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Qotw. How Is Your Pottery Community?


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(What type of clay people are you associating with professionally?)

Fellow full time potters like me who have worked long at this profession

I know a few hobbyists as well but my better connections are fellow professional studio potters who make their living at this craft.

(Are you involved in a studio tour as an itinerary of a group) 

no-I did it once 10 years ago-not worth it.Under 1k for two days

(Are you in a coop?)

I'm #12 member in our local Arcata food coop formed in the 70's but not in a clay coop

(Do you work with a supportive group?)

like potters anonymous? 

​Or older men with clay habit?

I have not joined any groups yet

I have done some mentoring if that counts-thru the potters council and a  few local potters as well.

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My clay journey started in 2007 when I saw a crystalline vase at an antique store in Williamsburg Va. Out of the gate I started working with porcelain and crystalline glazes: working alone, and mixing glazes out of the gate. NCECA 2016 in KC was the first time I was around other potters professionally: which I very much enjoyed meeting. Although I post alot in this forum, outside of it I am rarely around fellow potters. So I guess this forum is my touch stone: the only venue available to me to learn, bounce ideas around: and to make fun of Fred Sweets' beard.... :o

 

Nerd

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Around here very little in the way of a Community. I try to keep in touch with local potters, and some groups, but seems like many just run on their own. CAD has been a sounding ground for many years, and probably many more to come.

 

best,

Pres

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I am on my own except for the forums,  every once in awhile I will meet another potter and try to make a connection.  They are usually people who work full time and pot at night and are way to busy.  I looked into joining a artist co-operative that was being put together and told I was to old,  I was 44 at that time.  I get more work done by myself anyways, and I have always got you guys.   Denice

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I work in a school studio. I have a few people there who really care about my progress and we check in throughout the week on our goals, shortcomings, and techniques are. The professor is more or less so busy I rarely have time to apprentice with her, and with how many new people tend to congregate around me I feel like I am (unjustly) seen as the master. :rolleyes:  I do wish to have a partner in clay, I am quite gregarious and even if the other person does not talk much, I learn very well from seeing what they are doing. We only have two more weeks of "creating" left before the semester ends, then there is only bisquing and glazing. So for the two months without class I plan on bringing home some clay to hand build, coil, and slab at home (:

 

There is a ceramics sale at the end of each semester, and each student is encouraged to participate, even if they do not sell, it is sort of seen as a general critique day where thousands of people come to shop and offer advice.

 

I will be taking ceramics again next semester, and hopefully by then I will have some sort of setup at our house to continue on after that semester ends. It is, of course, hard to judge months away when things can change so quickly.

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I would say my clay community is growing.  I really count this forum as part of my pottery community, and I have made some great connections via Instagram and a couple of FB pages devoted to clay and glaze.  When I was at a workshop last summer, I met another woman who fires cone 6 electric like I do, and we have met a few times (she lives 100 miles from me) to talk about glaze samples, firing schedules and how to throw are nice platter! I have made a connection with a couple of people 40 miles east of here.  Here at home, there really isn't anyone who is interested in talking clay....so I am finding those connections online!  Like Glazenerd, I LOVED NCECA in Kansas City.  That event made me feel part of something larger! (yes, I have my hotel reservation for Portland!)

 

r.

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Thanks for all your replies. I am in Montana for a few more days working on our new house, painting, arranging utilities, talked to energy people today about wiring a new meter for my kiln shed which sits near the alley below the electric supply source! How sweet can that get!

We'll be back up here in Dec. dropped off more pots for a new gallery in Big Sky and have two shows in Billings coming up and one in the future in Red Lodge.. it is great to be back con mi gente. I love this town and being back in Montana!

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I found there is a great Texas clay group but very far from where I live. I do participate in their annual show and have been to the Clayiest in Gruene. I think that is about 300 miles away. SO this group is much easier to frequent on a daily basis.

I like having contact with others when I spend so much time alone. I like working alone.

Marcia

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I am back from red Lodge , Montana, my future home community. I love the community there. Sat down with the guys at the Energy company to discuss getting a 200 amp service into my kiln shed, visited my friends at the carbon County Depot, and worked on the house. It is a very artistic community. There is a great Art Walk at Christmas. We'll be there for it I hope.

Marcia

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the shenandoah potters guild is a largish group, probably 40 of us but not everyone does every group thing.  the picnic had maybe 20 people, the empty bowl supper had pots from most of us but not more than 20 worked on the actual day.  the holiday sale is coming up on thanksgiving weekend and should have the usual number, about 16, of potters displaying work on tables plus individual setup above the tables.  there will be a show in the winter that lots of potters attend and then the annual fundraising sale of a single design that looks historic.  the mothers day sale at the arboretum of virginia and sales at some of the local places like museums or special events round out the year. 

 

we all work alone but get together for meetings, workshops, and the events that fit the particular potter's schedule and interest.  it is a great group of people and i am glad to be part of it.  

 

PS  i do not think any of them read this forum.  

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University clay classes are my primary community.  I'm not teaching now, but am definitely the senior member doing project work.  There is a certain amount of energy that comes from college students trying new things that often provides inspiration...and it keeps me young.

 

Beyond the classroom, I see very little cohesion among the clay artists in Nashville.  We are a friendly group and visit one another during exhibits and shows, but that is about as far as it gets.  I'd venture to say that the two (or three) commercial teaching-studios do a better job with community building than the professional artists as a group.

 

Peace,

-Paul

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Mostly I keep to myself. I work out of my house and I live in a rural area with long travel distances to other towns where there might be some clay-centered people/activities. I garner a lot of fellowship and interaction from these CAD forums/active posters. Very grateful for this!!

 

I don't much care for exhibits/craft shows anymore...kinda too much "been there, done that" in terms of how I run my life these days. I try to go if people I know are in a show or holding an open studio, but, again, I just don't travel all that much.

 

I have met quite a few extraordinary ceramicists in person, here in NH, heavy hitters and rising artists, mostly associated with the New Hampshire Institute of Art and some from the NH Potters Guild.  I have been going to the NH Potters Guild meetings, which are also long distances from me. I joined the Guild, met some great potters and have access to a wood kiln. Meetings are quarterly and include a bring-a-dish, which is fun. I was hoping for a strong sense of community, but frankly I have been disappointed with the overall thrust of the group as a developing non-profit. The Guild, in my perception, is very disorganized and the active core community is just a little "closed". I have not found the kind of cohesion that makes me feel like I "fit in". My offer (to the board/and the membership) of assistance to coordinate a small development committee, to include a much needed update of paper and electronic databases and to work on a new website, had zero takers.

 

Once I get disenchanted, I am usually done with putting out a lot of effort, so I just "keep on keeping on", doing my thing! I guess "my pottery community" is more online than local, and certainly very supportive. I also get a lot of support from non-clay people who like what I am doing and who seem interested in learning about the various processes they see me do, which is quite satisfying. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I do not have a physical community here. There are several potters in northern Wisconsin and near Madison but I'm not young/cool enough to jive with the students/ up and coming potters and I'm not experienced enough to be accepted by the experienced collective. There really isn't a place for a middle aged basement mom potter. I did try my local artist guild and they had me on the board, but all they seemed to care about was plen air promotions.

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