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#292 Do You Ever Find Your Pottery Voice?
38 Plays2 years ago
Get your 53 themes by clicking this link shapingyourpottery.com/53themes
Ready to embrace the captivating journey of pottery-making and discover your unique voice in the process? That's where we're headed today, and we're thrilled to have you along for the ride. We've conversed with numerous potters, many of whom doubt that they've found their 'voice'. However, their remarkable work tells a different story. We'll be discussing why your pottery voice is not a static concept, but one that evolves alongside you and your skills.
As we engage with different aspects of pottery, from basic glazes and wheel throwing to under glazes and scruffy dough, we add a new layer to our pottery voice. We'll also explore how your pottery voice is reflected in everything you create. So, buckle up for this exciting adventure of self-discovery and expression. This episode is all about embracing the dynamic nature of your pottery craft and using it to shape your unique artistic voice.
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Transcript
Introduction to Finding Your Pottery Voice
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you ever find your own pottery voice? 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. What is up, Shaping Nation? This is Nick Torres here. And for those of you that don't know me, it is my mission to help potters like yourself discover your own unique pottery voice, help you sell your pottery, and just help you enjoy making pottery.
Is Finding a Pottery Voice Possible?
00:00:29
Speaker
So in this episode, I'm going to be talking about whether or not you actually ever find your pottery voice or if it's just some fictional dream that you might have in your head. And to put it to summarize it very, very shortly, the answer is yes, you do find you can find your pottery voice and you will find your pottery voice. But to extend on that, so I have interviewed
00:00:56
Speaker
Lot of potters a lot a lot a lot a lot of potters and a good portion of the interviews I asked Can you describe to me the moment when you knew you were heading in the right direction with your pottery?
Interviewing Potters and Recognizing Their Voice
00:01:11
Speaker
And a lot of them will say I don't know if I have found the right direction for my pottery Or I don't know if I have truly found my voice, right? Which is fine
00:01:23
Speaker
they're entitled to their opinion, but I think they have found at least the direction for their pottery. Most of the time, that's why I try to interview people is because I find them interesting. I find the part of their making interesting.
00:01:37
Speaker
And I think that if I can learn from them that I can share with you guys, I could grow my own, my own skill sets. And that's why I choose them. I choose potters because I think they're interesting and I think they have found their
The Evolution of Pottery Voice
00:01:50
Speaker
voice. I wouldn't have chose potters that I didn't think have found their own voice with their pottery and their own direction with their pottery. But again, back to the question, do you ever find your own unique pottery voice?
00:02:04
Speaker
Yes, yes you do. Because all these pottery that I have seen, they all say pretty much the same thing. They say I haven't found my, I don't think I have found my pottery voice. And they also ask the question, do you ever really find your pottery voice? But see, the thing about finding a pottery voice is we go through different stages with our pottery, right? So when we're first starting out, more than likely we are just trying to
00:02:32
Speaker
make pottery that has a lot of glazes because that's what we have learned at first and maybe we're wheel throwing but then as we grow as our skills grow what begins to happen we start to expand we start to explore more and that becomes another version of our pottery voice and so as our skills grow the more we learn our pottery starts to change maybe you start getting into hand building maybe you start getting into sculptor
Growth Through New Skills
00:03:01
Speaker
and maybe you start going away from the traditional glazes and you start using more underglazes bright brighter type underglazes maybe it's you start adding some graffito and along this journey your pottery is going to change quite a bit and that's fine your pottery voice is always there however whatever you are making that is your pottery voice because only you can make that only you can do certain things that you can do and although it may change
00:03:30
Speaker
What begins to happen is you start adding new skills to your repertoire. You start adding new skills, and with each new skill, your pottery voice grows and grows and grows. You see, I believe that we do find our pottery voice. Right now, you're probably making something that you are really interested in. And that is wonderful. If you are making something that you are interested in and that is bringing you joy, that is your pottery voice at that moment.
00:03:59
Speaker
and then maybe you know who knows six months from now you start changing your pottery voice but that's fine it's just adding another layer to your pottery voice that has already been starting to show out it's just every single time you start to change your pottery or your pottery evolves it's just adding another layer to that pottery voice
00:04:21
Speaker
You have already found it. It's just adding another layer to it. Each new skill, each new experiment you try, everything you try, that is just adding another layer to your pottery voice. And you do find it. I promise you, you do find it. You just have to start thinking in a different way. Because with the pottery you're making right now, that is your pottery voice.
00:04:44
Speaker
whether it's just because of your skill level is lacking or it's just because you are trying something new, that is another layer that starts adding on one of another, another, another, another. And every single time you grow, your pottery is growing with you.
Personal Growth and Continuous Development
00:05:00
Speaker
And you do find your pottery voice because your pottery is gonna grow and you are gonna grow as well. And it becomes this incline of a trajectory where your pottery is just always growing. And that's what we want.
00:05:13
Speaker
We don't want our pottery to stay stagnant. Because if our pottery was stagnant, then we would be bored of our mind. So I want you to start thinking about each new layer, each new skill that you learn. It's just another layer to your pottery voice.
00:05:31
Speaker
I bet you could think right now, however long you've been making pottery, you could see the journey in your head of where you started, what the pottery went to next, to the next one, to the next one, to the next one. You could see that journey going along in your head. For example, myself, I started out with throwing on the wheel and using basic glazes and I wanted to do color combination glazes.
00:05:57
Speaker
Then I went on to graffito for a little bit and each part has been my pottery voice in that moment. Each one of those has been my pottery voice.
00:06:06
Speaker
The next thing I worked on was Raku. And then the next thing I worked on was just large vases, because I really liked throwing large vases. And then I went into sculpture. And then I went into creating my own diorama sculptures onto mugs.
Embracing and Developing Your Unique Pottery Voice
00:06:22
Speaker
And each new skill I learned, it added to my pottery voice. And my pottery voice will still be growing, and so should yours. And that's why I want to say that you do find your pottery voice. It's just about adding new layers to that pottery voice.
00:06:36
Speaker
I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I'll see you guys in the next one. Let me know if you think we ever find our pottery voice. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Avoiding Burnout with Themes
00:06:47
Speaker
Thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery.
00:06:51
Speaker
If you are struggling with finding your own theme for your pottery so that 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
00:07:08
Speaker
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 slash 53 themes. That's five three themes to get these 53 themes. Thanks guys. I'll see you guys next time.