Pottery Making Illustrated Articles (Simple)

In the age of digital communication and quick posting to social media, the letter to the editor has become a lost art of critical writing.

I grew up in a family of artists. One of the greatest inspirations in life was visiting my grandparents’ house filled with pottery and sculpture. Each piece, made by hand, adorned the kitchen and the

The drawer pull can be any form or shape, as long as it's comfortable and thick enough to allow for the hardware.

When planning the shape of the bottle, I often look to historical pots for inspiration while layering in my own personal interests onto the composition. Over time I’ve gravitated toward incorporating

Designing and making pitchers is both exciting and challenging. There are considerations such as leverage, balance, and the movement of liquids as well as aesthetic concerns. Making a pitcher perfect

In my pottery, I try to create an opportunity for reverie or a feeling of emergent possibility. I have vivid childhood memories of reading stories filled with magical gardens and underground forests m

Bread and pots, comforting and enriching, come together to make an exciting baking experience using a bread cloche! A cloche is a covered container that traps steam from the dough while baking, result

The inspiration for the pentalobe plate and mollusk set came primarily from my direct experiences with the natural environment. As a child, I spent countless hours at the beach or in the bays at low t

Functional ceramics provide a unique opportunity for collectors to interact with fine art on an intimate level. These pieces are often designed to be held in the hands or placed against the lips. They

Glazing large work requires some special techniques. For work that’s larger than any bucket you may have, there are still several ways to get an even coat of glaze. These techniques can require more t

The sound of an entire stack of pots falling over in a wood kiln at peak temperature isn’t as bad as you’d think. There’s no loud crash. Instead it’s a low, hollow sound dulled by the sticky, pyroplas

When I first walked into the clay classroom at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, I was simply clay curious.

Applying for and getting approved for a business loan can be challenging. The more you’re prepared and the lower your overhead is, the better. Your largest expense is mostly likely the location of you

An invitation to participate in the exhibition “Decadence of Display: Ceramics for Dessert” at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, in January 2017 provided a sweet distraction from my production work

Drawings adapted from Robin Hopper’s book Functional Pottery, published by The American Ceramic Society and available on the Ceramic Arts Network Shop.

Envision a cabin or a woven basket: both are constructed in a linear manner and demonstrate a labor of love. In the cabin, one log is stacked carefully atop the others, while in the basket, one pass o

I began painting as a child, learning oil painting before I was 10. Although I took a lot of ceramics courses in college, I majored in painting and printmaking. A few years after graduating, I found m

When I switched to handbuilding from wheel throwing, I had to rethink how to make handles that best reflected the feel of my handbuilt work, so I began exploring. A few times a year, I set aside a pla

In all of my ceramic work, including glazed stoneware bowls with faceted planes and cut feet, I seek to integrate form with surface design and glaze color. The form of a bowl and the cut foot guide an

I’ve always appreciated ornamentation and its ability to elevate the ordinary into something magnificent. I’m driven to create work that’s beautiful in its precision and attention to detail and I appr