Greetings From Liz & Patty!

We hope this newsletter finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe at home.  We are looking forward to welcoming you back when the time is right!

In the meantime we encourage you to keep moving forward with your passion for clay.  We tend to focus on practicing our throwing and hand building skills when we’re at the studio.  Perhaps this is a good time to turn our attention to form and decoration.  What forms inspire you?  What surfaces speak to you?

Watching masters make pottery is a great way to continue learning.  Luckily there are thousands of helpful videos online, and many potters are doing live demonstrations on social media.  There’s even TV for potters (see below).

Pinterest is a fun way to explore your taste and preferences. You can start your search with a general term (e.g. “pottery”) or specific maker (e.g. “Gertrud Natzler”) and save images of pieces you like.  Once you’ve gathered a few hundred Pins, click on the plus sign to create two new boards called “Forms” and “Surface Design.”  Copy your saved Pins that relate to form or surface design onto those boards.  When finished take a look back and see what you can learn about the forms, glaze and decoration that inspire you.

“Techniques are difficult enough to learn, but the real difficulties begin when you know these techniques, and with them try to express what you think and feel.”  –Marguerite Wildenhain