004 Thoughts While Starting A Pot – MudTalk Podcast

02/25/18 • 11 min

MudTalk Podcast - Pottery, Ceramics, Business

Check it out, we have a fancy intro now. And when I say “fancy” I mean “A short song I slapped together with sounds from my clay studio and an amateur rendition of the guitar part from a song that was popular years ago.” First one to guess what the song is gets an internet high five.

Thanks for taking a listen. This episode is shorter than the first three. Let me know if that is better or worse.

Resources

Links to leave a review or rating: iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher

Be part of a future episode: Contribute to the Show

Transcript:

This is episode 4 of the MudTalk Podcast and is brought to you by Expert Clay. Expert Clay is a new site that allows clay experts to share their knowledge through courses, videos and digital media. Go to expertclay.com to find out how you can join for free and learn from an expert or decide what expertise you can share with others. Thanks for tuning in. In this episode we’re going to be talking about what you think about as you start making a pot. I looked forward to exploring this topic because I expected a variety of different answers. There were quite a range of answers but most were about feelings or visualizing the finished piece or about the process itself. So, we’ll hear comments about each of those and then I’ll share a few of my favorites at the end. Let’s get started!

Self Encouragement / Hope / Chant

First there were some responses with great chants or words of self encouragement.

Amelia.tungsten “Don’t mess up! Don’t mess up! Don’t mess up!”

TangentGirlNat Don’t collapse. Don’t collapse. Don’t collapse. Don’t collapse.

Stonecropstudio Was curious about this. Threw yesterday...turns out I think “lift, lift, lift!”

WineSellersGirl “Please don’t screw this up.” (I’m new to this throwing stuff.)

Rainstormworks I hope the clay has the same idea i do.

NancyeOakley1969 hope i can create what my mind sees.

Sgrace_pots Is this going to center? Am I breathing? Nope. Take a breath. Slow down.

BrandonDonnaLee I can do this. I can do this. And finding the picture in my head in the clay. Listening to my breathing (somehow far away in the distance).

RobinLambright My first thought...is it a throwing day or a back in the bucket day...

Feelings: calm, zen, clear mind

Plenty of people seem to get a feeling of calm or clear mind as they start to make a pot.

Blue_s_reflectedin_fiery_water in my opinion it makes calmness and releases the soul in love

Erikapetersons Throwing on the wheel is my yoga. If I’m too distracted with thoughts I can’t throw. So it is a zen moment. After a session on the wheel I feel like I’ve been totally washed from all my worries.

Bobbie141 I love playing with clay ..my mind just goes .....to a great place...

Terispad_yellowdoorpottery I try to clear my mind, and breathe. I sometimes hold my breath and that makes me tense.

Annelie57 I just close my eyes and feel the clay

Lkjohnson.09 I’m new to the wheel and it feels much more soulful than handbuilding. Close my eyes often for tactile focus, which is lovely. It’s akin to playing an instrument well or singing a beautiful song.

Thanks for taking a listen. This episode is shorter than the first three. Let me know if that is better or worse.

Resources

Links to leave a review or rating: iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher

Be part of a future episode: Contribute to the Show

Transcript:

Self Encouragement / Hope / Chant

First there were some responses with great chants or words of self encouragement.

Amelia.tungsten “Don’t mess up! Don’t mess up! Don’t mess up!”

TangentGirlNat Don’t collapse. Don’t collapse. Don’t collapse. Don’t collapse.

Stonecropstudio Was curious about this. Threw yesterday...turns out I think “lift, lift, lift!”

WineSellersGirl “Please don’t screw this up.” (I’m new to this throwing stuff.)

Rainstormworks I hope the clay has the same idea i do.

NancyeOakley1969 hope i can create what my mind sees.

Sgrace_pots Is this going to center? Am I breathing? Nope. Take a breath. Slow down.

BrandonDonnaLee I can do this. I can do this. And finding the picture in my head in the clay. Listening to my breathing (somehow far away in the distance).

RobinLambright My first thought...is it a throwing day or a back in the bucket day...

Feelings: calm, zen, clear mind

Plenty of people seem to get a feeling of calm or clear mind as they start to make a pot.

Blue_s_reflectedin_fiery_water in my opinion it makes calmness and releases the soul in love

Bobbie141 I love playing with clay ..my mind just goes .....to a great place...

Terispad_yellowdoorpottery I try to clear my mind, and breathe. I sometimes hold my breath and that makes me tense.

Annelie57 I just close my eyes and feel the clay

Previous Episode

003 Pottery Goals – MudTalk Podcast

This episode is all about pottery goals. The goals from others in this episode are over a year old so if your goal was mentioned and you want to give us an update, we would love to hear about it!

Resources

My process for setting goals (mentioned in the podcast):

http://www.potterymakinginfo.com/news/best-pottery-year/

Transcript:

Welcome to the MudTalk Podcast. We’re talking about pottery, ceramics and all things related to clay. Each episode will explore a new topic and we will hear some great comments from people around the globe. My name is Brandon Schwartz, but you can call me Fuzzy. This is episode 3. In which we will talk about pottery goals. The original MudTalk Monday post asked “what is your top pottery goal for the year and how is it going?” And this was way back at the end of January in 2017. I think it would be really interesting to ask the same question, and see how everyone did with their goals for 2017. And how that affected goals for this year. Hopefully, you all reached your goals last year and are ready to set a different or bigger goal for the new year.

This has been one of the most exciting MudTalk Mondays to read through for me. I love to see people out there setting goals and working hard and getting better at something everyday. Seeing people grow gets me excited. So thanks to everyone who has left a response which has encouraged me to grow myself.

As I was reading through the goals I started to see some themes again. So first we’ll hear goals about skills and techniques, then studio or equipment improvements, then goals about selling, marketing and business. There were also a few goals about new or big ideas, and then last I’ll share my favorite goals that were shared. After that, I’ll talk a little bit about setting my own goals and what works for me. There were a lot of responses so I had to do a little more trimming than the previous podcasts. Sorry if your comment didn’t make it in this time.

One note about the names: If I just read off a name, it is most likely an instagram username. That way if you hear a great response you can search and find out more about the person who left it. I’ll try to let you know if a comment is from Facebook and I’ll probably only read the first name and last initial. I just feel like someone’s personal FB account should be allowed a little more privacy. You can always go to the MudTalk Monday post and respond to any of the comments. And again, sorry for the mispronunciations! Now, to the comments!

Goals for improving Skills and Techniques

There were plenty of people who wanted to improve their skills or try a new technique.

A lot of people, including AnitaRobech, Cro.ceramics, Joyful_effort, Sas3sas3 all mentioned throwing bigger or taller

Sas3sas3 Taller!!! Going good... reached almost 30 cm while my 2016 best was about 20 cm

Joyful_effort To throw taller! ⬆️⬆️⬆️

Cro.ceramics Trying to throw higher shapes and hopefully finally making something that i actually want to/can use ☺

Anitarobech My goal is to learn how to throw big vases like my big inspiration #tortuscopenhagen

Zeldalune wants to make a large moon jar

Thordar Greybeard Larger sculptures.

Mudworkspa To get back on the wheel! Had a total knee replacement a month ago, and so far it’s been just handbuilding and maybe one or two throws. I miss throwing, been doing it for about 26 years!!!

Steph_emm_ To try and master twisting a pot... [love] this effect!

A number of people mentioned consistency: Including

Sgrafiato girl w...

Next Episode

005 Inspiration – MudTalk Podcast

What inspires YOUR work?

Resources

Contribute to the show here.

Artists Mentioned: Justin Rothshank, Dick Lehman, Mark Goertzen, Troy Bungart, Todd Pletcher, Rebecca Graves, Jennifer Beachy, Eric Strader, Fred Driver, Zach Tate.

Transcript:

Thanks for listening! This is episode 5 where we will be talking about inspiration. What inspires YOUR work? Obviously, you can draw inspiration from many different kinds of things. And again, this prompt can be interpreted in different ways. What inspires the objects you make or what inspires you to get started working or what inspires your processes, or whatever else. When I was reading through the comments for this MudTalk Monday, I noticed some patterns and tried to group some of the comments together. So we’ll look at comments about nature or surroundings, other artists or people, the process, and then everything else. I’ll also share my favorite responses at the end and ramble a little bit about what inspires my work. Let’s get to it.

Nature / Surroundings

First, let’s hear from potters that are inspired by nature or their environment.

Dani_firlefanz____ Nature ?????????????⭐️

Adamina Walk in the forest ?

Kilnjoy The natural rhythms of our planet in relation to the sun and moon, stark contrasts between light and shadow, and the patterns found in nature, particularly flora.

Pathwaypottery Scripture, nature, music.

Teerraku Everything in the processes of the earth

Cosmic_sophira I found my inspiration in sacred ceremonies of different native american tribes,in fire,water,in crystal,in PLANTS ♡

Sandyvanderwyk Walking around, noticing things.

Other Artists/People

There were also some great comments about inspiration from other people.

Ratbagstudios The past, family heritage & other female art makers.

Djhmfa Humanity inspires my work – – we all need a sense of community!

Nancyeoakley1969 nature, my heritae, traditions, family

Honnoria Of late, in our community studio, we are feeding off each other. I can see where one person is taking a small bit of what another is doing. We are making it our own, but it is coming from another. I can’t wait to see how we build it all into something great.

The Process

There were a few comments mostly about the process.

Jerichostudiopottery My hands when the clay is turning between them on the wheel.

Studio2ceramics Usually our ideas come about while walking our dogs together. We chat about the process and voila- an idea arises.

Other / All

Now let’s hear some of the comments that didn’t fit into the previous categories.

Shawna.n.m.barnes My time in the Army, love of animals, and creating work that promotes discussion. My latest series is art that educates in a fun and engaging way.