Past Passion for Pottery Revived!

It's true. I used to be a potter years ago, producing, selling at the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair and teaching in my home studio. I loved it back then but eventually other aspects of life intervened and I went back to work full time at the dreaded money making regular job and the basement pottery equipment started gathering dust.

But recently, a close friend expressed interest in reviving the studio and learning how to throw pots on a wheel. I admit I was skeptical at first but he was so enthusiastic and positive we could fix the ancient wheel and kiln that I agreed. And so we got to work. First, we addressed the old Creative Industries electric wheel that had a broken foot pedal. After several phone calls and shipping old and new parts back and forth, we finally got the wheel working perfectly and began to throw pots.

My first pot after many years!

And next came re-attaching the kiln to appropriate electrical service. Not an easy task but eventually the kiln could be turned on. We also needed a new exhaust fan and that was purchased and installed. There were a few glitches with the Dawson Kiln Sitter but with the help of Stephanie at Rovins Ceramics http://www.rovinceramics.com/, it was adjusted to work right and we fired our first bisque load of pots.

Bisqued Pots on the shelves

Ah, so now we had pots ready to glaze and we had to quickly find out how glazes have changed over the years. We opted to try commercial glazes first and then later get into glazes made from raw materials. It was interesting that some of my old glaze ingredients in my favorite glaze recipes weren't available any more - they simply ran out of mined supplies.

We weren't very happy about how our first glazed pots turned out, but we were determined to turn some of our pots into Christmas presents (neither of us had much money for presents in 2008 due to the effects of the poor economy).

First poorly glazed pots

Our second and third glaze firings with slightly different glazes came out much, much better and we unloaded the last fired pots at 11:00 AM Christmas Eve Day, just in time to wrap as Christmas presents for family and friends.

Pots with glazes but unfired

The same pots after a glaze firing

Some of the pots we unloaded Christmas Eve Day

So, does this mean I'm giving up beading, polymer clay and drawing? Absolutely not! I'm just adding back into the mix an older skill and enjoying it immensely! Truly, there is nothing like the almost sensuous feel of silky stoneware or porcelain as it's turning on the wheel through your hands and watching a graceful form take shape under the subtle touch of your fingers! I can't believe I ever gave potting up and it's definitely back to stay!

More to follow..........someday there will be pots for sale on Etsy under the username aquarianpottery!