[QotW: What (in a functional piece) elicits "I love this" for you?]

The "I love this" pieces are few and far between for me, but for me to love it, it's the feeling I get when it comes out of the kiln and it's exactly what I imagined, all of it, shape, glaze, nice looking and well-made and the feeling that that's what makes it all worthwhile, well, that and the fact that I love clay and can't be without it for too long.   I'm strictly a hand builder utilizing the coil method and lately ,because I'm experimenting with marbled clay,  slab building.  I also have to say , for myself, I like organic shapes and what I make are mostly decorative which is also a form of functionality.   I push the clay to its limits and often beyond to see how far I can take it, but at 76, I've begun slowing down.  I  never sold a lot as that wasn't my desire but I tried it for 2 years to see if anyone would buy what I made, and to my surprise, they did, and that was enough for me.  So, if it's just a soso piece, I give it to goodwill, if its acceptable in my eyes, I may gift it to someone, but if  it's really special and makes me smile, I keep it and my family will eventually have some  nice pieces made by me.  I don't know about anyone else, but when it happens, I smile, get on my good knee, and bow to the kiln goddess!

[Teaching Ceramics to Adults]

I realize this topic is 6 yrs old, however, as a local potter who took classes and went to night school for ceramics as well, albeit without a degree, if I had had all the technicalities dumped on me from the beginning and the strict guidelines, it would have killed any desire I had to enjoy clay.  I think the first things to establish are, how do you like the feel of clay in your hands, moving on to experimenting  with it to see if you like it well enough to take serious classes, and then college courses where you spend time on how to and when to and why.  And by the way, there are many correct ways of getting from point A to point B depending on how you perceive it.  I don't think strict rules do or should apply in the world of art.  Clay and it's manipulators are constantly evolving.  I began at age 56, I will be 76 in August.  I love it, I've sold it, I have to have it and to keep making , but I do it my way, always trying new things and I'm still enjoying my passionate and very personal relationship with clay.  All this is to explain that a one or two week clay class is to allow who's taking it, to see if this is something they want to pursue, whether for pleasure or profit.