Wednesday, February 4, 2015

A community pottery

I contribute time and energy as a volunteer to Black Mountain Center for the Arts CLAY STUDIO.
(I also work there on my own creations in clay, and share a lot of that part of my life on my other blog, ALCHEMY OF CLAY.)

I also contribute to the BMCA Clay Studio blog, but posts have been a bit sporadic lately.



So I was thrilled to see Sepia Saturday has asked for photos having to do with a pottery studio.  I do have some historic shots from old potteries, but prefer to give you a few shots from the one I'm currently involved with...perhaps the historic ones will be coming soon!  At least these are all my own photos.


Charles Freeland, Studio Manager and teacher



Big tubs of glaze


An extruder (on the wall) makes different shapes as tubes of clay


Come over to Sepia Saturday to see more contributed photos which have to do with this theme. Scroll down and click on folks' names.

More of my BMCA buddies...
Beautiful mural on side wall of BMCA studio


Little sign by door on sidewalk facing parking lot

Original teacher Geoff Bird in kiln room

Kiln load of ceramics



A potter's selfie at BMCA studio

15 comments:

  1. I took a college ceramics course about 12 years ago. The studio looked very similar to the one in those pictures.

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  2. Barb, your post brought back memories of pottery making that I did with my Aunt Gail when I was a teenager. My pots never looked very good, but I did do a couple of clay sculptures that were at least recognizable. Loved the tour of your pottery world.

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  3. Great photos. And what fun. I've never done any true pottery work, but I've made some, er, 'interesting' things, shall we say, out of homemade playdough.

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  4. Clay is such fun, and I"m glad to hear that some of you "Sepians" folks have played with it in some form or another!

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  5. You could not have had a more appropriate prompt - a great profile of your hobby.

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  6. Oh, those potters are light years ahead of me -- some of the things in the kiln are just lovely!

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  7. This weeks' theme was just made for you. Looks like fun. It's something I've never tried.

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  8. As everyone has said, it was a perfect theme for you. I do see that the girls in the theme image are painting quite intricate designs which is not as common a technique anymore from what I've seen in contemporary craftshops.

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  9. I loved pottery when I was at school. When I retire, I will look at taking it back up :)

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  10. Fascinating! You must be very creative. I tried once but could not get the pot to hold its shape on the wheel :-(

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  11. A perfect theme for you. I must confess that you came to mind when I first chose the image for the theme this week.

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  12. I could almost smell the wet clay and feel the sensation of forming the shapes in my old pottery lessons at school.Your studio looks far better equipped though.

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  13. Thanks Alan, you're right, this is right up my alley. Jo, it takes many tries to get a first pot the stand up on a wheel. I've gone back to hand building things these days. Nell, you reminded me of the odors of clay, which are often moldy, but sometimes more like a garden's dirt.

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  14. Memories.I did made a few pots as an elective at college and really enjoyed it. Hmmm. I wonder if there's a studio near me.

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  15. Whenever I travel, I seek out shops such as yours. If I were rich, I'd own a lot more pottery!

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