Show Notes – The Potters Cast

Kevin “Turkey” Merck | Episode 1276

Kevin “Turkey” Merck makes functional ceramic ware with a horror twist. Kevin’s work is painstakingly handcrafted and custom glazed which makes each mug an individual piece of art. Though some work has a mold as a starting point, Kevin spends hours shaping and forming through hands-on craftsmanship. Kevin also incorporates fantasy and sci-fi elements into his work when the mood strikes him.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

Where does courage come from to stand and make as an artist?

A quickfire round and that is the lead off question? Where does courage come from? Oh,  man.

I am not very articulate so bear with me. For me, I can say for me, I don’t know about anybody else but my courage as an artist came from literally years and years and thousands of hours of really hard work and dedication and passion to my craft. And through that I built confidence in my abilities. I am not very confident still but I have built enough confidence to where I willing to put my work out there for people to see it.

You used your business degree to develop your business for ceramics. What is one of the best lessons that you learned in business school that you apply to your ceramic business?

I am going to be really honest with you. There is hardly anything that I remember very specifically from business school. That sounds weird, it’s kind of how my brain works. When I get in a situation stuff comes back to me. Like you kind of just see stuff and you react to it. I will put it this way. I can shoot a gun really well. I have hunted since I was a little kid though. I do not recall the first time, or the second or third or fourth time I was taught how to shoot a gun. But I know when I pick up a gun now, or a fishing pole, or whatever tool I need at the time, I can use it. That’s what I felt about business. I learned to manage groups of people and I used a lot of that teaching. As I was teaching I as recognizing these strategies from business school. I don’t remember learning them but they were stored in my mind. I would say the biggest skill as far as business is concerned would be cost analysis. That would be the major skill that I learned in business school that I actually apply in my current business.

What is your marketing strategy?

That’s an easy one. Thank you. This one is really super simple. My goal has always been, I don’t want to sound like I am bragging, but I enjoy working really, really hard at whatever I set my mind to. That came from my grandpa and my granny. They are real old school and they taught us to just bust your tail at whatever you do. I wanted to make something that looked really interesting and really cool in my eyes and I put that out there and that is my marketing strategy. That’s it. Just make cool looking stuff.

You put a lot of work out there. Do you have people that try to copy your work?

Yes, sir. But you know, it’s very flattering but I have had a couple of people that pretty much tried to replicate my initial zombie design. They tried to replicate that design almost exactly to the best of their ability and then they turned around and were selling it as their own. That hurt me , which  I contacted them and we actually had a cordial conversation and they actually pulled them off their Etsy page. Which I thought was kind of them to do.

How do you protect yourself  if you know people are interested and want to copy your work?

You know, I really don’t know, honestly. I tell you what I have done when I have seen someone actually take one of my designs and replicate it where they are actually trying to make it look like my work, I just straight up contact them. I just shoot them a message. I am polite about it and everything, I try not to be rude or anything. I just contact them and ask them not to do it.

My last question is: What is your favorite horror movie?

To me it would be a toss up between Alien and Predator.  I remember watching those movies as a kid and how they freaked me out. The were just creepy and so cool at the same time.

Book

Making a Monster by Al Taylor and Sue Roy

Contact:

turkeymerck.com

Instagram: @turkeymerck

Anna Gadzhikurbanova | Episode 1275

Anna Gadzhikurbanova is a Russian ceramic artist whose work blends psychology and biology into biomorphic forms. Developing her practice across Tokyo and Austin, Anna crafts functional wheel-thrown pieces alongside handbuilt sculptural objects, exploring the parallels between natural living systems and human emotion through clay and glaze patterns.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

How do you how do you recognize when an idea is worth pursuing?

So if I have an idea, firstly, I think if it stays long enough time in my head, so if I don’t forget it the next day, I will try to make their the work according to this idea. And I see how if it goes, if I feel that it goes on naturally, then I continue. And then if I feel like half work is done, then I will do my best to finish it, even though it’s not, even though if I feel that it may not turn great in the end, but I try to go all the way to the end just to see what is there closer to the end of accomplishing this idea.

How much does refining the idea come into play as you start to think about presenting it to the world?

I think many of them, they come So I try, I start different works and sometimes it just doesn’t go right. Sometimes it’s like a go, as I said, to the end, but I still not satisfied with it. But many of them, of course, after doing different other ones that didn’t survive. So the ones that that I reveal, they usually kind of, from first time, from one attempt. Interesting. So I don’t repeat the exact things. I just cannot do it. So they all are different. Even though they can be similar, but never repeat it. If I like the color combination, their shape, I just don’t repeat it. If it’s not cups, they’re still different.

How much does solitude or being alone shape the way that you make?

Even working by myself at the studio? In the studio. I actually enjoy working like not, yeah, not I think in the studio with other people, though it also have very nice things about it. But I enjoy working on my own and I feel myself more free when I’m not watched. When I do my work, it’s like a meditation. It’s like a lot about, I think, the mind state, state of mind, the flow, the feeling like, yeah, more like a process. So I’m in this process and I am this process.

When you’re working on a project, you can’t just bring everything you know to it. You have to have restraints or you have to have boundaries. So what kind of boundaries do you put into your making to give it direction?

So there are functional pieces that I make. And there are like, I need not only to think of this feeling and dynamic, but also about the function. So I think this is a restriction for them. And for sculptural pieces, sometimes it’s a material restriction, like with carved pieces which are have several layers. It’s difficult to go like really big. So this kind of material restriction.

Because your work is very organic, how do you know when to stop?

So I still, for most of the pieces I have a picture in my head. So I do sketches, but they’re very like, not detailed, very like abstract ideas. But usually I have a picture of the finished piece in my head. Or if it’s not like that, I just feel that It’s like more about the feeling.

If a young person were to ask you, how can I create, sustain a creative life? What would you say?

That’s a good question. I think you need to have your mind free enough to be open to what’s happening around you. And it’s important to understand about yourself what is actually, what does really interest you. What is your passion? And then working with your interested, what is dear to you, what’s moving you, and then translate it to the art practice that you’re doing.

Book

Fractals: The Pattern Of Chaos by John Briggs

Contact

annagadzhikurbanovaceramics.com

Instagram: @booganchick

Kerry Serritella | Episode 1274

Kerry Serritella is a CPA, wife, mom, and lifelong learner who discovered pottery as a much-needed creative escape from a stressful career and a newly emptying nest. Still considering herself a student of the craft, Kerry now creates from her backyard studio, embracing the joy of handmade pottery while dreaming of a retirement that leaves plenty of room for family, creativity, and clay.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

When you started to put this together, did you have a plan for the flow of making?

That’s a great question. I did have a plan because I did a lot of research. So yes, I have my glaze place right next to the kiln and my clay right next to the wheel and the wedging table. So yes, in short.

Did you initially want to finalize your equipment before you could finalize the layout?

No, I was winging it. I was just winging it, but it worked. It worked great.

When you planed your layout, did you think about the movement of the clay through the studio or did you think about the movement of your body through the studio?

I thought about the movement of the clay, how it starts, where it needs to go next… from the clay storage to the wedging table, to the pottery wheel, to the glazing table, to the kiln. And I have enough shelves for their purpos: this is drying, this is ready for trim, this is ready for glaze, this is ready to go in the kiln. And the shelves all flow accordingly.

Did you take into consideration the systems that need to be in place for the building, like the dust control or the plumbing?

You know, I read a lot about how to keep the studio clean and dust free, always cleaning before it gets dry, cleaning with water and So I did not prepare a lot of ventilation when my kiln is running. I have a lot of windows, so my windows are usually open if the weather permits. And when the kiln is running, there’s always a fan in the window blowing out. So I try to be smart, and I don’t sit in there and work while the kiln is running. Just trying to be… cautious.

How about flooring? What did you do for the flooring in your shed building?

Yeah, so my husband threw down lots of layers of like an epoxy flooring. So it’s just a gray, you know, he laid it down on top of the plywood floor and over and over and over again. And so, yeah, so that’s all that it is. It’s easy to sweep. It’s easy to mop.

Did you think in terms of what you’d be doing in the studio like, I’m wanting to build up more towards production or more towards more volume?

I have not. However, I have recently understood the importance of that because I just started selling my pots at a local farm store. So volume, never thought of that before.

Have you also thought of adding a second wheel or a third wheel and starting to do private lessons?

Only in my dreams. I don’t know that I will do that anytime soon, but I dream of that.

How did you, though, go about planning for your electrical needs.

My husband. He’s been in carpentry all his life. He’s construction. So I let him do all of that. Yeah. I told him what kiln I was going to have once we knew. And he’s usually in excess. How you said 200 amp is a lot for what I need. But he is, I tell him he’s a man of excess all the time, always just a little bit more than what you need.

Book

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Contact

vesselandbranch.com

Instagram: @vesselandbranchstudios

Katie Brentnal | Episode 1273

Katie Brentnal is the New Zealand potter and educator behind Katie B Ceramics, where she helps hobby potters understand their glazes and create results they love. With a background in adult learning, Katie makes glazing approachable through practical experiments, creative techniques, and her digital workbook, The Glaze Personality Method, which has sold over 1,200 copies worldwide.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

You had a post on Instagram back on July 19th titled “Seven Things About Glazing That Nobody Told Me”. So I thought we would go through each one of these and hear your insight on each “Thing”. Here is the first one: You said, The photo of that glaze combo is almost meaningless.

Yeah, look, it’s someone else’s hands. It’s in someone else’s kiln. It’s someone else’s clay body. You’re going to get different results. So you always need to test your own glaze combinations.

Number 2, you said, Understand before you buy.

Yeah, look, the new glaze that you’ve seen is not going to be a magic fix because you’ve seen one photo on Pinterest that makes it look a certain way. You need to understand what you want that glaze to do for you, not just the pretty picture you’ve seen online.

This next one was really fascinating. You said, The disappointing firings are where the learning is.

That you have to fail to learn is the faster you fail, the faster you’re going to get those learnings. And you’re going to be a better potter if you can see what went wrong. So you can try something different next time.

For #4 was, Glazing and forming are a conversation, not two separate things. What do you mean by that?

If you get to the very end and you’re figuring out, okay, I’ve got this form, I’m going to chuck a glaze on it. It’s not so considered. So if you’re making a form with the glaze in mind, you’re going to get a much more cohesive result. So you’re designing a form of texture so glaze can catch into the texture or you’re rounding the foot so glaze isn’t falling off the side. So the more you can see that end-to-end picture, I think the more cohesive a result you’re going to get.

Next came this short line, Find your floater.

It’s like a cheat code, I swear. So floating glazes, right? You can make it act like 2 glazes, like I said. It makes it look like you’ve worked much harder than you have when you’re glazing it because the results are so beautiful. And often beginners will gravitate more towards those flowing moving glazes. So the faster you can find your floater, I think the faster you’re going to get some very easy results that look very professional and beautiful.

Here’s one that I struggle with, but I think it’s so good. You stated, Take notes, even bad ones.

You’re never going to remember what you did. Especially if you’re trying something different each time. Even if it’s a scroll, it means that you can pick up patterns in your work if you’ve done the same thing three times. Or you can go back to a combination that you did a year ago that’s suddenly resonating with you. and know exactly what you did instead of guessing.

Here was the last thing you said, Your glazing voice isn’t something you decide.

I think this is about style, right? It is something that builds and accumulates over time. So you can see a picture of someone else’s work that you’re trying to emulate and you can give that a go. But it’s really going to develop the deeper you go and the more things that you try along that same track. So you have to test, you have to try it again, you have to push past the failures, and that is how you’re going to land on something that feels like you and that you’re very proud of.

Book

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Contact

katiebceramics.com

Instagram: @katiebceramics

David Schlapobersky & Felicity Potter | Episode 1272

David Schlapobersky & Felicity Potter were on The Potters Cast way back in episode 82 in the very early, early days of the podcast. This is one of my favorite conversations I have ever had. I have thought of these two many times over the years. I recently discovered that Felicity had passed away in March of this year. I though it would be good to revisit this conversation in memory of Felicity.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

FELICITY,  WHAT KIND OF HABITS DO YOU EMPLOY TO KEEP YOUR CREATIVITY FRESH?

I usually start by going to the broom cupboard and getting the broom out and sweeping the kitchen. While I’m sweeping the kitchen a lot of ideas are flowing through my head and when the house is all clean and neat and tidy, I go to the workshop and get on with the job.

DAVID, WHAT KIND OF HABITS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE TO KEEP CREATIVITY FRESH?

It’s not very different. Obsessive, repetitive jobs help to focus your mind.

WHO INSPIRES YOU, FELICITY?

I think the inspiration comes from the environment and my interest in various aspects of decorative design and I think just keeping in touch with new glazes is very inspirational.

I think what inspires us most is opening the kiln and getting so inspired and excited by what comes out.

DAVID?

In a general sense, the inspiration comes from the feeling that I get when I look at these high temperature pots. I just need to make more and more of them.

WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO HONOR BY GIVING YOUR ONE SPECIAL PIECE TO?

I would want to run it by the guy who got me going, Tim Morris. And present it that it might be part of his collection. I would like his comments and feed back on it. As he is not longer with us, I would give it to one of his children.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR STUDIO? (Felicity and David answered together)

We could go the very personal route and selfishly say, it’s ours. It’s our space. The space is enormous. We have all the space in the world. It is where the magic happens.  It’s got doors on all sides which means in the really searing heat it is the coolest place. It’s just wonderful.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC TO LISTEN TO?

Yesterday we listened to a band from the 70’s called Little Feat. It depends on the mood. This afternoon we played some Bach. Folk music, Bob Dylan, African music, you name it.

DAVID’S RECOMMENDED BOOK

The Ascent of Man by Jacob Brownowski

Centering in Pottery, Poetry and the Person by M.C. Richards

 Pottery.co.za

Mitch Lyons | Episode 1271

Mitch Lyons had been on The Potters Cast back in 2017, episode 324. Less than a year later he had passed away. Mitch was a prolific maker, so much so that this past week I am still getting emails about more of his never-before-seen work was going to be posted on his website. Absolutely amazing! So today we take a moment to revisit Mitch’s conversation for The Potters Cast.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

From your perspective what makes a good artist?

What makes a good artist? I guess someone who is willing to change people’s perspective.

What makes good art?

I imagine you are asking me what good art is. I find good art everywhere. Nature. I love to look around. I will spend my mornings looking at shadows. Or driving down the highway looking at negative spaces between trees and things like that. To me that is art. Art doesn’t have to be in museums.

How does a person become an artist?

I don’t know. I mean I don’t know how I became an artist. I never think of myself as a good artist. I think of myself as a working artist.

How do you keep creativity alive?

Well, I try to go to the studio for the first time every day. I’m excited about my work and I’m excited about the process all the time. My whole life outside of paying bills and things like that, is devoted to my work. I used to think that my life revolved around my work but when my wife died I think I began to see that maybe that is not true. It revolved more around my family. My center is my work  so I have no problem being creative with my work.

How do you and Meredith tell each other that you love each other? 

I don’t think you have to say it. That’s not important. Although we do say it once in a while to each other. It’s your attitude, it’s your personality, it’s the unsaid things that are important. I feel her love and I think she feels my love. She knows I am very dedicated. I am a one woman man. I don’t like to disrupt my life as an artist. That would be a tremendous loss to me if I had mental problems or marital problems. So I work at it by an example.

Book

Color: A Natural History of the Palette

The Artist’s Handbook of Materials and Techniques

Contact:

mitchlyons.com

Instagram: @mitchlyonsstudio

Clay Works Vancouver | Episode 1270

A year ago Jennifer and I took a leap and opened a community studio, Clay Works Vancouver. So many things have happened over this adventurous year so I thought it would be good to do a bit of a review of the journey so far.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

Contact

ClayWorksVancouver.com

Instagram: @ClayWorksVancouver

Diane Eisenbach | Episode 1269

Diane Eisenbach is an artist-educator whose ceramic work often combines natural, figurative, and architectural elements.  Diane received an MFA from San Diego State University and a BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  Diane has been Chair of the Ceramics & Glass program at Monterey Peninsula College for 28 years.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

Diane, you said something about your work that I just thought was so beautiful and poignant. You mentioned about having your work have basically a message of hope. It’s not necessarily an overt message, but there’s hope in the work of what you’re trying to do, which I just think that’s such a beautiful idea about pottery of hope, that you’re making work that kind of has that vibe. But the question that I wonder as you as an individual is, can art without being overt be hopeful?

Well, thanks for saying that. I think really it’s self-preservation. because I need to try to make something hopeful just so that I don’t get too depressed. So there’s also a time where you need to step up and take action as well. But so far, I’ve just tried to put into my artwork the most beauty, most amount of beauty as I can. Because the pieces that I make, I work on for a long time. So if I were trying to put forth a really strong message that kind of was depressing me. I think I’d probably just dig myself a deep hole.

Do you think that beauty in and of itself is enough of a message?

Probably not. I think, you know, we probably have to put some stronger messages into our work and I’m hoping I can do that. I’m a very slow maker and I’ve been really focused on teaching for the last 28 years here in Monterey and 10 years before that in San Diego. So a lot of my work is more focused around my students and trying to plan things that I can show them at the same time that I’m making my own work. So it’ll be interesting to see when I’m not so focused on teaching what my work will truly be.

Do you feel like this next portion of life will give you the time for more self-expression?

I think so. I think so. Because I feel like when you’re so involved in teaching, that’s where a lot of my thoughts always go. But if I’m not thinking about my students and what they’re interested in learning as much, then I’ll be more focused on the ideas that are going directly into my work. And so that’s where I hope to be able to get more of a message into the work without it becoming morose or, ideally, I would like a strong message about the environment without it depressing.

Do you feel that that by making representative work, do you feel that by presenting that work that it gives a voice to those things?

Those creatures? I hope so. The birds started when I was volunteering at the Wildlife Center. in Monterey. And that’s when I really, got more of an appreciation for birds, being able to work with them up close. And they’re really the harbingers of our environment. You know, the canary in the coal mine idea is something that I think about a lot. And having worked with birds closely, I now really notice the birds that are around me and how they migrate. And I think more about their environment. You know, when there’s storms and fires, it’s all those creatures that are being affected that I really worry about. You know, as humans, we have a chance to, you know, try our best to get out and escape. And I always worry about animals that are left behind.

In your work as a maker, do you start out a piece knowing what the end result is going to look like?

Sometimes it, sometimes I’ll have a vague idea and I’ll just begin coil building an organic form from the bottom up and that piece will have a life of its own and I respond to what the clay is doing. Other times, the last piece I just finished was a portrait that was an attempt to get a likeness of someone. So in a case like that, you’re starting with a very specific idea in mind and trying to make it as representative as possible.

Now that your career portion of life is slowing down, what’s something in ceramics that you’d like to pursue that you haven’t had the air quotes here, time to actually chase down?

First it’s going to be all those unfinished projects that I never had time to complete. I have mosaic projects leftover from tiling a wood fired brick oven. in a local restaurant that still need to be grouted to be completed. I have a series of glass tiles for my fireplace that need to be installed, a ton of projects like that. So I made myself a list and that’s what I’m concentrating on for now. And during the time that I finish up all those longer term projects, I’ll be starting to think about what direction I really want to pursue on my own.

Book

Teaching Art and Life by Chris Staley

Contact

Instagram: @montereymoonclay

Amy Joy Hosterman | Episode 1268

Amy Joy Hosterman is the maker behind Stinky Cheese Ceramics in Loveland, Colorado, and has been traveling across the country researching, creating, and teaching with wild clays since stumbling on her first deposit in the UP of Michigan in 2013. There, Amy co-founded the Visitor Center Artist Camp, where she adventures each summer to teach others how to harvest, process, and fire their own wild clays.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

If I’m walking out through the woods, through the fields, down by a stream… how do I know when I’ve found a good source of clay?

The best way to know that it’s clay is that it will feel like clay. So really just getting a handful of the dirt wet. And if it doesn’t dissolve away all sandy, if it sticks to itself and creates a shape, then you’ve got clay.

Are there specific places that feel like they’re more reliable results for finding clay? Like water riverbeds, ancient riverbeds… Is that the place you would go towards?

Yeah, I tell people to start by following the water. So clay travels in water and the smaller particles will go the farthest in the slowest moving water. So if you can get to the bottom of an ancient lake bed or something like that where the water was moving really slowly, then you’re likely to have a really good fine particle clay.

How much does the geographical location impact the type of clay?

The geology of the area will, I suppose, impact the clay pretty much 100%. Depending on how the clay was deposited, its characteristics will be quite different. So the particle size depending on how fast, if it was moving in water, depending how fast the water was moving, and the parent rock that it came from will all affect the characteristics of the clay. So really every place will be different, quite unique.

If you find a good source of clay today and you go back to that same place tomorrow or next month, does each portion of it need to be retested?

No, that’s a good question. If the clay deposit seems really consistent, if you can get your eyes on it and see that it looks pretty consistent across the seam of clay, or if you take a couple samples, I guess it would just be working with it a little bit to see. Some deposits will be quite varied and some will be a lot more consistent. So you’d have to kind of pick around at it and see.

How much testing do you actually do before you commit to making work with it?

I used to do a lot of testing before making pots with any certain clay, partly I think because I do just like to do a lot of testing. But now I like to try to include a couple pots in my test. So not spending too much time on just the test tiles, but going ahead and making some pots right away with it and seeing how they work out and at least keeping them around my kitchen for a while to see if they pass the test of use.

When you collect clay from various areas, does it make you want to make specific work to fit that clay?

Yeah, this is actually something I’ve been actually thinking about recently. Because if I want to do just one style of pottery and I try all these different kinds of clay, there are definitely some clays that do not like to be slab rolled and stamped out all flat and then tried to make into a cylinder after that. There’s some clays that are quite plastic and will let you do that to them. And so it’s been kind of– I’ve been kind of just making what I want to make and using different clays and definitely being inspired by the area to make something themed around that area and the kind of journey it took. But more and more, I actually do want to, I think, make allow the clay to tell me kind of what it’s going to make. Like what of my whole plethora of things that I might want to make will actually work well with that clay. And so if it’s like slab building versus throwing or even like thematically sort of urban city kind of, narrative scenes versus a very natural outdoorsy kind of look to the pottery. I’m going to, I’ve got kind of plans to let it start leading the way a little bit more because it does kind of call to certain things like different clays will, yeah, they definitely have modes of making that they prefer. And then also just the story behind them too. I like to allow that to guide me as well. So like I collected clay during a solar eclipse a couple years ago down in Texas. And so that clay is quite magical. It has the solar eclipse magic in it. So I like to make kind of celestial themed pots out of that clay. So that kind of thing. And kind of let them lead a little bit more.

Book

Roadside Geology of Colorado by Felicie Williams and Halka Chronic

Contact

stinkycheeseceramics.com

Instagram: @stinkycheeseceramics

Chris Bramble | Episode 1267

Chris Bramble is a London-born ceramic artist whose distinctive contemporary style seamlessly blends his African heritage with European influences, developed over nearly four decades of practice since establishing his studio in 1988. Chris is a graduate of The Glasgow School of Art with a master’s from Westminster University. Chris’ work draws from his transformative period in Zimbabwe during the 1980s, where he studied traditional stone carving techniques that profoundly shaped his approach to clay. Chris’ ceramic sculptures, inspired by life, rhythm, and dance, captures the spirit and hidden aspects of contemporary Black culture through organic forms that merge African aesthetics with modern techniques. Chris works are represented by international museums and galleries worldwide and have been featured in numerous publications and editorial campaigns. Chris continues to nurture the next generation of ceramic artists through his London studio, where he teaches and shares the craft of clay.

Clay Call

Lets hear from YOU! Click HERE.

SPONSORS

  You can help support the show!

GRPotteryForms.com

BuschKraft.shop

Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com

For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com

Chris, you’ve been working with Clay for about four decades… that’s a long time. What has changed most about your approach to ceramics during that time?

What’s changed in my approach is that I don’t get enough time to do my work. That’s it really. I haven’t got the space. I haven’t got the time. So it’s just up to me to make the time. Now I’m 60 odd. I never expected to be doing this all my life. And I’m very, very lucky. I can come and play with clay every day. It’s pretty awesome. It has its pressures, but I just wish I had more time.

You know, one thing that’s changed for sure is the accessibility to learning for those of us who did come to ceramics later in life like in the social media era and we can just watch people make and learn their styles and take their styles and go with it but for you for a person who’s done a lot of teaching with ceramics what is something that can’t be taught on video, but has to really be caught in person?

Centering. You can’t tell somebody how to feel and you have to feel centering. I think that’s the hardest thing.

As a teacher, you’ve been teaching other people how to make and how to express. But how has that act of teaching impacted your own work?

Originally, it used to help me spread out ideas and techniques, et cetera. But as I get a bit mature, I find that it’s a bit stifling. I still enjoy it. There’s nothing like somebody walking into your workshop and finding that when they leave, they’ve got a smile on their face. They’ve got half a dozen pots. That is my, that’s what I get fed. That’s the part of teaching where I get fed. But somebody said, you know, they come back the next day and says, I dreamt about that pot and it was that big. And they all dream about their pots. And that’s my reward. And it fills me up. And I don’t know why I’m like that.

You’ve worked alongside your daughter Freya, as you said, as well as mentored other artists throughout the years. What’s it like now as a teacher seeing your techniques and your ideas passed on to help develop their artistic expression?

Joy. That’s it really, joy. See nobody can take that away from you. And you’ve contributed to people’s lives. You’ve actually, through clay, no matter whether it’s special needs or somebody who wants to get get on the exhibition trail. I mean, I did that. I added to that.

As a teacher and having said what you just said, what do you think is one of the most critical things that a young artist should develop… is it technical skill? Should they develop their personal style? Or is there something else that you’d say you need to work on this?

Continuity is #1 and storytelling from your own life. It makes everything so much easier.

After so long of working with Clay, as we, you said 42 odd years, what do you think clay has taught you about people?

They make a lot of mistakes. I don’t think, I suppose you get different different fashions and different styles. And I know it imbues people with something good. And yeah, it’s just something good. I mean, you take a mature lady that, let’s take for instance, because quite a lot of my students are ladies, but say about two thirds, and they make their stuff. And they work really hard at it, whatever the technique is. And they take it home. And Sunday, Saturday nights, neighbors come across from… And she puts out all the food on the plates. It’s not as if we’re in the middle of the country or something like that. We’re in London, right? And they go, oh, that’s a lovely plate. Oh, where did you get that from? And they just raise their head. And they go, I made that. And I made that. And I made that. And I gave that to them.

Book

Things Fall Apart by Chiua Achebe

Contact

chrisbrambleceramics.com

Instagram: @chrisbrambleceramics