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#325 I Asked 15 Different Potters What Is One Thing You Wish You Knew Before Starting Pottery
67 Plays2 years ago
In this podcast episode host Nic Torres gathers invaluable insights from experienced potters to guide aspiring ceramic artists. The episode delves into the importance of practice, community, and patience in honing one's craft, with practical advice on managing finances, the necessity of self-care, and the value of creativity over tools. Guests like Courtney Segrest and Monica Rickhoff Wilson emphasize the significance of persistence and networking, while Annie Chrietztberg stresses the need for diversified income streams. Through shared stories and strategies, the episode aims to inspire potters to nurture their passion while maintaining a profitable and sustainable practice.
List of Potters From This Episode You Can Learn More about them By Checking Out There Instagram:
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Transcript
Initial Insights from Potters
00:00:00
Speaker
I asked 15 different potters what is one thing you wish you knew before starting pottery. The results may surprise you. This first potter is Courtney's Secret. Let's give it a listen.
00:00:14
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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. Our first potter is from Courtney Secret. Let's give her a listen to what she has to say.
Skill Building through Practice and Networking
00:00:31
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I wish that I knew the amount of unexpected and unpredictable nature of the medium. It takes so much more testing and practice of skill to be able to get a finished result than I originally thought.
00:00:43
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This is so true, I love that Courtney brought this up that it does take a lot of skill to be able to make pottery because pottery does take skill no matter if you're hand building, sculpting, glazing, whatever it takes skill. And the fastest way to build up the skill is to simply put in the reps. Put in those reps so you can see that skill start to come to life.
00:01:03
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This next piece of advice is from Monica Rickoff Wilson. Monica is a sculptor and her advice goes hand in hand with what Courtney said in the previous one. Let's give it a listen.
00:01:24
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I love that Monica brought up that the quickest way to build up your skills and to build up your network is to get around other potters. I truly believe this. I wouldn't have seen my growth if I didn't start this podcast. And you could do the same thing as well by getting around other potters, joining community studios, joining, going to pottery events, or just simply reaching out to people on Instagram and seeing if they want to talk. This is a very quick and efficient way to help you build up your skills
00:01:54
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very quickly and learn very quickly as well.
Resource Accessibility and Creativity
00:01:57
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This next piece of advice is from my good friend Sarah Conner. Let's give it a listen. The one thing that I wish I knew before starting pottery was how important it is to not compare yourself to other potters because there is just so much difference between everybody's learning experiences and everybody's growth.
00:02:19
Speaker
Some people have access to things that you might not have access to. Some people have peers that are closer that they can ask questions for. Some people have access to better access, even to the internet that you might not have or access to tools and supplies that you might not have. So I wish that I didn't try and compete with people who I thought I should be competing with. And I wish that I had just, yeah.
00:02:49
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not tried to keep up with everybody and just went a little bit more at my own pace. It's something that I understand now and it just makes my journey a lot more joyful.
00:03:02
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Thank you Sarah for sending that over, and it's very true. The more we start comparing ourselves with other potters, the more we're missing what's right in front of our face, and that's what our own pottery. We have to focus on our own pottery, focus on getting better, focus on improving our skills, and that's how our potter will start to develop. Not by comparing ourselves to other potters, like Sarah said, other potters may have certain tools, certain communities, certain anything that may help them. You may not have all those opportunities, but it's fine.
00:03:32
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Focus on your own work, keep trying to grow, and keep getting better. I love this advice here. This next answer is from PJ Anderson. So let's give it a listen. What is the one thing that I wish I knew when I start a party? I think the one thing that I wish I knew was that the tools do not make the man in this case. Tools are fun. I love buying tools. But at the end of the day, it really is just about me and the clay.
00:04:02
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So I don't need to spend a billion dollars on things. But I will. Because I love them. That is all. Thank you PJ for sending that over. That is some excellent advice and so true. The tools don't make the man. What makes the potter in this case is what you are making and how you are making it and how you are doing your creative ways to figure it out. I'll tell you a quick story before I move on to the next one.
00:04:31
Speaker
I spent three years of my pottery journey where I couldn't fire any of my pottery. Literally every single day, what I did was I would make a pot on the wheel and then I would destroy it, recycle it, and repeat that process. And because I repeated that process, I was able to build up my skills very, very well because I didn't have the tools necessary. Tools are great, but that didn't stop me from making pottery.
00:04:59
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So the next time you think you need a tool, try to figure it out without the tool first. I love this advice.
Community and Financial Planning
00:05:06
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Our next piece of advice is from Delvin Good. Let's listen in. One thing I wish I knew when I first started pottery is to look up a good place in your community and local to you that you trust that can fire your work. I was so excited to just get making and get my own wheel and buy some clay. I never really thought of where I was actually going to get the stuff fired.
00:05:29
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So that was something I would definitely say. Make sure you have that locked down before you start making any clay. I wish I would have done this same exact thing that Delvin was talking about. And I was finding a place to actually fire my pottery. And before Delvin's recording, I even talked about how I didn't fire my pottery for three years. Well, I'm super grateful for that because it helped me build up my skills. I do wish that I was able to fire my pottery more because I think that could have also helped grow my skills as well.
00:05:59
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Our next recording entry is from Nicole Thomas and it goes pretty much hand in hand with the last two that we've just been talking about. So let's give it a listen. Hello, hello. This is Nicole Thomas from Classic Clayworks and one thing I wish I knew when I first got started with ceramics was that it doesn't have to be expensive to get started. There is a good chance that there is a community studio or a local artist
00:06:25
Speaker
that need someone to help out around their studio space. And they are probably willing to give you access to tools and materials in exchange for cleaning and mopping and helping them run their space. So like I said, it doesn't have to be expensive to get started. If you just look in your local community, there's a good chance that you're going to find someone who wants to mentor you in exchange for some work around their studio space. If you stop by today, thanks so much for being here.
00:06:51
Speaker
Thank you Nicole for sending it over and this advice goes hand in hand with the last two pieces of advice. One with PJ Anderson where she's talking about how the tools don't make the man or the potter and then Delvin whatever he's talking about how he wished he would have found a good place to fire his work.
00:07:08
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And this advice goes hand in hand that pottery doesn't have to be expensive to start because the more you think that it's expensive, the harder it's going to be to actually get started. Hard is going to help you grow as a potter. And there are definitely ways that you can get around, you know, being expensive pottery. The first thing I would do is just simply buy a bag of clay.
00:07:28
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and just start making things by hand. You don't need a wheel or anything. Just start making things by hand. And also, Nicole gave some great advice is to find a local community potter. Maybe you can mop their floors and try to in exchange for studio space. Pottery doesn't have to be expensive. You just have to get started. I love this advice. Our next piece of advice is from Colton Lunt, and it's a bit of a different one, but let's give it a listen. The one thing I wish I would have known before starting pottery
00:07:57
Speaker
is to establish residency in the state where you want to attend college. I went to Northern Arizona University for my undergrad, which was a wonderful experience. I saved $12,000 cash to attend. I spent all that on tuition and then took that much out in student loans. So I'm that much in debt. Where in hindsight, I realized I could have
00:08:24
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moved to Arizona, established residency, and spent that $12,000 over the next year just screwing around, having fun, traveling. And then I would have had in-state tuition, which would have been basically free with the Pell Grant, and I wouldn't be in any debt at all. So that's the thing. Nothing really, I can't think of anything that I would change regarding my
00:08:52
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art practice directly because I feel like I've survived and grown based on my ignorance. My ignorance and the unknown is what has turned me into the artist I am today. So I'm grateful for everything that I've got and that's my little nugget of advice.
00:09:12
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This is some great advice from Colton if you are somebody that wants to go to college, but also wants to maybe attend a residency one day. If you do it all in the same place, then you're going to be saving that much more money. And also, if you just put more focus on a residency, like he said, you could just kind of screw around and travel with the extra money. This is some great advice for anyone that is looking for a residency and doing college at the same time.
Health, Passion, and Versatility in Pottery
00:09:38
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This next piece of advice is from Naomi Clement. And in this advice she actually gives two pieces of advice instead of one. So let's give a listen.
00:09:47
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Hey, Nick, Naomi Clement here. What do I wish I had known before I first started in pottery? That's a great question. Honestly, I think the biggest thing I wish I knew was that your body is your most important tool and you need to take care of it. It's easy to forget that when you're in your teens and your early 20s, but if you want to have a long and healthy career, you need to take care of your body.
00:10:15
Speaker
your mind. So that would be my biggest piece of advice. And also that your passions are always worth pursuing. If it's something you feel strongly about, you'll figure out a way to make it work and to believe in yourself and not listen to the myth that if you pursue what you love, you'll be a starving artist.
00:10:40
Speaker
That's my main advice. These are some two excellent, great pieces of advice from Naomi. And the first one is so true. We have to take care of our health. We have to take care of our body and our mind. Because without our mind and our body, there's no way that we could continue being able to make pottery and continue this journey of pottery. We have to take care of our health. That's the most important thing. Out of all this advice, this is probably the most important thing, no matter what. Take care of your health.
00:11:05
Speaker
And the second thing that Naomi was talking about was pursue your passion. And that is so true. You have to pursue your passions, get out of your comfort zone and pursue those passions so you can continue to grow, continue growing your pottery as you can see these things come to life. I love that advice right there. Our next potter is from Brie Larson. And this advice I 100% agree on. So let's give it a listen. One thing I wish I knew before starting pottery is that this medium is so versatile.
00:11:33
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and you don't have to limit yourself in any way. Your pottery doesn't have to stick to one specific firing shape, form, or style. Feel free to explore and experiment. If you can dream it, you can make it out of clay.
00:11:48
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I love this advice that Bre gave here, that you don't have to limit yourself in pottery. For the longest time, for years, I limited myself in what I thought I had to be making. I thought I had to be making wheel thrown pots and I thought I had to be getting good colorful glaze combinations. But once I let that go, that's when my pottery truly started coming to life. I started expanding myself. I started doing other things. I started combining sculpture, I started combining hand building and wheel throwing. I started doing all the things that I liked.
00:12:18
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And that's how I was able to find my pottery voice because I get I got out of my bubble and I started expanding my view I love this advice so much These next three potters all kind of give the same similar advice, but they're very worth listening to so I'm gonna combine them into One long stretch and then I'll give you my thoughts on it.
Patience and Business Balance
00:12:40
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Let's give it a listen
00:12:41
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see what I wish I would have known. I wish I would have understood the value of patience. When I began my artist journey, I expected immediate and perfect results. I was very impatient. I expected to get acceptance letters to place in shows, to not make mistakes, basically become a fully fledged artist on sheer will alone. My definition of success was contingent upon factors that don't necessarily matter to being a fulfilled artist, like getting lots of shows, for example.
00:13:11
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So I slowed down and I did the work, development, styles, opportunity. All of these come naturally if you remain consistent through the peaks and valleys of your practice. The latter of which requires that patience even more so. And yeah, that really helped me a lot in the long run and it's helping me currently.
00:13:33
Speaker
One thing that I wish I would have known before I started pottery is that patience is key. It's crucial to understand that mastering new techniques will take time. And so it's important to keep this in mind so that way you can manage expectations and not get too frustrated when things aren't working out correctly.
00:13:55
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I'm Natalie Carr from Cabin Fever Clay Works and this is one thing that I wish I knew before I started doing pottery. One thing I wish I knew before I started doing pottery would be that it requires so much patience. You have to be so patient to do this craft. I can't even tell you how many pots that I've worked on.
00:14:13
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in the earlier stages that were too wet to be working with. So I would trim things too wet. I would try to carve things too wet. And if you've ever tried that, you know that you're just working against yourself. So let things dry out. Be patient, be slow, and be okay with losses along the way. Making sure you have enough work to fill a kiln requires patience. There's so much patience required at every step that that's one thing that I definitely didn't anticipate when I started doing pottery.
00:14:41
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It's very humbling how much patience that this craft requires, definitely.
00:14:46
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That was Kendra Harvey, Tanya Gerzberger, and Natalie Carr, all talking about having patience. And this is so, so true in pottery. Patience is the name of the game in pottery. You know, we make something, and then we have to wait for it to dry, and then once it dries, then we have to trim it, and then once we trim it, then we have to decorate it or glaze it, and then we have to bisfire, and then we have to fire it again. Whatever, we have to do all these steps in order to make our pottery look good. And that's okay.
00:15:15
Speaker
We have to have patience for it. We have to have patience to build up our skills. We have to have patience to keep developing our work. But patience is the name of the game in pottery. And if you can't be patient, then maybe pottery isn't just for you. I love this advice from all three of them, and it really hones in on what pottery is all about, patience. Our next entry is from Dallin Weber, and Dallin gives some really excellent advice that can be for both beginners and more advanced potters. Let's listen in.
00:15:45
Speaker
So I feel like when you're an artist and you're starting as an artist, a lot of people tell you, you know, make the things that you love and you will be able to make it or you will find happiness or joy or, you know, whatever. But it wasn't until pretty far along into my art career that someone was like, you know, if you can't
00:16:08
Speaker
like sell your artwork at a certain point you might have to stop making artwork because you're not going to be able to afford it and especially with pottery it's a very expensive hobby if it's just going to be a hobby you know so i wish i had had a little bit more of a know-how or interest in kind of the commercial or business side of art and figuring out how to kind of blend the idea of
00:16:32
Speaker
marketing myself and selling my artwork as well as making things that I like because I think there is a balance and it's possible to find that balance but you can only make the things you like if you can afford to keep doing it. So I think it's important to have a really strong knowledge of business and you know marketing and things like that. While pottery can be cannot be
00:16:53
Speaker
While pottery isn't very expensive to actually get started, the more you continue doing pottery the more expensive it can get because you have to buy a kiln and you have to buy glazes and you have to buy all these different things and it can get expensive after a while. So if you're not able to make money either from a part time job or from an actual job or by selling your pottery
00:17:14
Speaker
You're not going to be able to make pottery. And that's the name of the game is that we want to be able to continue making our pottery. And there is a balance between, you know, making what you want to make and also trying to sell your potter as well if you want to go down that route, because you can't it's hard to choose one the other sometimes, but there is a balance and you can find it. And if you find that balance, then your part is going to look that much better. And at the same time, you're going to be able to continue making this because you are able making money. I love this advice right here.
00:17:43
Speaker
Our last potter that I asked here is Annie Kreisberg, and she gives some excellent advice, two pieces of advice, and so let's just listen in here. What I wish I knew before starting my clay journey. So I have a bachelor's and master's in ceramics, and there was never a conversation about how to actually make your living as an artist. There were no classes around that. There was no discussion period.
00:18:12
Speaker
One of the things that I discovered was you need to have a diversified income stream. So I've done that by obviously making and selling work, by writing for Pottery Making Illustrated, by teaching in various venues and in various capacities from art centers to college to workshops and now online. But I think the thing that was the most shocking to me is that
00:18:42
Speaker
how having this career would really affect my identity. My identity is completely wrapped up in being a ceramist. This career that I've realized recently that is my life's work for better or worse, someday I'm very happy with what I do. Someday I think what life choices led me to this moment, but I think everyone feels that in every single career.
00:19:10
Speaker
There were a few brief periods of time when I was not able to, for different reasons, actually work and make work. And I was miserable. And yeah, there was never any mention of that. There was never any talk about how to have a work-life balance. And that's something that me and most of the potters that I do know continue to work toward.
00:19:37
Speaker
And then the other thing that was never mentioned is you never feel like you've done enough or you never feel like you're done. And that may just be a thing that people who are generally self-employed feel. But yeah, I think the biggest thing was not realizing how miserable I would be when life knocked me out of the studio for the few short periods of time that that did happen to me. Thanks, Nick.
00:20:08
Speaker
I love these few pieces of advice that Annie gave. The first piece of advice that Annie gave was that you simply to diversify your income, whether you're selling your pottery or whether you're teaching workshops or doing something other along the way so that you can continue being able to make pottery and provide for yourself as well because that's important, very important. And the second advice that
00:20:31
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and he gave was that there are going to be days when you are maybe not going to want to make pottery or that you know maybe weeks or months where you're just not going to want to make pottery and that's okay right yeah we're all going to have those days but when you get through those days that's when our pottery could start truly becoming what we want to make and our identity starts becoming a lot better for it because we are making part of that we are proud of.
00:20:56
Speaker
I love this advice from any and that was my last potter. Those were all the 15 different potters that I asked. There were different potters, people that make sculptures, people that make wheel throwing, people that hand build, people that do everything in between. And they all gave some excellent advice.
Quality Creation and Listener Engagement
00:21:12
Speaker
Before I let you go here, I'm going to let you know what I think I wish everybody else would have known or wish I would have known before starting pottery. And there's a couple of things here. So number one is to slow down.
00:21:26
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Earlier, Kendra Harvey, Tanner Gersberg, and Natalie Carr, they all said to have patience. And I loved that. And I definitely agree with that. To have patience.
00:21:36
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but it's okay to go fast as well. You can move fast while but not rush. Slow down a little bit. Really put in a lot of effort to making good looking pottery. Put in that little bit of extra effort to put in that good pottery. I wish I would have did that before instead of trying to focus so much on just trying to sell my pottery at the beginning.
00:22:01
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I wish I would have took a little bit more time to make each part the best part it could be at that moment.
00:22:07
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And if I would have did that, I think I would have been a lot better potter today if I would have took my time to make good pots from the beginning instead of just rushing it. So go slow. Don't rush. It's OK to move fast. It's OK to do a lot of things at once or to do things multiple times a day. But don't rush things. Take the time to make good looking pottery. So that's my advice to you. I hope you guys enjoyed the episode and I'll see you guys in the next one.
00:22:35
Speaker
Hey, thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres. If you would like to send me your own voicemail and have questions about pottery or finding your voice, don't be afraid to send me that. You can go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash voicemail to send me your own voice message and I'll do my best to answer the question. You can also look in the show notes and we'll be there. I hope you guys enjoy this episode and I'll see you guys in the next one.