go and it will flow

Veralucile_ Slow down

Terraforms There’s no accounting for taste.

Jay.decker You don’t know if you’ve gone far enough, until you’ve gone too far.

Nicolaashley1101 Practice, practice and practice

S.hellybelly Cut your nails.

Stewartcampbell61 Listen to everyone, ask questions, then do it your way.

Crazikaren Go for the money

Sheri_mccullah Start younger with the Arts.

Sarahbethpottery The ‘perfect pot’ is overrated

Encouragement / Positive Attitude

There were plenty of responses full of encouragement and reminders to have a positive attitude.

Fibromyalgia_fitness If I knew Im going to get all I want, I would never stress and had lots of fun. Stress has made me sick but fun could make me more healthy to enjoy my blessings.

Clay_lady Enjoy the journey of crafting pottery and people you meet along the way.

Yuvikabader Be patient. As the old Indian saying goes, do the work and don’t worry about the outcome. Love these conversations. And this virtual clay community you have created :) thanks!

Highleycrafted Have more confidence in yourself and go for it.

Anni_s_t Have fun and try bolder stuff

Dtaylorsatm Believe in yourself now! Don’t listen to the naysayers! Recognize your limits, but excel in the possibilities.

Musingaboutmud You think it’s fun now? Just you wait… ???it only gets better.

Judykepes Don’t let your negative inner voice rule your thinking- you will look back at your stuff 20 years later and say” wow, that sh**s pretty cool, wonder why I thought it all sucked”

Angeltilpottery Be patient!

Airingout_clay Don’t stop. Do what you love.

Redboatstudio “Patience is a virtue make yourself rich” Very true working with clay :)

Melliferapottery You will get there, so enjoy the ride!

smileygirlartis t It seems like progress is slow now, but be diligent, be patient, and you’ll improve faster than you thought you could! Don’t be afraid to experiment, don’t be afraid to cut something in half, don’t be afraid to try new glazes. You got this!

Dsummrs Stop being so critical of yourself and make stuff every day!

East2westpottery You WILL make a better version of the last thing you made. Keep making.

Earthartam Yes, go for it! It all turns out great! Oh wait…that’s what my younger self told herself.

Ceramic_amateur Don’t get emotionally invested in a piece until it is fully complete and set in place

Hillbippieclayco You’ll solve one problem and another will arise. Keep solving ✌️

Artbygretamichelle Just keep throwing stuff.

Bluee_pottery Your teacher doesn’t always know what your capable of, you can do a lot more than they think you can so just go for it

Hnilebo You can always try again and again and again and…

Michellebowceramics Make space in your life to do this now… buy a pottery wheel… join a pottery club… go for it ??

Kali DG Throw… often, everyday, anytime and under any circumstances…. teach your body to remember so your mind can relax… this is your happy place.

Kerry D Don’t stress about centering! It will happen! Keep practising! ?

Learning? / Improving

Now we’ll hear some advice about learning or improving.

Flowergurl4eva Learn all you can about glazes, before spending lots of money on them.

Woodywood250 Learn all you can. Absorb it like a sponge and don’t ring it out!

Orvietoclayart There is no substitute for putting the time into learning, exploring and experimenting.. to finding your vision and intimately getting to know the medium. Take risks they are short cuts to knowledge downloads ?

Laurieandwilliam You’ll ALWAYS and forever be trying to improve your skills, so relax!

Teval_guner Every mistake teaches you something, so smile at the mistakes you make.

Atomicselection You will get the experience exactly after the point at which it would have been useful.

Wildfirepotterypenn You think you know a lot, but you know less than a drop in the bucket.

Lori W Don’t fuss over individual pieces; focus on gaining skill, not how many pots are on the board at the end of the day.

Focus

There were a few responses about staying focused.

Mepifano Don’t waste time, do this and nothing else.

Jh_ceramics Only make what you enjoy making, NOT what you think other people will like.

Sandywithaq Pick one thing and do it well.

D.nelson.oman.art Give yourself time. Time and focus are your best assets.

Doris L R You don’t have to make production pottery. One piece of art is original. Don’t be bound by perfection. Imperfection is beauty.

Practical Advice

Some of the following responses offer some practical advice.

Crw_designs Great topic. So many ideas…. Don’t take breaks from creating. Involve yourself more with the clay community. Don’t work in your classroom; have your own space.

Ericabodinepottery Work smarter, not harder. If a piece isn’t working out, and it’s taking you longer to fix it than it would to make a whole new piece, make the new piece. Also, sometimes there are days that just aren’t clay days. You know, when nothing is working out. Those days are for working on other things. Cooking, relaxing, or just self reflection. It’s a balance.

Santesalvoni Don’t forget to breathe. Really. Don’t hold your breath. And , slow down. Take a minute to clean the slip off your wheel before thinking of your next pull

Ceramicbianka Cut everything in half.

Bluelotuspottery That I like slab work more than wheel work.

Littleblackberrycreekpots Brace yourself Effie. And don’t forget to come out of the studio long enough to enjoy the other parts of your life, too. And pick some shows in places that you just want to go and see for yourself.

Chadantomlincreations Use the sponge to pull! It wasn’t till someone suggested I use the sponge that I finally was able to make decent pulls.

Mamawikisonfromtheville How important it is to slip and score !?

Christinesteinstudio Measure twice cut once

Casapangea make more pieces

Kathrynburnsclay Throw more pieces away.

Pam E Tester tiles are worth the wait and extra effort! There are no short cuts in pottery making.

Favorites

These last few are a few that stuck out to ME. This part could be a lot longer because there were so many responses that I really loved. But here are 3 of my favorites.

Claybylaura Relax and learn from your mistakes! I’ve learned to enjoy the process as much as the finished product. As a beginner, I wanted to keep everything I made. Now, if the end-result of my effort is flawed and not worth keeping (even after firing), I try to learn from the experience and let go (trash) of the bad result.

Goddessoffire The path you take is right one for you. No matter what path you take.

And a similar idea was shared by

Littlepotteryshop When I first started out I would look at my more accomplished classmates’ work and question my own. I’ve learned to never compare your work or your path in life to anyone else’s. Be inspired, take chances, and take your time and things will evolve beautifully just as they are meant to!

I like the idea that even though we are all working with clay, we are all different. Sometimes I feel like everyone else is telling us, hey, you have to do this or that. You have to have a bunch of instagram followers, you have to fire to a certain temperature, you have to throw 1000 pots per day, you have to use certain glazes, you have to focus on one thing, you have to charge a certain amount for your work, you have to spend more time with your family, you have to do this for the rest of your life, you have to do certain events, you have to get into galleries… and the list goes on. Most of the time people are just offering friendly advice which is actually really nice of them. The problem is that they don’t see things from your perspective. They usually don’t know your situation or your background or your dreams. That’s why it’s important to be careful about comparing yourself to other people. It’s okay to do things your way. I’ve just listened to the audiobook Start with Why by Simon Sinek. One of the things I took away from it was that you have to figure out what you actually want. For example, you may want to get your work into galleries. But why? Do you want to get your work in front of others? Do you want validation that your work is good? Do you want to sell more work? Once you figure out what you really want, can you actually get it by doing something else that fits your situation better? Something to think about as you listen to all the advice out there.

So now, I’ll do just the opposite and tell you some things you HAVE to do! Okay, not really. But I’m going to try to think through what I would tell myself as I was just starting to make pottery and why.

I think the first thing I would tell myself is: Improve your skills. There isn’t really a downside to improving your skills, just investing the time to do it. And the upside can be enormous. The most obvious thing is making better work. More comfortable handles, pots that aren’t so heavy and clunky, better function, better surfaces… improving your skills will just allow you to make better things. But the thing that would benefit ME most is the efficiency. The more skilled I have become, the more efficient I can make things. I can make a bowl in half the time it took me as a beginner. If I start adding up all the pots I’ve made, being more efficient sooner in my journey could have saved a lot of time.

Another benefit of improving my skills to an adequate level is that it is a lot easier to explore different ideas, forms and styles. I could focus more on my own style sooner if I had the skills to do everything I wanted. So, what would this look like? For me, as a wheel thrower, I would just make a lot more pots on the wheel. Instead of throwing a bunch of random forms I would have thrown 20 of the same form and recycled 19 after really studying why I liked one the best. I could have also done exercises just to practice a certain skill. How tall of a cylinder can I make from a certain amount of clay? How thin can I make the walls before it collapses? I think if I would have focused a little more on this kind of stuff right away I would have had more confidence in my work and been able to explore more things sooner. But of course, hindsight is 20/20 and I don’t have any regrets. And one of the great things about working with clay, even as a beginner, is the chance to explore and try new things, and just have a good time.

Another thing I would tell myself is to start a business as soon as I started selling my pots. This would have helped me keep track of my expenses and income a lot better and probably could have had some tax benefits. Plus it was a lot easier than I thought to start a business. Basically, I had to fill out a few forms, pay a couple small fees and then I opened a business account at the local credit union.

One more thing that I would consider telling myself is to start an email list or work on my online presence right from the beginning. Now, I’m mostly including this just because I hear a lot of other people say this. And there isn’t really a downside to doing it other than investing the time. More followers means a bigger audience and a bigger audience usually means better odds to make sales. But I’m still not sure that I would have followed this advice myself. I sell most of my work at local shows. Plus I’m a little more private when it comes to social media. So I’m still finding my own path when it comes to this area.

So what about you? Do you have anything you would tell yourself when you were a beginner? You can leave a message at expertclay.com/mtp. You can also check out the Expert Clay Blog where you will find the latest series of articles about Making the Most of Your Time in the Pottery Studio. As I’m recording this, I also have the next article almost finished so be on the lookout for that.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Our next episode is another good one: How to Price Your Work. Until then, stay muddy.

Resources

Clay companies mentioned:

• Standard Ceramic
• Laguna Clay
• Sheffield Pottery
• New Mexico Clay
• Amaco
• Aardvark Clay
• Highwater Clays
• Valentine Clays
• Plainsman Clays
• Continental Clay
• Keane Ceramics
• Potclays

Transcript

Welcome to episode 13. Now we are getting down to the nuts and bolts. Or should I say the alumina and silica? Because this episode is all about clay. What clay do you use and why do you use it? There was a lot of discussion on this topic which is unsurprising. If you have a bunch of people that are passionate about clay, one of the best topics to talk about is probably clay! Hopefully this episode will give you some things to think about if you want to try a new clay or just need a change.

And remember, if there is something you want to remember or explore, you can find the show notes for this episode, and every episode, at expertclay.com. Just click on “podcast” in the menu and find the right episode. One cool thing about the show notes is that all the names are actually links to the social media account of the person that left the comment so you can get in touch with somebody if you have questions or want to start a secret bmix fanclub or something.

So let’s get to the discussion. Most of the comments are grouped by the manufacturer of the clays mentioned. I saved a few of my favorite responses for the end. I’ll also share 5 things to consider when choosing a clay.

Standard Ceramics

EricaBodinePottery Standard Ceramics 112 Speckled Brown. I love how I can push this clay body to limits other clays won’t tolerate. Need a piece finished in a short time? This clay will make you happy. I love the results the manganese gives. I had someone ask me once if I put glitter in my clay. ?✨?

Elanpottery Standard 182 I love the white canvas it provides while still being sturdy for functional ware and easy to throw with.

Rdceramics Standard 182 no grog. It’s very nice to throw with, good for carving and is a great canvas for my glaze selection

Whimandvigor Love Standard’s 153. It’s an absolute workhorse: works for throwing and handbuilding, fires beautifully, reclaims well.

Stiff.clay.studio I flip flop between Standard 181 and Loafers Glory. Both take glaze like a dream and are delightful to throw with. I’ve even accidentally mixed them together in a slop bucket and the reclaim was fabulous too!

SharonMerchantivy My favorite is Standard 378 because of the richness the color and the speckles add to my glazes after firing. Unfortunately, I don’t have a local supplier now that I’ve moved to MS and am about to start the search for a different clay.

Laguna

Mudandyarn I’m a HUGE fan of Laguna Clay’s speckled stoneware! I just love letting a good chunk of the natural clay show on pots so you can feel the texture and see the beauty of it!

HomemadeTastesBetterOnHandmade Was using primarily Laguna BMix/Wood, but since our studio has become a Laguna Clay distributor, it’s been hard to resist trying other clays. Currently using Laguna/Miller 850 in production, and testing out darker clays, too. Also trying BMix/grog for some wood ash firings.

Claybylaura I use a low fire white Laguna Clay right now. I like playing with Amaco underglaze and Glaze combinations on the textured surface of my pieces with a ‘bright’ color palette. These all seem to play nice together. ( I switched from a different low fire clay about a year ago when I started having problems with glaze popping off a finished piece — even long after flring).

Cedarhillchick Cone 10 B-Mix. It is good for hand building, looks great fired in a gas kiln or wood fired kiln. Also like Ann’s wood & soda clay from NM Clay.

Laurieandwilliam ^6 B mix, red clay, Speckled Buff. All laguna, beautiful throwing properties. Those 3 cover pretty much any mood I’m in!

Gnome_island_studios My all time favorite sculpture clay was Coconut Crackle from #leslieceramics but they discontinued it. Sad. So now BMix and Cassius Basaltic.

Fiddlequick The community studio i use just discontinued what i use (B Clay) so now trying Dover with sand. We’ll see.

Kt_ceramics I use Bmix (no grog). I like the smoothness. The grog hurts my hands too and a small allergic reaction

Pathwaypottery B mix, cone 5. I like how it fires almost white. It is easy and consistent.

Studio4art We work with children in a hands on art studio. We use b-mix ?5. It is smooth, and easy to manipulate for our creators as young as 2, and the white body takes underglazes well.

ChadanTomlinCreations I love working with cone 5 bmix. I just love how smooth and buttery is throws. I haven’t really experimented with many other clay though. But I don’t see myself switching from bmix any time soon.

Sheffield Pottery

Judypeterson 63B from Sheffield Pottery for the last 20 years! Cone 6

New Mexico Clay

Muddypawspottery I use two different clays …a white one that is a great throwing body called wh8 from New Mexico clay and a black clay called chocolate that they started to make after I sent them samples of a discontinued clay I loved and needed. It’s so smooth and once I add my slip I can draw on these pieces like I do with my white clay. Both stand up well to the dry Arizona climate and attachments do esp well with the wh8. I’ve used other companies clay but New Mexico clay is the best and they have superior customer service as well.

Amaco

Britnyballpottery When I had an actual studio in undergrad I mixed my own clay. Porcelain with just a little bit of grog for stability. Now that I have my own home studio and lack the ability to mix my own I’ve been buying Amaco white stoneware

Aardvark

TheHipsterLemon Love the beautiful black body provided by aardvark’s Cassius, absolutely gorgeous clay body.

Octopusceramics Mid fire Nara porcelain ?? it’s so beautifully white without feeling or acting like a finicky porcelain

Annameiceramics Coleman porcelain cone 10 reduction. I like how celadon glazes turn beautifully.

Mas.paloma Coleman ?10 (fired at ?6), Cassius Ballistic (favorite, but stains too much – anyone have any tips for removing/finger guards?) and trying out Nara5 tomorrow!

Highwater

kristihillstudiosI love dark, iron rich clay bodies. Right now my two favorites are Ellen Buff and Brownstone from Highwater.

Madmadepottery I have tried 7 of Highwater clays. Currently I’m obsessed with orange stone and half and half because they have a firing range of cone 6-10. I can fire them in my electric kiln (cone 6) at home, or at a local art school in the gas reduction kiln (cone 10) I guess I like having options! I used to use speckled brownstone but was cautioned that the manganese particles could be bad for your health.

Valentines Clay (UK)

Merskata Audrey Blackman porcelain, it is good for throwing.

Plainsman

Stonecropstudio Fairly new to pottery world. Am using P300 cone 6 “porcelain” produced by Plainsman in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Fine textured and fluid to throw, fires to a lovely white that takes underglaze colours brilliantly. What would I change? It’s expansion rate is pretty high; I’m always anxious about possible crazing in glazes.

Other

Ceramica_carol_tsai Here in Brazil this is a big drama. Clay body offered here have low quality.

Ketner I love our studio recycle. It is such a beautiful color and the grog causes the glaze to be speckled. It is also pretty easy to throw. I’d change the overall regularity. The recycle can sometimes have chunks and lumps in it.

Mike W Since i have chosen to do “Alternative Firing”.. My choice of clay is White Stoneware. The clay is great for Raku, Horsehair, Blackware, Saggar and Barrel Fired ceramics.

Maryan P Right now I use a cone 6-9 white stoneware paper clay from Spain. It’s buttery, strong, and very forgiving. Fires beautifully. Shows color well. Easy to mend if mishaps occur.

Cathy G I have been making pottery and taking classes for a year and I have used hazelnut,brown,raku stoneware,b-mix,and porcelain. Most of these have been set by the teacher for the class, but I have chosen porcelain over other clay twice now. I love the way you can smooth and fold around,stretch to breaking and challenge it to behave and not crack. I hand build and I like to push limits. Here is my teapot at bisque.

Noahkildoo_ceramics I like to use native Pennsylvania clay, I love the grit and sand of throwing natural clay.

Marianwilliamspottery BRT for handbuilding- can’t fault it; white raku for sculptures; Lumina porcelain is the most amazing clay-a dream to throw!

Ritalayman I’m new at pottery. The last clay I bought was a tan speckled. It’s beautiful but is hard to throw (at least for me). I plan on using porcelain next.

Earthartam I use many different kinds, mostly from Georgie’s in Portland OR, because I like variety.

LadyTokioBlue I love the red and white Clay’s from school (because I am still looking for a shop to buy clay from.) I like the red more actually, it stays hydrated longer and it is just smoother all around to wedge.

BrettRobertsCeramics I have used continental mid fire white and have recently started using standard creamy white stoneware cone six. Teaching high school I like to have a versatile clay for my students that I also like aesthetically. I like the lighter color clays for the color response for the students but I often find myself wanting to go drastically different such as terra-cottas or cinnamon colored clays. There is just simply too many options in the world of clay

Artbygretamichelle I’m a porcelain and stoneware gal. Mostly porcelain. It started out as a challenge accepted kind of thing. I read when I started out that porcelain was this diva clay which got my back up. Now however, we have come to love each other: the smoothness, the way it throws or handbuilds, the way it accepts surface treatments and glazes…beautiful. I use DL porcelain ^10 from potclays and Norma’s porcelain ^10 and frost porcelain ^6 from Laguna. Would love to try some Helios, Coleman or Limoge if I could get my hands on them. I would change the way frost cracks so easily and make it easily available here.

Anna R I use a mix of clays depending on what I am making. Sculpture or functional and different firings. So stoneware,porcelain, raku and white or buff.

Favorites

Muddyhands789 I use a recipe that I formulated during undergrad. It is a white stoneware that has high grog & sand because I am heavy-handed while throwing. It also has Lincoln Fireclay in it for the possibility of atmospheric firings, and can is stable from ^6 – ^14. My clay body fires out bright white with dirty speckles of iron in an electric kiln, and blushes beautiful oranges & peaches in salt & wood kilns. I have the recipe sent to Laguna to be mixed & sent back in 50lb dry mix bags, so that all I have to do is add water. It’s perfect everytime!

Thanks MuddyHands for this very detailed reply. This seems to be a brilliant option if you can make it work. Of course, developing your own clay recipe will probably take a lot of time and testing but you can get just the right characteristics. Another great idea to save time is to have someone else mix the clay for you. I bet shipping clay in dry powder form is much cheaper than shipping it moist but that means you have to take the time to add water yourself. So, just like choosing any commercial clay, there are plenty of things to consider. Maybe for some of you, this option is something that will fit your situation better than what you are doing now.

Pottermiller There isn’t enough space on Instagram to answer that question. Currently working in 5 bodies because glazes do different things on different bodies….. it’s not a one size fits all solution.

This is very true. Instead of trying new glazes, you could try a new clay and quite possibly double your color palette. Though for some, it’s tricky to use more than one clay body in a small space or with limited resources, it’s a lot of fun to try new clays.

MudworksP.A. Sheffield Pottery mixes a clay for us here at MudWorks. We get it screened, and delivered in batches of five tons at a time. It is beige in color and works well for throwing and handbuilding. When I decided twenty plus years ago to open a studio that offered classes I made the decision to have only one clay type so as not to have scraps of different colors and cone temps being mixed together. I wanted to make functional pieces, so I chose a midrange beige and then developed my glazes to work with that clay. Haven’t changed my mind since, though I’ve been tempted to experiment with other clays! Til now, I’ve stuck with this.

Thanks Mudworks for this response which shows some of the benefits to using just one clay.

Tombhala I love all the clay! Throw any type at me and I will try it out:) from porcelain to grogzilla to super short local clay straight out the earth. The action is the reward! Give thanks everyone, every time you sit at the wheel it is a gift of experience, an opportunity to surrender to the clay, listen and learn. You are a potter and not a politician, and that is a good thing. Stay muddy!

Stay muddy indeed, Tombhala! I love the attitude of experimentation. Sometimes I wish I could just try all the different clays. See how they throw, how my glazes change on each one, how they look in different firing environments. I also agree that it is a gift to sit at the wheel and work with clay. There are a lot less interesting things that you could be doing. Thank you for your inspiring comment.

Here’s a random thought for today: As I was reading through the comments, one of my first thoughts was: “I wonder if I could guess what region of the country or world most of you are from, just based on the clay that you use?” It seems like clay is regional. I assume mostly because the cost of shipping compared to the cost of the actual product. It sounds like some of you use clay that comes from outside your home region and I’m sure clay companies keep extending their reach but I wonder what the actual numbers look like?

Anyway, here at the end I’ll share a few things you can consider while choosing a clay body. And, a quick side note: I’m just about to record the last few videos for my first course at expert clay. The course is an introduction to making pottery for complete beginners and the next video will be about how to choose a clay. So this is the perfect fit.

I use two clays by Amaco, Warm Brown Stoneware and Buff Stoneware. Here are a few things I considered while choosing a clay that works best for me.

Glaze fit

Make sure your glazes fit the clay or you could get a lot of glaze faults such as crazing and shivering. The two clays I use work well with almost all my glazes.

Shrinkage and absorption

If you make functional pots you don’t want the bare clay to absorb too much water. One thing I like about my clays is that they have low absorption rates when fired to the temperature that I fire to. Firing temperature is one of the variables that affects absorption and shrinkage so check with the manufacturer to see how your clay performs at your firing temperature.

Texture / grog

I prefer smooth clay with little or no texture most of the time. The warm brown stoneware has a little tooth to it but I don’t mind a little bit. You have to use a clay that fits your own process. If you do a lot of intricate carving, you probably don’t want a clay with a lot of texture.

Color

The color of the clay can really affect the look of glazes. One reason I like using a lighter and a darker clay is because it’s almost like I have twice as many glazes because most of them look different on the two different clays.

Price

Price can be an important factor for what clay you choose. Generally, the more expensive clay is purer or made from more expensive materials. You can buy the most expensive clay but if it doesn’t fit you or your process, it isn’t going to help you at all. One other thing to consider is the price and convenience of getting the clay to your location. Moist clay can cost a lot to ship. One of the major reasons I use two amaco clays is because the local art store has them in stock 20 minutes away. It isn’t the highest quality clay, in fact, it’s marketed more toward schools, but it is convenient to get and pretty cheap. So, since it fits my process, I’m happy to use it for many different things.

Alright, that concludes our episode. And remember if you want to leave a comment, you can go to expertclay.com/mtp and share your thoughts about this episode or any episode in the past or in the future. And look for new mudtalk monday topics you can participate in soon on the Pottery Making Info social media accounts.

The topic for our next episode is: what advice would you give yourself if you could talk to yourself when you were a beginner. So until then, stay muddy.

Also, here is another project that I’ve been working on that seems to fit this episode:

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Order clay shirt here.

In this episode we will discover who has had the greatest influence in our work.

Resources

Sign up to be a featured maker!

Jim Rohn quotes

Transcript

Thank you for listening. This is episode number 12. In this episode, many of you shared who has had the biggest influence on your work. This is an interesting question to me because most of us are influenced by so many different people. There were a few responses about the influence of nature and family. A couple people noted the influence of teachers or instructors. Most of the responses mentioned other potters as a dominant influence. We’ll hear those comments and at the end I’ll share a few of my favorite responses and try to pick just one person as the biggest influence for my own work. Before we get started, I just want to apologize again for any mispronunciations that I have surely made and will make. If I mess up your name, let me know. Now, let’s get to the responses.

Nature

Mimiho_cat,  Dowidat.ceramics, and Tselut_official all said that nature is their biggest influence.

Teerraku The universe

Family

Jeikobu_jeikobu My mom.

Teachers / Professors

Studio2ceramics Our college ceramics professor has had so much influence on our work. His compassion and generosity is something we want to always express in clay. ❤

Octopusceramics Definitely my art teachers, mainly the one I have now at the studio I go to! Now that I’m on Instagram too, there are so many potters that inspire me every day

Other Potters

A majority of the responses mentioned other ceramic artists and potters.

Claybylaura It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve had some incredible teachers and influencers along the way. Most recently, @amysanderspottery opened my eyes and taught me incredible hand building techniques that I use in my current creations. She is a warm, funny and very giving instructor in addition to being a fantastic clay role model!

Judykepes As a kid it was Durer, as a young adult I worked for Richard Shaw and studied with Ron Nagle both of whom influenced my world view not just my art. Huge debt of gratitude to them.

Jude_prevost_ceramics I have had many teachers who influenced me and watched a wide variety of ceramic artists for inspiration… My husband brings me textures and tools he creates at work that have a big influence on what I decide to create… But I took a workshop a few years ago from #judyweeden and as a handbuilder her tips and info were priceless. She taught me about timing, about leather, soft leather and how to join pieces at any stage… That by far was the biggest influence on how I treat the clay and how I work with each piece

Mudsmoke Deborah Shapiro is a legend.

Claritatrucco To me @tortus

Jpiercepottery Without a doubt @jenallenceramics is the person that has influenced me the most!

Gnome_island_studios I’m learning a lot from my fellow sculptors @redbrickceramics This weekend @tom_michelson gave me a lot to ponder. @joethrows helped me save a piece recently. In the past @medicatedlimbs and @artknok taught me a bunch, as did @ryanmccullen

Sallyannesadler Soji Hamada. Marianne de Trey. Bernard Leach. Peter Lane. John Takehara. And Lucie Rie.

Woodywood250 Susie bowman!

Skunke1 Jean-nicolas gerrard

Laura S It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve had some incredible teachers and influencers along the way. Most recently, @amysanderspottery opened my eyes and taught me incredible hand building techniques that I use in my current creations. She is a warm, funny and very giving instructor in addition to being a fantastic clay role model!

Anna R I think Lucie Rie and Diana Fayt. The first for shape the second for decoration.

Maggie T ron meyers

Other

Tracymurphyceramicartist Myself. I’m the only one I do this for.

Anyguelmann As a child and teen, my mom, the artistic polymath. As an adult, working at @etsy and watching incredible Etsy sellers make a living off of their creativity and talent.

Pathwaypottery To be honest I’ve learned more from YouTube than I did at school. I didn’t realize how much I hadn’t been taught until I got out on my own.

Favorites

Ginger barr heafey I am surprised by my own answer…my husband. He gives an honest critique, is encouraging, and appreciates my labor of love. Thanks for making me think about this!

You’re welcome Ginger. I’m glad that you shared your answer with us. And I have to agree. After thinking about it, one of my biggest influences is my wife. She says she doesn’t have a creative bone in her body. And maybe she doesn’t influence my actual pots that much. But her overall influence is amazing. She supports me and my work, in many ways. She is always encouraging but isn’t afraid to be honest if she doesn’t like something. She takes care of the family finances so I can focus on my business finances. She takes care of the kids and the housework so I have time to work on my pots after my day job if I want. I haven’t talked her into actually helping make pots or mixing glazes or loading the kiln but she will share ideas for new work or tell me why she likes or doesn’t like pots that I make or we see from other potters. She even helps me run the booth at some shows. So thanks to my wife and Ginger’s husband and all the other supportive partners out there.

Glaze_thepotterystudio Hands Down, my family and life all around me. Just can(‘t) pick one. ? so many influences floating all around us!

I think this is my favorite response because it’s closest to what I would say. It is natural for the people that you are closest to, to influence you the most. It has even been said by Jim Rohn that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I’m not sure of the specifics but this idea seems to make a lot of sense. Growing up I spent a lot of time with my parents. And considering my very DNA came from theirs, they have had a tremendous influence on me. Both have been very supportive of my own creative endeavours and provided me with plenty of opportunities. My dad had a pole barn while I was growing up and it was filled with woodworking tools and materials. My brother and I got to go out there a lot and build things and destroy stuff and just explore a lot of things. My mom was always engaged in some kind of creative activity from oil painting and stained glass to basket weaving and quilting. They were both always working on something and I think that has shaped my own idea of self worth being related to creating things. So in a foundational sort of way, my parents and other family members have set me on a path to create and eventually I found my way to clay.

All the teachers I’ve had have influenced me to varying degrees. I’m sure my ceramics professor at Huntington University has influenced my work more than I can even imagine. Professor Coffman taught me how to throw, mix clay and glazes and fire kilns. It would be interesting to see if my work would be much different if someone else had taught me with their own spin on the basics.

As for directly influencing my work, I’d have to say that other potters have had a lot of influence. As I’ve mentioned before I’ve incorporated into my own work some things that I appreciate in work by potters that live near me. Listen to episode 5 if you want to hear more about that. I’m also inspired by plenty of potters online. Sometimes it’s not even an exact technique or a certain design element. Sometimes I just look at all the amazing work on Instagram and Pinterest and think, “Look at the detail on the bottom of that mug, I should put a little more effort into mine instead of just a plain clay foot.

If I had to pick just one person with the most influence, at this point, I would have to flip a coin with Dick Lehman on one side and Justin Rothshank on the other. You may not be able to tell at first glance if you looked at my work alongside Dick or Justin’s. At least I hope it’s not too obvious.

work by Justin Rothshank via rothshank.com

But I probably wouldn’t be making antique world map mugs or maybe not even using decals at all if it weren’t for Justin. I learned the technique from him years ago during classes and workshops and then I’ve had a chance to see how far he has taken the technique in his own work. He didn’t teach me just the technique, he has inspired me to think about how the decals can be part of the whole surface, all the way around. I also like his loose throwing style. I still throw relatively tight forms to begin with but I like to add a little “wonk” to make each piece a little different.

work by Dick Lehman via michianapotterytour.com

Dick has had a similar influence. I’ve started to experiment with a little more texture on my pots after seeing some of his techniques. He has also inspired me to develop some glaze combinations that work well on texture and really add a lot of interest to the surface. Some of his wood and soda fired pots are just unbelievable. I don’t fire in these environments a lot but I like to put glazes together that will add a certain randomness to the surface. I also am fascinated with the way he can tell a story with his work and include such organic forms and gesture. I still like I’m focusing most of my attention on the details of function so I haven’t advanced that far yet. But I do think about it a lot.

So, these two guys have been the biggest influence on my work so far. But with technology, I feel like there have been, and will be, many potters that influence my work that I haven’t even met in person. Too many to name right now. Maybe we’ll have to have a topic about your favorite potters of instagram.

And speaking of influence, if you didn’t listen to the last episode, I have a couple ways that you may be able to connect with some other potters and clay artists. On the Expert Clay blog we will start a featured maker series. If you are interested in sharing about yourself and your work send a note to [email protected] so I know you’re interested and I’ll send you the details. By the time you are listening to this episode, I hope to finalize a place to send your information.

I’ll also be starting an Expert Insight series. This will be a little different and will highlight part of the process that you really enjoy or that makes your work unique. And I’m open to other ways to allow other people to participate and share their thoughts and work. So let me know if you have some good ideas.

Remember, you can leave a review for the MudTalk Podcast on itunes or the Play Store. You can also share your thoughts at expertclay.com/mtp about any of the topics that have been covered.

Thanks for listening and thanks especially to all of you who shared your biggest influence. In the next episode we’ll discover what kind of clay many of you use and why you use it. Until then, stay muddy.