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#326 The Fine Craft of Slip Trailing Explained With Stacia Miller
53 Plays2 years ago
In the podcast episode we delve into the captivating story of Stacia Miller, who evolved from a reluctant pottery student to a master craftswoman with her own studio. Emphasizing the significance of experimentation, Stacia shares how she developed her distinctive slip trailing technique and finds inspiration from her peers. The episode highlights her intuitive design process, her husband's supportive role, and her foray into glaze chemistry. Listeners are encouraged to embrace their creative evolution, with Stacia advocating for the joy of making pottery and the importance of having fun in discovering one's artistic voice.You can learn more about stacia by checking out her instagram @claybystacia
Top 3 Value Bombs:
1. **Embrace Experimentation**: One of the key takeaways from Stacia's story is the importance of experimentation in the creative process. She emphasizes that trying a wide range of techniques and materials is crucial for discovering one's unique voice in pottery. This trial-and-error approach allows for personal growth and the development of a distinctive style. Stacia's journey illustrates that finding one's voice is not a fixed destination but an evolving path that benefits from continuous exploration and willingness to embrace change.
2. **Support Systems Matter**: Stacia's experience highlights the significance of having a supportive network, particularly mentioning the role her husband played in her pottery journey. His support in handling logistics and providing financial stability before her craft became profitable was invaluable. This underscores the importance of having a solid foundation and support system when pursuing a passion, especially in the early stages when the venture may not be immediately lucrative.
3. **The Joy of Teaching and Learning**: Through teaching pottery classes, Stacia found that not only was she able to impart her knowledge to others, but she also learned from her students. This reciprocity in the learning process can lead to new insights and techniques that might not have been discovered otherwise. Moreover, the act of teaching reinforces one's understanding of their craft and often requires a deeper analysis of techniques, which can lead to further refinement of skills. Stacia encourages those interested in teaching to jump in and start, even if they don't have all the details figured out, emphasizing the growth that comes from the teaching experience itself.
Get your 53 themes by clicking this link shapingyourpottery.com/53themes
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Transcript
Finding Your Voice in Pottery
00:00:00
Speaker
I used to think of finding your voice as a very specific destination, like that all your pottery had to be leading to this culminating point of arrival and then you have found your voice and then you continue in that vein.
Introduction to Stacia Miller and Her Unique Style
00:00:12
Speaker
What is up Shaper Nation this is Nick Torres here and on today's episode I had the great pleasure of interviewing Stacia Miller. Stacia makes some really incredible slip trailing design that look absolutely incredible. In this episode you will learn how Stacia makes her slip trailing design. You'll also learn about how Stacia takes inspiration from other potters on Instagram and applies it to her own work.
00:00:34
Speaker
You also learn about how teaching can be a great way to build up your skills and also Stacia gives some great tips on how if you want to start teaching, she gives those tips and how to start that. Finally, you also learn about how you don't have to have one single voice for
Embracing Multiple Styles
00:00:51
Speaker
your pottery. You could have many and there's so much more in this episode. I hope you guys enjoy it.
00:00:56
Speaker
If you love pottery and want to take your skills to the next level, you're in the right place. Find your own pottery style right here on Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres. Let's get started. Stacia, welcome to Shaping Pottery and share with me what is something you believe pottery should be doing to have success in pottery. I think that one of the most important things you can do is to try everything. Don't feel like you have to be
00:01:21
Speaker
Find your voice immediately and get stuck in one little spot. You'll never know what you like if you don't try a whole bunch of different things and never feel like you can't keep experimenting. Absolutely great. Shaping Nation, the most important thing is to try everything and keep on experimenting. That's how you find your voice eventually. I love that. Now tell the
Stacia's Pottery Journey
00:01:39
Speaker
story how you got started making pottery.
00:01:42
Speaker
So I was an art major in college and I didn't really know what I wanted to do specifically but probably something in the drawing or painting field. But I had to take a pottery class because all art majors had to take a pottery class. And I did not want to because I didn't like pottery because none of my pottery turned out good in high school that you know when we did a few projects here and there and I was not excited about it.
00:02:05
Speaker
but I had to take the class so I did and I loved it and I ended up like making twice as many projects as we were required to and I never looked back. I love
Starting a Pottery Studio at Home
00:02:15
Speaker
the plasticity and the three dimensionality of it. I love the functionality because I love paintings and drawings and everything but they're just decorative but I love that you can hold your pottery and you can use it every day and it just becomes a part of your routine.
00:02:34
Speaker
and it's just so functional. Absolutely agree. I love that. So tell me the story about when you decided to open up your own pottery studio.
00:02:45
Speaker
My husband and I had been living in Colorado and I was working at a paint your own pottery business for a while and I always knew I wanted to start up my own business but couldn't really afford it there. But then my husband got a good job down in Texas so we moved down here and he had a good enough job for a while there that I didn't have to make any income so I just took that opportunity and ran with it. And I did not make much my first year but I started out in the garage in our last house and just
00:03:12
Speaker
slowly
Support and Collaboration in Pottery
00:03:13
Speaker
started building up and now I've got a pretty good setup in our garage in our current home and got a couple kilns, a couple wheels, I teach pottery classes, I've got a sink out there and everything I need and I love it. So now what were you feeling when you were able to start when you opened up your own studio?
00:03:35
Speaker
It felt like that's the way it was always supposed to be. It had never occurred to me that this was not what I was supposed to do. After I graduated, I just knew I was gonna be a studio potter and that was the end of it. And a few years after I had started up my business and had been working for a while,
00:03:53
Speaker
My husband just casually mentioned, you know, I'm glad this worked out. And that was the first time it occurred to me that it might not have worked out. It was just always
Developing a Unique Technique
00:04:02
Speaker
laid before me like that was, that was all there was. Love that. Now you've mentioned your husband a couple times. What impact has your husband had on your pottery journey itself?
00:04:15
Speaker
He's very supportive. He likes to, I shouldn't say likes to, he's good at moving boxes of pottery to shows. And he has always been able to make an income on his own end so that when I'm, you know, before I could make a great amount of money, he could just support us that way. And so it's been great to be able to have him there. Couldn't have done it without him.
00:04:39
Speaker
I love that. So now we're going to talk more about the business side of pottery a little later. But for now, let's talk about your pottery. Can you tell me a story how you started making the slip trailing pottery that you make today?
00:04:50
Speaker
Honestly, I don't remember when I decided that I wanted to slip trail. It didn't come in a specific way. I just tried a lot of things. I had been doing carving and stamping, got a couple little slip trail bulbs at the ceramic supply store, along with a whole bunch of other stuff to experiment with and try. I just kept doing it until I finally decided that I really loved it. And so I got an air pen from silkpaint.com.
00:05:17
Speaker
And that changed everything because it's so hard on your hands to be slip trailing all the time with a little bulb, but the air pin just makes it so much easier. I love it. Why do you like slip trailing other than carving or doing something else?
00:05:34
Speaker
I like that it is a very rounded and organic look so that the raised design has the nice rounded circular shape as opposed to carving. It's very angular, hard edges, and I like the more organic soft surface. I love that. So you are inspired by other people's pottery. Can you tell me more about this?
00:05:58
Speaker
Yes, a lot of people say things like, oh, I'm inspired by nature and they go out and look at the leaves and then they try to copy the leaves. And I just, I look at other potter's leaves and then I make leaves instead of looking at the actual leave. I don't know why, but I love getting on Instagram and I don't use Instagram the way a lot of people do where they've got everything that interests them. I basically only follow potters. And so it's just pottery, pottery, pottery, pottery as I'm scrolling. And I just see everything.
00:06:25
Speaker
that I want to see, which is great because I used to be able to get my pottery making illustrated magazine and I'd go to Texas Clay Festival once a year in green or New Braunfels, Texas. Go if you have a chance. And so that was about it. I didn't get to see pottery, but now I can just see pottery all day, every day. Whenever I take a
The Art and Chemistry of Glazes
00:06:45
Speaker
break, I'm looking at pottery.
00:06:47
Speaker
And I love it. Whenever I see things that look like fun, I try it. I'm like, oh, they're doing this. You know, I just recently saw some people putting noodles into their pottery. I went to store. I'm like, I'm gonna go find some letter noodles to put into my pottery. Why not? Someone else is doing it. I'll never use it as my style or my voice or my big interest, but I want to try it. Why not? And every once in a while I try something and I really love it. And I just want to stick with it.
00:07:12
Speaker
I love that. Shaping Nation, you could definitely take inspiration from other potters out there. You could find your style that way too. What's most important is with if you are enjoying what you're making, go make that stuff. I love that. So now, outside of slip trailing, you also like experimenting with glazes. Why do you like experimenting with glazes?
00:07:33
Speaker
Well, I took a class with Ceramic Materials Workshop, which I definitely recommend, and just learned the glaze chemistry, and now I can just go into the studio and
00:07:46
Speaker
sit down with a piece of paper and decide, okay, I want to make a glaze, and it's going to look like this, and these are the things, and I can test it, and these are the ingredients, and if I don't like it, I can always, you know, tweak it. I know how to tweak
Teaching as a Growth and Business Strategy
00:07:57
Speaker
it a little better now. I definitely want to take another class with it because I learned so much, and I know there's so, so, so much more to learn, but it's fun to just be able to say, I want to make
00:08:07
Speaker
a blue matte glaze and I just go do it because it's it's just invigorating I guess for me and a lot of people glaze chemistry is like oh that's so scary but I love it I've always enjoyed science. I love that. So could you walk me through how you create one of your slip trailing designs onto your pottery?
00:08:29
Speaker
Well, after I've made the piece, I often mark it off with a little, I've got a, it's like a pen, but it's got a brush on the end. So the, there's food coloring inside that burns out in the kiln. So the food coloring just comes out through the bristles of the brush. And I don't mark my specific design, but I just kind of like sweeping strokes. I want the design to be in this area. So I'll mark big lines so that I can stay within that. I fill up my air pin with
00:08:54
Speaker
Slip that is from the clay body. I'm using but I sieve it to get any large particles out and just Mostly go intuitively I'll kind of see the design in my head and where I want to go and I'll give it a few air strokes before I decide to actually Put the slip on the piece, but it's so easy to erase you just wipe it off if you don't do and do this stroke you want and try again, so So what would you say is the key to making good slip for slip training?
00:09:24
Speaker
do it a long time. Oh, they do the slip or do the slip trailing? Make the actual slip. The make the actual slip is, in my case, it was very easy. I just use the klebiati I'm using in civet and then add some water. So it's not anything specific. But I do know a lot of people like to make their own slip and they use specific recipes. But since I've never done it that way, I don't have a good recipe or anything for you.
00:09:49
Speaker
So let's
How to Start Teaching Pottery
00:09:50
Speaker
talk about the business side of pottery. Can you tell me about the moment when you decided to start teaching pottery classes? So when I was in college, one summer I got to do an internship with Sherry Jo Adams, who is in Mudworks Pottery in Bernie, Texas. And she taught lessons. And I just watched her doing it. It seemed like such a good business model. She also, you know, sells at craft shows.
00:10:15
Speaker
galleries and all that type of thing. But it just always seemed like such a good idea to teach lessons because I'm very interested in multiple income streams. I don't want to focus all on selling online or all on craft fairs or anything like that. So I like to have some galleries, although I'm between galleries at the moment.
00:10:34
Speaker
But I like to have things to sell online, I like to have craft fairs, and I like to have teaching lessons so that I can, if anything dries up like it did during COVID, then I've got other sources. So now, how did being able to teach pottery, how did this help with your growth as an artist?
00:10:54
Speaker
I learn a lot from my students and I just learn from teaching and they, you know, they, the infamous they always says you learn so much more from teaching and you do. When you have to analyze each step so that you can explain it and you have to know why you're doing what you're doing, it just helps a lot with what you're doing. And also my students have just brought things to me. They're like, hey, I saw this or hey, I tried this and it worked and things I'd never thought of. So I learned from them too.
00:11:21
Speaker
Now what advice would you give to someone that wants to start teaching pottery and how would you go about selling that? If you want to teach pottery lessons first just take the time to really learn what you're doing very well first and once you feel that you're really
00:11:40
Speaker
have the skills to pass along, then just jump in. I don't think I knew exactly how to format a class or what projects to teach or, you know, what words to use when I started. But I started, you know, a slightly lower price range because I knew that I was brand new to this. Then just jump in and once you get comfortable, you can raise your prices a little bit. And I feel my students are pretty pleased right now with what they're getting. So it's
Fluidity in Artistic Expression
00:12:07
Speaker
just a matter of jump in and don't be afraid.
00:12:10
Speaker
What does the marketing look like to get people actually to attend those classes? That's a good question. I don't really do much marketing anymore. At first, I would sell ads or buy ads on Instagram and Facebook. And my very first students were friends. But then word of mouth and on Instagram, but now I have a wait list. I've got probably about 60 people on my wait list. So I don't do any marketing anymore.
00:12:36
Speaker
I love this. I have some excellent advice right there. So let's talk about discovering your voice. Can you tell me about the moment when you knew you were heading the right direction with your pottery?
00:12:46
Speaker
I don't know that I still know that I'm headed in the right direction with my pottery. I used to think of finding your voice as a very specific destination. Pottery had to be leading to this culminating point of arrival, and then you have found your voice, and then you continue in that vein. But I don't really think that way anymore. I see it now as a much more fluid thing. At least for me, I love experimenting. I don't feel like I want to be trapped in one.
00:13:16
Speaker
style that I just have to do because it's recognizable. I love trying new things and I've and most of them flop and that's fine but every once in a while I find something that I really love and I just start going in that direction. I don't know that my work is as unified body of work as a lot of artists and that's because I as soon as I master something I get bored with it and then I move on and I want to try something new. So I love just experimenting and
00:13:43
Speaker
I would say to someone who's trying to find their voice to relax, and it's okay if you can't find your voice right now, just keep trying everything. And eventually you will either stumble onto something that you love and can't live without, or you'll discover that you love changing and that's okay too. Absolutely greasy, excellent advice right there. Can
Overcoming the Fear of Undefined Style
00:14:04
Speaker
you tell me
00:14:05
Speaker
When was the moment when you decided to give up this idea of that finding your voice has to be one solid art form, and instead explore many different ones? Oh, when did I discover that? It's been a slow mental process over time, I think.
00:14:24
Speaker
I realized it before I allowed my brain to hold on to that idea. Like at first it was a scary idea that I can just be as fluid as I want to be or go in different directions. And so I kind of pushed it away, but finally let my brain say, it's okay. I don't have to be one of those artists that I just look at one of their work
00:14:45
Speaker
And I immediately know who it is and I just love it because you can just tell exactly who it is. But at first it was scary to not have that as a goal. But now I realize that I don't have to be like other potters that I admire and I love what they do. I can decide my own direction. My own direction can be wandering. If that's what gives me joy.
00:15:10
Speaker
I love that shaping nation. You don't have to be stuck doing the same style over and over again. If you want to go many directions with your pottery, you can do that and that will be your voice. I absolutely love that. So now, what would you say was your biggest obstacle when it came to finding your voice?
00:15:28
Speaker
I think the biggest obstacle was fear. Fear of not having what I thought what I was supposed to have. Like having a narrow definition in my mind of what it means to have a voice and have a style and being afraid of pushing those boundaries and not being exactly what I thought it was supposed to be at first. I
Evolving Through Experimentation
00:15:52
Speaker
love that. So what is something you are doing to evolve your voice even further?
00:15:58
Speaker
Try everything. Everything you see someone else doing, even if it's something you'll never do again and you know you'll never do it again, try it, because it'll be fun. And when you're in the studio having fun, you're making your best work. If you are forcing yourself to do something again and again that you're sick of, it's not going to be your best work.
00:16:19
Speaker
Absolutely agree. Shaping age is the most important thing. Make what you want to make, have fun, because that's where your voice will truly start showing up. I love that. Now, what advice would you give to someone that's looking to discover their own unique voice with their pottery? Same thing. Try everything. Keep trying. Don't feel like something is too scary or too big for you, except that you will fail at some of the things you try, but it's okay. You don't have to have a successful piece every time. You just have to have fun.
00:16:48
Speaker
Absolutely agreed. It has been great chatting with you today. And as we're coming to a close here, what is one thing you want to hammer home with my audience today? Have fun. Don't take yourself
Connecting with Stacia and Resources for Potters
00:16:59
Speaker
too seriously and just keep making. Stacia, it was great chatting with you today. Where can my artist go and learn more about you?
00:17:08
Speaker
You can find me on Instagram or Facebook. It's at Claybystacia, so that's C-L-A-Y-B-Y-S-T-A-C-I-A. Or you can find me on my website or on Etsy, also Claybystacia. My website is claybystacia.com. Thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Potter.
00:17:29
Speaker
If you are struggling with finding your own theme for your pottery so that you know you are known for something, I put together 53 themes that you can use and you can take. All you have to do is go to shapingyourpottery.com
00:17:46
Speaker
or slash 53 themes. That's five three themes to get these 53 themes. It's really important for you to find a theme for your pottery so that you're not going to get burnt out. You can have multiple styles with your pottery and you can be known for something. So again, go to shapingyourpottery.com or slash 53 themes. That's five three themes to get these 53 themes. Thanks guys. I'll see you guys next time.