My favorite part of being an artist has always been the making—I love becoming totally immersed in a project or process. If there’s the opportunity to streamline, make a template or custom jig, or build up muscle memory for each step in executing a task, I’m in. It’s satisfying to make progress in a studio equipped with trusty tools along with a honed foundation of material knowledge and a mind open to problem solving. This issue is focused on the tools, skills, and resources artists employ to make ceramics.
Ryan Coppage makes a case for the small kiln as a tool for iterative investigation. By quickly firing just a few pieces, the pressure to make what works or what sells is lessened, making room forexploration and growth.
In this issue’s Studio Visit, Kyla Strid invites readers into her renovated split-level garage workspace, which thoughtfully provides designated areas for each step of her pottery-making process. In the Tips and Tools article, Kim Mitchell shares the keys to her own successful garage-to-studio conversion. The result is an efficient, inspiring workspace.
Lauren Kearns shares the work and practice of Barbara Lormelle, whose work, shown on this issue’s cover, merges simple forms with saturated, overlapping glazes. Testing and mastery of material are crucial to the success of these understated vessels. In the Techno File, Gabriel Kline provides a framework for making the most of a limited number of glazes by combining and testing.
Proof that a path to clay needn’t be linear, Nina Gerada, Jenny Sabin, and Yael Braha incorporate skills and perspectives garnered from different fields and backgrounds into their work. Tim Saunders shares how Nina Gerada’s previous career in architecture and design informs her sculptural ceramics centered on memory and environment. Jenny Sabin’s roots in ceramics have allowed for groundbreaking progress in 3D printing and architectural research through the development of PolyBricks. Susan McHenry describes how Yael Braha’s lived experiences and studies in filmmaking converge in a relatively recent shift to ceramics. Braha goes on to enumerate several ways to add new technologies to clay processes—like CNC milling and
3D printing—in her Monthly Method.
Influenced by natural elements of the Shetland Islands, Katie Rose Johnston makes organic, compartmentalized forms to house found objects. With a sensitivity to place and environment as sources of inspiration, a residency in Japan was especially invigorating and prompted new exploration.
In this issue, we link to our annual online listing of residencies and fellowships. If you’re able to carve out a week, a month, or a year to pursue your practice, a residency provides space, facilities, community support, and new surroundings to make the most of that creative time.
Our Spotlight offers a conversation with Judi Hardwood of The Village Potters Clay Center. Having included an article on the center’s space and community in Ceramics Monthly just last spring, it’s truly shocking to see the damage caused by Hurricane Helene this fall. With a shift in mindset and community support, the center’s leadership has begun making plans to rebuild. Their story is a reminder that many continue to be impacted by destruction, and that support from the larger clay community is essential.
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My favorite part of being an artist has always been the making—I love becoming totally immersed in a project or process. If there’s the opportunity to streamline, make a template or custom jig, or build up muscle memory for each step in executing a task, I’m in. It’s satisfying to make progress in a studio equipped with trusty tools along with a honed foundation of material knowledge and a mind open to problem solving. This issue is focused on the tools, skills, and resources artists employ to make ceramics.
Ryan Coppage makes a case for the small kiln as a tool for iterative investigation. By quickly firing just a few pieces, the pressure to make what works or what sells is lessened, making room for exploration and growth.
Lauren Kearns shares the work and practice of Barbara Lormelle, whose work, shown on this issue’s cover, merges simple forms with saturated, overlapping glazes. Testing and mastery of material are crucial to the success of these understated vessels. In the Techno File, Gabriel Kline provides a framework for making the most of a limited number of glazes by combining and testing.
Proof that a path to clay needn’t be linear, Nina Gerada, Jenny Sabin, and Yael Braha incorporate skills and perspectives garnered from different fields and backgrounds into their work. Tim Saunders shares how Nina Gerada’s previous career in architecture and design informs her sculptural ceramics centered on memory and environment. Jenny Sabin’s roots in ceramics have allowed for groundbreaking progress in 3D printing and architectural research through the development of PolyBricks. Susan McHenry describes how Yael Braha’s lived experiences and studies in filmmaking converge in a relatively recent shift to ceramics. Braha goes on to enumerate several ways to add new technologies to clay processes—like CNC milling and 3D printing—in her Monthly Method.
In this issue, we link to our annual online listing of residencies and fellowships. If you’re able to carve out a week, a month, or a year to pursue your practice, a residency provides space, facilities, community support, and new surroundings to make the most of that creative time.
Our Spotlight offers a conversation with Judi Hardwood of The Village Potters Clay Center. Having included an article on the center’s space and community in Ceramics Monthly just last spring, it’s truly shocking to see the damage caused by Hurricane Helene this fall. With a shift in mindset and community support, the center’s leadership has begun making plans to rebuild. Their story is a reminder that many continue to be impacted by destruction, and that support from the larger clay community is essential.
Unfamiliar with any terms in this article? Browse our glossary of pottery terms!
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