Ceramics Monthly Articles (Simple)

Joe Thompson details mug handle design, explaining how shape, size, space, leverage, and friction affect comfort and stability. He urges ergonomic considerations while showing how thoughtful handle choices can balance function and aesthetics.

While silicon carbide builds rich, textural surfaces, it can dull the brilliance of accompanying stains. Find out how the addition of a common flocculant can retain hue saturation in your foaming glazes.

Adapted pipettes, grip tape, and an applicator tip make up the key components of an inexpensive and ergonomic underglaze applicator built to mimic delicate tattoo lines.

While not food safe, these surfaces show that unexpected glaze “defects” can turn out to be the perfect texture for non-functional, sculptural works.

When glazes overlap, the results can be surprising, perhaps at the rim of a vessel or after spraying, dipping, splashing, or painting one over the other.

Information on submitting work for exhibitions, fairs, and festivals.

Jeff Campana’s and Hope Limyansky-Smith’s teaching classrooms became development labs for their company, Blue Bucket Tools, as they collaborated on ceramic tools built for adaptivity and heavy use.

We’re all learning and adapting our practices alongside one another in search of different magical combinations, and are fortunate to keep trying within such a generous community of curious troubleshooters.

Devoted time and space to pursue your practice—sound appealing? Learn more about residencies here.

Brian Boldon balances technology with human expression. After decades in public art, personal loss led him back to experimental ceramic sculpture.

Janice Cormier creates intuitive sculptural vessels and wall pieces from wild clay and foraged materials, drawing on Acadian landscapes, memory, and emotion.

Historic textiles and interior patterning provide jumping-off points for Joanna Poag to intuitively explore composition, color relationships, and express the fullness of her life with playful confidence.

Inspired by his collection of vintage toys and Vans shoes, Chris Alveshere’s practice—mixing vibrant clay colors, assembling whimsical forms, and embracing joyful experimentation—defines a distinctly bold, energetic artistic voice.

Embracing her natural surroundings, Grace Potter invites us into her shared studio, nestled in a redwood forest, where wild clay, bird songs, and inspiration are abundant.

Using common non-ceramic tools to assist with clay construction and decorating challenges helped Dawn Hintgen get back into a studio rhythm after a medical event.

With educators on the premises during all open hours, members have unlimited access to creative support and community in this women-founded, owned, and operated studio in Houston, Texas.

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

Here’s a simple trick I learned early on that makes the whole process smoother—no more wrestling with stubborn clay ribbons.

I hope the stories and work of the artists in the following pages remind you that it’s never too late to start over, try something new, or look at something from another perspective.