If Lorna Meaden wasn't such a nice person, I might be a bit jealous of her dreamy Durango, Colorado, pottery studio. But she's a pal and I just have to be happy for her. And, of course, I know this studio is the result of years and years of hard work. As Lorna explains, she worked harder than she ever imagined she could to make this happen. You go girl!
Today, in an excerpt from the March 2011 issue of Ceramics Monthly, Lorna gives us a peek into her 650-square-foot studio and tells us all about how she made it a reality. She also explains that the key to keeping herself creatively charged is to balance her studio life with her life outside the studio. - Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor
Just the Facts
Clay porcelain
Primary forming method throwing on the wheel
Primary firing temperature cone 10 reduction soda
Favorite surface treatment slip inlay
Favorite tools
my newly built soda kiln
Studio
I have a new (finished just a year ago) studio that is 650 square feet, located on the property where I live. No matter how big it seemed when it was first built, it always seems like it could be bigger.
After finishing graduate school in June of 2005, I spent three years doing residencies and teaching short-term adjunct positions. While back in Durango for a visit, unsure whether I would stay or not, an opportunity to buy a piece of property from a friend fell in my lap. While initially intimidated by what seemed apparently impossible, over several months and many long conversations with friends and family, I came up with a plan to “make it work,” and dove in.
The property, where I have now lived for two and a half years, is three in-town lots with two small houses that were in need of a lot of work. With the help of my family, I got the larger of the two houses in rental condition, and the smaller house converted into a temporary combination of studio and living space. Over the following year, my brother and his friend built my new studio building that my father designed. After living and working in a 450-square-foot space for a year and a half, I happily moved my workspace out of my house and into the 650-square-foot studio. It’s a two-story, barn-shaped building, and I love the rounded ceiling and the great view from the upstairs window.
I throw, assemble, and decorate in the upstairs space, and slip cast and glaze downstairs. One of the best things about my property is that I have room to grow. Years from now, I hope to build a house that I live in, and then make my little house where I currently live available for an apprentice.
Adjacent to the studio building is a 90-square-foot shed for tools, glaze chemicals, and my electric kiln. In between the two buildings is my new soda kiln that was built (with the help of generous friends) this past fall. The design of the kiln is based on the “little vic” kiln at Anderson Ranch Arts Center. It is a small boury-box style cross-draft kiln that can be fired with wood, natural gas, or oil. The kiln building project was funded through selling pots, and the small retirement fund I saved up and cashed in from teaching adjunct for three years.
When I finished graduate school almost six years ago, I never imagined I would be able to afford, maintain, or manifest a home and studio of my own, although that has always been my intention. Currently, my rental house helps financially sustain the property. The fact that I’m willing to live in such a small space helps. After all, doesn’t everyone dream of a studio bigger than their house? People often ask me, “Can you believe it? You are living the dream!” I do think I am very fortunate. This home and studio have already brought me so much happiness and stability, and I can only believe it because I had to work harder than I ever imagined I could in order to begin to see it materialize. I’ve always liked the saying, “the harder you work, the luckier you are,” and I have found that to be true in most things.
Paying Dues (and Bills)
I learned to throw in high school, and went to get a bachelor of arts degree in art from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and then a master of fine arts degree in ceramics from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Though it varies widely, I spend about 40 hours per week in the studio. I teach one ceramics class, adjunct, at Fort Lewis College, and I travel to teach quite a few workshops a year.
Mind
The older I get, the more I feel like I need a balance in my life to be able to be creative. In other words, I am more productive in my studio if I am also getting enough sunshine, laughing hard with my friends, traveling outside the small town where I live, and exposing myself to places and things I’ve never seen before.
Body
I work out anywhere from three to five days a week. Exercise seems to be the only thing that wards off the pain of years of repetitive movement. I currently have no health insurance, but my goal is to get it within the next year.
Marketing
Currently, all of my work is sold through galleries. My goal is to sell half of my work through my studio and on my website. The advantages to gallery sales are the broader market they reach and the sales knowledge and experience of gallery owners. The disadvantages are packing and shipping the work and giving up a percentage of sales.
I feel that all the traveling I do to teach workshops has been a great way to expand the market for my work. In the past, entering juried shows was a way that new galleries would see my work.
I know that the Internet is a valuable and powerful tool, but I don’t really like computers, and I especially don’t like spending my time sitting in front of, or staring at, one. I definitely participate in online sales, emailing, networking, etc.; however, my philosophy is that if making good work and keeping it interesting is my first priority, everything else will follow.
Most Valuable Lesson
Be resourceful and stay out of debt. Also, find a way to have enough concentrated work time without spending too much time alone.
Search the Daily
Published Mar 7, 2011
Today, in an excerpt from the March 2011 issue of Ceramics Monthly, Lorna gives us a peek into her 650-square-foot studio and tells us all about how she made it a reality. She also explains that the key to keeping herself creatively charged is to balance her studio life with her life outside the studio. - Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor
Just the Facts
Clay porcelain
Primary forming method throwing on the wheel
Primary firing temperature cone 10 reduction soda
Favorite surface treatment slip inlay Favorite tools my newly built soda kiln
Studio
I have a new (finished just a year ago) studio that is 650 square feet, located on the property where I live. No matter how big it seemed when it was first built, it always seems like it could be bigger.
After finishing graduate school in June of 2005, I spent three years doing residencies and teaching short-term adjunct positions. While back in Durango for a visit, unsure whether I would stay or not, an opportunity to buy a piece of property from a friend fell in my lap. While initially intimidated by what seemed apparently impossible, over several months and many long conversations with friends and family, I came up with a plan to “make it work,” and dove in.
The property, where I have now lived for two and a half years, is three in-town lots with two small houses that were in need of a lot of work. With the help of my family, I got the larger of the two houses in rental condition, and the smaller house converted into a temporary combination of studio and living space. Over the following year, my brother and his friend built my new studio building that my father designed. After living and working in a 450-square-foot space for a year and a half, I happily moved my workspace out of my house and into the 650-square-foot studio. It’s a two-story, barn-shaped building, and I love the rounded ceiling and the great view from the upstairs window.
I throw, assemble, and decorate in the upstairs space, and slip cast and glaze downstairs. One of the best things about my property is that I have room to grow. Years from now, I hope to build a house that I live in, and then make my little house where I currently live available for an apprentice.
Adjacent to the studio building is a 90-square-foot shed for tools, glaze chemicals, and my electric kiln. In between the two buildings is my new soda kiln that was built (with the help of generous friends) this past fall. The design of the kiln is based on the “little vic” kiln at Anderson Ranch Arts Center. It is a small boury-box style cross-draft kiln that can be fired with wood, natural gas, or oil. The kiln building project was funded through selling pots, and the small retirement fund I saved up and cashed in from teaching adjunct for three years.
When I finished graduate school almost six years ago, I never imagined I would be able to afford, maintain, or manifest a home and studio of my own, although that has always been my intention. Currently, my rental house helps financially sustain the property. The fact that I’m willing to live in such a small space helps. After all, doesn’t everyone dream of a studio bigger than their house? People often ask me, “Can you believe it? You are living the dream!” I do think I am very fortunate. This home and studio have already brought me so much happiness and stability, and I can only believe it because I had to work harder than I ever imagined I could in order to begin to see it materialize. I’ve always liked the saying, “the harder you work, the luckier you are,” and I have found that to be true in most things.
Paying Dues (and Bills)
I learned to throw in high school, and went to get a bachelor of arts degree in art from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and then a master of fine arts degree in ceramics from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Though it varies widely, I spend about 40 hours per week in the studio. I teach one ceramics class, adjunct, at Fort Lewis College, and I travel to teach quite a few workshops a year.
Mind
The older I get, the more I feel like I need a balance in my life to be able to be creative. In other words, I am more productive in my studio if I am also getting enough sunshine, laughing hard with my friends, traveling outside the small town where I live, and exposing myself to places and things I’ve never seen before.
Body
I work out anywhere from three to five days a week. Exercise seems to be the only thing that wards off the pain of years of repetitive movement. I currently have no health insurance, but my goal is to get it within the next year.
Marketing
Currently, all of my work is sold through galleries. My goal is to sell half of my work through my studio and on my website. The advantages to gallery sales are the broader market they reach and the sales knowledge and experience of gallery owners. The disadvantages are packing and shipping the work and giving up a percentage of sales.
I feel that all the traveling I do to teach workshops has been a great way to expand the market for my work. In the past, entering juried shows was a way that new galleries would see my work.
I know that the Internet is a valuable and powerful tool, but I don’t really like computers, and I especially don’t like spending my time sitting in front of, or staring at, one. I definitely participate in online sales, emailing, networking, etc.; however, my philosophy is that if making good work and keeping it interesting is my first priority, everything else will follow.
Most Valuable Lesson
Be resourceful and stay out of debt. Also, find a way to have enough concentrated work time without spending too much time alone.
Unfamiliar with any terms in this article? Browse our glossary of pottery terms!
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