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#345 Focus on these 3 things if you want to be able to find your pottery voice
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In this episode, Nic Torres shares three essential factors to consider in developing a unique 'pottery voice'. The first is making time to regularly work in the studio, which is deemed as nearly half the journey. The second is focusing on shapes, which can introduce a wide variety of ideas for personal pottery expressions. To do this, Nic recommends observing and taking note of shapes and forms from other pottery works on platforms like Instagram. The last factor is making time for experimentation, and incorporating one or two experimental pieces into each batch of work. Through these approaches, developing a distinct pottery voice becomes more achievable.
00:00 Introduction: Finding Your Pottery Voice 00:13 The Importance of Studio Time 01:09 Focusing on Shape: The Key to Unique Pottery 03:33 How to Experiment with Your Pottery 04:31 Recap and Conclusion
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Transcript
Introduction to Pottery Voice
00:00:00
Speaker
Focus on these three things if you want to be able to find your own pottery voice What is up shaping nation? This is Nick Torres here and on this episode I'm gonna give you three things that you should be focusing on if you want to be able to find your own pottery voice So the first one is number one and it's probably the most important one is Making time to get into the studio
Commitment to Studio Time
00:00:20
Speaker
Sometimes the hardest thing about finding your voice is simply making time to get into the studio. And it can be hard for all of us, especially if you are working and you are tired or if you have kids, it can be hard to get into the studio.
00:00:32
Speaker
But that is a big part of trying to find your own party voice is making time to get into the studio. That's probably, I would say 40% of it, maybe even 50% of the work is getting into the studio. And that's how you're gonna be able to find your voice. Because if you can't make time to get into the studio, you probably already know it. If you don't make time to get in the studio, then you're not gonna be able to find your own unique voice. So you have to make time to get into studio or practice
00:00:58
Speaker
or just get into the habit of making things in general. Because
Developing Personal Style through Shape
00:01:03
Speaker
if you're not making time to get in the studio, then you're not going to be able to find your own unique voice. So that's number one. Number two is to focus on shape.
00:01:13
Speaker
Why do I say focus on shape? So when it comes to finding our voice, we have all these different ideas in our head that we want to try, and then when we try it, we feel like we're copying somebody else. And that's a natural reaction to have that, right? It's that imposter syndrome, where we don't want it to, we don't want to be copying somebody else, we want to be making our own work, and we feel like because it's similar to somebody else is that it is becoming, and that's where imposter syndrome starts hitting in.
00:01:40
Speaker
But in order to kind of cure this a little bit, focus on shape and that's how you can start branching out your pottery in wide variety of ways. It doesn't matter if you're a sculptor or if you're a wheel thrower or if you're a hand builder.
Experimenting with Pottery Design
00:01:55
Speaker
Focusing on shape is the simplest thing that you could do to get you starting to find your own pottery voice and heading in the right direction with your pottery. So here's what you could do to focus on shape.
00:02:07
Speaker
What I want you to do is when you are scrolling through Instagram or social media and you see a bunch of pottery stuff, I want you to take note of the forms, the handles, and anything that you like about the shape. And I want you to either take a screenshot, write it down, whatever. I want you to just take note of it. Because the moment you start taking note of it, that's when you start thinking of better ideas for your shapes.
00:02:34
Speaker
And shapes is the simplest thing that you could do because this is the fastest thing that you could to experiment on. You can do a bunch of things just by simply having a good shape handle, good shape mug, whatever it is.
Creative Foundations with Shape
00:02:49
Speaker
If you focus on shape, then it's going to be easier to branch out from there. Because let's say you like making mugs, right? You are somebody that likes making mugs. But if you're going to make a mug like everybody else, then your pottery voice isn't going to show up.
00:03:03
Speaker
But if you start tweaking that little cylinder shape that everybody makes and then tweak it little by little, maybe you start adding some swirls to it. Maybe you flare it out a little bit more. Maybe you make it look like a flower. You start focusing on these shapes and it becomes that much easier to find your pottery voice later on because now you have a good foundation of finding your pottery voice.
Sneaky Experiments in Kiln Firings
00:03:25
Speaker
So those are two things so far. So number one is getting into the studio. Number two is focus on shape before you move on to anything else.
00:03:33
Speaker
Number three is you have to make time to experiment. I know we all get into this groove where we think we have found something and then once we have found something, we kind of get bored with it. That's a natural reaction. You start getting good at something and you start getting bored at it because it's repetitive and repetitive and repetitive and it can be a little daunting sometimes. So you have to make time to experiment. I have interviewed a couple people where they've said,
00:03:59
Speaker
that they will try to sneak in one or two things that they experiment into each kiln, kiln that they do. And that is such a really good tip if you are looking to try to experiment while also still making things that people already know you for, is to sneak in one or two things where it's different. It's not the same as every other piece that you're making.
00:04:22
Speaker
And that is a very, very, very easy way to experiment.
Recap and Strategies
00:04:26
Speaker
And that is, the more you experiment, the faster you're gonna be able to find your own unique pottery voice. So here's a recap of the three things that you should be focused on. Number one is to get into the studio. This is probably the most important one. So get into the studio, find a way to get into the studio, make it as easy as possible for you to get into the studio.
00:04:42
Speaker
Number two is you focus on shape first and build that foundation now so that when later when you are getting new skills it's gonna be a lot easier for you to find that voice.
Conclusion and Encouragement
00:04:53
Speaker
Number three is you have to make time to experiment. Sneak in one or two things into the kiln every time you fire it and you're gonna have a bunch of experiments by the end of the year. Hope you guys enjoy this episode and I'll see you guys in the next one.