My Ceramics Journey.
I’ve come a long way in my ceramic journey, and now I’m very excited about giving a piece of that to others! I started by hand building pieces, then eventually moved on to throwing on the wheel. I make a mixture of both for the shop because they have very different styles. Hand building has some imperfect characteristics that give it a type of charm you don’t get with thrown pieces. A lot of the thrown pieces are more straight edge and smooth, which is just a preference for some people.
I try to filter through work to prevent having the same kind of work on the shelves for a long time. I like to create and experiment with different shapes, textures, colors, etc. whenever I’m making something new. This means every piece looks slightly different, even if I’m making the same thing over and over. When there’s a particularly popular piece, I make a mold of it and use that to make multiples of the same shaped planter or vase. This helps a lot with supply and demand, and helps relieve the pressure of having to make 20 of the same vase.
I also learned how to make my own glazes, which isn’t a process everyone’s very interested in. Making glaze requires a lot of trial and error, formulas, math, and some chemistry. It can be a confusing process to start, but once I started experimenting with ingredients and I got some formulas perfected, it became a lot easier. Making my own glaze allows me to control what goes into them and gives me the freedom to make them look exactly how I want. It also adds another unique touch to my work because nobody’s glaze will be exactly like mine, unless they have the formulas I used to make them.
