Ceramics Monthly Articles (Simple)

My pottery-making cycles tend to ebb and flow as needed, with upticks occurring as deadlines approach.

Focusing on efficiency, consistency, and growth, their days are divided between the production-based and invisible work of being self-employed artists.

Because the studio is also my home, there is little separation between living and working, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When I began on this journey, it was going against what I perceived to be my better judgment. It is often programmed into us by society that making a living as an artist is nigh impossible, and I was subject to this lack of self-belief.

There are no straight lines in the journey. Even though I’m one of those people who could say I’ve known since I was seven that I wanted to be an artist in some way.

Taking a scientific approach to adapting traditional art techniques from one media on to another can result in new and approachable aesthetics.

When exploring new eco-friendly building materials, the smartest thing to do may be to look at still-standing ancient buildings and structures and ask, why and how?

For potters who want easy studio solutions, here’s my quick-fix—a plaster-free damp box.

In 2009, in South Korea, I asked myself a question. Is tradition merely a past to be preserved or a value that is still alive today? Seventeen years later, I am still working from that question.

In a community studio, managing and processing reclaim can be a full-time job. One owner, looking for an efficient solution, added a floor-heating unit to his plaster table to better manage the needs of the studio.

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions.

What motivated you to write a technical book that focused directly on food-safe glaze recipes?

When did soda firings replace salt firings, and why? Take a closer look at the history, fired characteristics, and practical considerations of both firing styles for contemporary studio practices.

I have needed (and wanted) to do pottery every day since then, and have worked tirelessly to be able to call it my full-time job.

These four reliable recipes, pulled from our archive and provided by past Ceramics Monthly Working Potters Dawn Candy (2020) and Justin Rothshank (2022), get a lot of use in their studios.

Deadlines for exhibitions, fairs, and festivals.

My work investigates feminism and LGBTQ+ experiences through the lens of human/animal relationships, interweaving the beauty of the natural world, the poetry of the human condition, and the gravity of the sociopolitical issues.

Just a short walk from her home, Mel Arsenault’s studio boasts high ceilings, plenty of worktable space, and room to dream of more storage and a dedicated painting space for her richly glazed flora and fauna vessels.