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#358 Cosmic Clay: A Journey Through Pottery with Luke Bonecutter
53 Plays2 years ago
This episode features Luke Bonecutter, a potter inspired by space and retrofuturism, who shares his journey from struggling with wheel throwing in high school to finding his unique voice in pottery. Luke discusses the transition from working with drippy glazes to embracing underglazes and brighter colors, inspired by his interest in maximalism and the aesthetics of space. He credits his growth to the supportive community of ceramic artists, critical evaluation of art, and the process of experimentation. Listeners will learn the importance of staying true to personal interests, the evolution of creative styles, and the value of social media in growing a pottery business. Luke emphasizes the significance of making work that is personally fulfilling to avoid burnout and achieve confidence in one's artistry. You can learn more about Luke by checking out his Instagram @cosmic.clay
Get your 53 themes by clicking this link shapingyourpottery.com/53themes
00:00 Introduction to Luke Bone Cutter: The Space-Inspired Potter 01:25 Discovering Pottery: Luke's Journey from High School to Passion 03:03 The Evolution of Luke's Pottery Style: From Minimalism to Maximalism 05:47 The Birth of Bright Colored Pottery: An Accidental Discovery 06:47 Space and Retrofuturism: The Core Inspirations Behind Luke's Creations 08:29 Experimenting with New Forms: The Story of the UFO Mug 10:09 Embracing Maximalism: Luke's Philosophy on Pottery Design 12:08 The Business Side of Pottery: Going Full-Time and Leveraging Social Media 16:09 Finding Your Voice: Luke's Advice on Discovering Your Unique Pottery Style 21:47 Conclusion: Final Thoughts and Where to Find Luke Online
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Transcript
From 'Less is More' to 'More is More'
00:00:00
Speaker
Instead of kind of thinking less is more, I just started realizing now I feel like more is actually more.
Meet Luke Bonecutter: A Space-Inspired Potter
00:00:06
Speaker
Meet Luke Bonecutter, a potter who is greatly inspired by space and retrocutarism. In this episode, you will learn how Luke switched from the drippy glazes into what he makes today. It wasn't even entirely purposeful like, oh, I'm going to start making my pottery inspired by space. I just started making pots and then kind of
00:00:26
Speaker
realized later on.
Following Personal Preferences in Art
00:00:27
Speaker
You will also learn Luke's best advice for getting out of your own head so you start making party that truly represents yourself. I was just worried that people didn't like it and I thought oh people like this like drippy glaze style better and so I think if I had thought more about what I liked versus what I thought other people liked I would have had an easier time.
00:00:53
Speaker
And there's so much more in this episode.
Community and Friendship in Pottery
00:00:56
Speaker
I hope you guys enjoy it and I'll see you guys in there. Luke, welcome to Shapery Pottery and share with me what is something that has helped you along your pottery journey so far, the most along the pottery journey so far? Something that I think has really helped me the most has just been the friendships that I've created surrounding clay and always kind of having those people in your life that you can bounce ideas off of and just talk about ceramics and get excited about it with.
The Journey Begins: High School to First Success
00:01:22
Speaker
Absolutely agree. I love that. So tell me the story, how you got started making pottery. So it's actually kind of funny. I was in my senior year of high school and I was taking all my classes at a community college and I needed an art credit to graduate. And it was my last semester of school. So I needed to complete the class like that semester.
00:01:45
Speaker
And so I was in a wheel class and I was really, really bad. And I'm the kind of person where if I'm not like immediately really good at something, I'm just not about that.
00:01:56
Speaker
So I was honestly like, I really didn't like the class at all. I wasn't having fun just because I struggled so hard. And I really wanted to just drop as like, this is it for me. I'm not good at this. This just isn't my thing. But because I needed it to graduate, I had to kind of stick it through. And then towards the end of the semesters, just something kind of started to click with the wheel throwing and I was able to center and make cylinders. And then I started to think like, okay, this is a little bit fun. So then I took a summer class after that.
00:02:26
Speaker
And that's really kind of when I started to feel like I really liked it and I just continued taking more and more classes. And that's just, it's kind of just evolved since then. What made you continue going down the pottery path? I think.
00:02:41
Speaker
like getting some of my first pieces out of the kiln that I like actually really like was just so exciting. I think because I struggled for months and months and I couldn't even get anything off the wheel or even to the kiln. So by the time that I started getting pieces back that I like, I think it was just like almost just chasing that excitement. I love that.
Articulating Likes and Dislikes in Art
00:03:03
Speaker
So when you were at community college, you had
00:03:07
Speaker
When you were at community college, you found you had finding working artists and articulate what you liked and didn't like about their work. Can you tell me more about this?
00:03:19
Speaker
Yeah, so one of the assignments in the class like pretty much the one written assignment and discussion that we had to do was each week we had to find two artists that we liked and we had to be able to articulate what it is about their work that we really liked and then in addition to that we had to kind of go through all the other students artists and we had to pick one and say what we liked about their artists and then we had to find an artist that we didn't like and we had to say
00:03:45
Speaker
what we didn't like about the artists and it wasn't just saying like oh this artist is cool or I like what they make you had to be able to really articulate exactly what it is that you did or didn't like about their work and I think being forced to form both the positive and negative opinions in a way that is like not offensive was really cool and special I think.
Color Transition: Earth Tones to Bright Hues
00:04:10
Speaker
Can you give me or how did this help you with your own pottery?
00:04:14
Speaker
So when I first kind of started in ceramics, I didn't think that I even liked color at all. I was just like, I only like earth tones. I thought I was pretty minimal, but yeah, I really just, I didn't think that I liked color. It just wasn't exciting to me. But then the more I started looking at other ceramic artists, I found myself actually feeling more excited about people who were using kind of all these bright colors and were more maximalist.
00:04:43
Speaker
So kind of going into it, I thought I had a certain style and then coming out of it, I realized that I was completely wrong. Now, can you give me an example of how you articulate some of these thoughts about somebody else's pottery? Let's see. So let's say somebody just shows a picture of someone else's work. You can't just say like, oh, I think that's cool or unique. You have to say like, I really like their use of form. I like their
00:05:13
Speaker
clean lines and they're nice like kind of angles or something along those lines and I also have to maybe say I appreciate their decoration because they're using colors that I specifically like. So I think just kind of being forced to really point out what it is that you like about other people's work helps you know what you should be bringing into your own style.
Retro and Space: Sources of Inspiration
00:05:37
Speaker
Absolutely agree. I love that. Shaping Nation, if you can learn to articulate what you want to say about somebody else's work, it could be translated back into your own work. I love that. So let's talk about your pottery. Can you tell me a story how you started making the bright colored pottery that you made today?
00:05:54
Speaker
Yeah, let's see, it wasn't even really something I thought about or really intended to do. I just had, it was the first time I was working with porcelain and I was trimming these mugs and I just like didn't even really know what to do and I was like, oh, let me just like put some underglaze on these pieces. It wasn't even
00:06:14
Speaker
really something I thought about it all it just kind of happened and then I just kind of continued to develop the style and working with the underglaze kind of while I was still on the wheel and it's just evolved over years and my like process has really changed over time so it wasn't something that I really thought about like oh this is what I want to do that I want to make
00:06:36
Speaker
colored pieces. It was just that I happened to be working with porcelain and I thought, oh, this might be cool to try out. And then it just kind of developed over time. I love that. So you are inspired by speaks in retrofuturism. Can you tell me more about this?
00:06:54
Speaker
Yeah, so I've always really, really liked the color schemes kind of found in retro designs. And so I kind of always have pulled inspiration just from retro styles. And then in terms of space.
00:07:09
Speaker
And that's something that's been kind of new to me since maybe just like this past year. It just kind of felt like anything that I wanted to make somehow related back to something that could be found in space. So it wasn't even entirely purposeful, like, oh, I'm going to start making my pottery inspired by space. I just started making pots and then kind of realized later on, like, oh, this is
00:07:33
Speaker
It
Experimenting with Forms and Designs
00:07:34
Speaker
looks like it could come from space. And then once I kind of started to make that realization, I started to look to space for more inspiration. And that just kind of helped me evolve what I was already making, if that makes sense. When you realize that it kind of looked like some stuff from space, how did this start changing your pottery? I think just because I started
00:07:56
Speaker
finding more references from space like I was at first really just inspired by a moon jar and I wanted to make just something that kind of looked like a moon jar but wasn't exactly that and I was also kind of combining that with my painting style and once I started making them I was like oh these look like planets and then
00:08:18
Speaker
The more I kind of started looking at this art that is inspired by space and planets, I just started incorporating it more into what I was making. Absolutely love that. So you have been experimenting with a new mug form. Can you tell me the story about this? So kind of the first form that I was really, really interested in was that planetary really round shape.
00:08:44
Speaker
And for a long time, I wanted to figure out how I could make a mug that related back to that really round form, but there was just no way I could really
00:08:57
Speaker
think of a practical way to make a mug that was like a circle or an orb. So I was stuck for just a really, really long time. And then I was also making these jars that I call UFO jars. And I was just looking at them one day and I was like, oh, I feel like I could just kind of slightly alter the shape that I'm making for my jar. And I can turn that into a mug.
00:09:20
Speaker
And so that's kind of where the inspiration came from was just I was really, really set on having a mug that came from my orb or really round shape. And then I realized, oh, no, I'm already making something else that I could much easier. It would be easier to change that shape into a mug than it would be to try and make like a spherical mug, if that makes sense.
Embracing Maximalism in Pottery
00:09:43
Speaker
Yeah. What is it about this? What is it about this new form that you chose that excites you?
00:09:50
Speaker
I really kind of am into maximalism and when it comes to form, I really like something that's extreme. And so I think just the way that I am pushing kind of the walls completely out and then curbing them back in, having that just extreme form is really exciting for me to look at. So you mentioned that you were, you're into maximalism. Tell me more about that.
00:10:15
Speaker
I think kind of growing up, my family was much more minimal and everything was white and plain and simple. So I kind of just always thought like, oh, this is what's best. This is what's classy. This is what people like. But then just the more I started working with clay and developing my style, instead of kind of thinking less is more, I just started realizing, no, I feel like more is actually more.
00:10:40
Speaker
And that's not to say just like do everything, but just I really am excited about extreme forms and bright colors and cool glazes. And I just want to combine everything that I like into one thing. So I guess that's kind of where the maximalism comes in. I love that. Shaping Nation, sometimes the best solution is to actually add more, add more of your interest, add more things into your pottery. And that's how you find your own unique voice. I love
Color Integration in Pottery Creation
00:11:07
Speaker
that.
00:11:08
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So now can you walk me through how you add all the colors to your pottery? Yeah. So when I first started, I would try to paint my pieces while I was actually in throwing stage. But then I was running into issues because I don't particularly throw my pieces very thin, especially when it comes to getting a more extreme form. I found that leaving your walls on the thick side just makes your life so much easier.
00:11:37
Speaker
And so my pieces in the beginning were really heavy just because I wasn't able to trim over the areas that I painted. And then I realized, oh, okay, maybe I should just paint my pieces after I trim them, which it kind of seems like, duh. But at the time, that just didn't occur to me. And so now I throw my piece, get it trimmed, and then while it's still on the wheel and already centered and everything, that's when I start to add my underglaze.
Career Shift: From Job to Full-Time Pottery
00:12:06
Speaker
acts of explanation to that. So let's talk about the business side of pottery. Can you tell me the story about when you decided to go full time as a potter? Let's see. I guess it was less of a conscious decision. I was kind of working a regular job and I really, really kind of hated it and I wasn't enjoying myself at all. And I was just kind of feeling frustrated because
00:12:31
Speaker
I felt like I had skills and I felt like the job that I had wasn't, like I wasn't, my skills weren't being put to use. And so luckily a ceramics studio that I followed on Instagram had posted on their story that they were hiring. And so I was just really unhappy at my job. And I was like, whatever, I'm just going to send in an application. We'll see. I don't even know if I'll hear anything back from them. And eventually I did get hired and
00:12:59
Speaker
I was able to quit my old job because of that studio. So it was less of like, oh, I'm just gonna be a full-time potter. I was just able to change jobs or have something in pottery. What were you feeling when you became a full-time potter and when you left your other job?
00:13:19
Speaker
I was just like thank god because I put in my two weeks notice before I even got hired at the Pottery Studio. I was just like so tired of just like that kind of nine to five life that I was like
00:13:37
Speaker
I'm going to get this job. And if I don't get the job at the pottery studio, I'm going to have to figure something else out. So when I did get hired, I was just like, thank God, I don't need to freak out and get a new job. Absolutely love that. So what do you think has helped you the most with being able to sell your own pottery?
00:13:55
Speaker
Probably social media, I think posting about your work and showing your process and trying to connect with the people who are seeing your work and liking it. I think people really want to feel some sort of connection to the artists that they're buying the work from. So I think just posting on Instagram, showing my process, I think people like that a lot as well.
Social Media: A Tool for Promotion and Sales
00:14:18
Speaker
But yeah, I think social media is like number one in helping me make sales for sure.
00:14:25
Speaker
How do you use social media to help you be able to sell your pottery? Yeah, kind of like I was just saying, using the reels and just showing your process and trying to make a connection with the people that are following you, it just helps people to feel like they're supporting you versus just maybe supporting a big corporation. And I think just seeing somebody that they like or just being able to see what they're purchasing being made in real time, I think can be attractive to buyers as well.
00:14:55
Speaker
Absolutely love that now. What advice would you give to someone looking to start selling their own pottery and become their own full-time pottery?
Avoiding Burnout: Enjoyment and Experimentation
00:15:02
Speaker
The advice I would give is probably like don't burn yourself out there was probably a couple of years where I was just making things because I knew they would sell all I made was mugs because I was like This is easy to sell. It's not too hard to ship. I know I can make it well and I really I didn't even notice it but after a couple of years I
00:15:25
Speaker
just started to notice that I wasn't even really enjoying myself anymore. So I think checking in with yourself and making sure that what you're making is something that you're still passionate about and not just something that you think is going to sell and making sure that you're having a lot of fun while you're doing it.
00:15:45
Speaker
while you're kind of in the making stage, just because I do think it can be a slippery slope into burnout. And yeah, just making sure that you're really enjoying what you're making is important.
00:15:58
Speaker
Absolutely agree. I love that shaping nation. It's most important to be making work that you enjoy so that you can prevent burnout and still have that joy
Transition to Underglazes and Finding a Voice
00:16:07
Speaker
and pottery. I love that. So let's talk about discovery of your voice. Can you tell me about the moment when you knew you were heading in the right direction with your pottery? That's hard. I feel like there were a couple of moments where
00:16:22
Speaker
thought like, okay, this is what I really want to do. There was a point time where I was really excited about glaze and drippy glaze and just all the variation that you can get with that kind of stuff. So I think kind of in the beginning, I was really, really excited about that drippy glaze style.
00:16:39
Speaker
And when I first started getting those out of the kiln, it was just so exciting and I felt so passionate about it. And then after a couple of years of that, I started to kind of feel a little bit burnt out by it because I felt like I put so much time into my pieces and they would get like glaze drips or they would stick the kiln shell. And I felt like I didn't have the highest of success rate.
00:17:04
Speaker
Though, I had kind of been doing this gradient ombre style on the side of my drippy glaze. And just kind of at a certain point, I remember I had one kiln that I unloaded where I probably only had two or three things that didn't drip onto the shelf. And after that, I was just like, I don't think I can continue working with these drippy glazes anymore. I think I need to switch over to this underglaze because
00:17:29
Speaker
I know that it's not going to drip onto the shelf. I know the piece isn't going to get ruined. And it was also exciting for me to work with the underglaze as well. It was just something I really enjoyed. So I think kind of having that struggle with the drippy glaze and my pieces being ruined helped push me to working with the underglaze and kind of finding my own voice, like you asked.
00:17:52
Speaker
Like, although there was a lot of things I really liked about working with the Drippy Glaze, I just kind of felt like I was getting pushed more and more in that direction of working with the Underglaze.
00:18:02
Speaker
What were you feeling when you made that switch from the trippy glaze to the underglaze? I think I was a little bit nervous just because it's just new and different. And in my head, I was like, oh, I don't know. Like, is it going to sell? Are people going to like it as much? Because I feel sometimes you'll see people look down on underglaze just because, like, let's say a cone 10 reduction piece. I think a lot of people really, really respect that.
00:18:32
Speaker
kind of work and so I did have a little bit of fear of like is nobody gonna respect what I'm making because I really rely on the underglaze and that doesn't have as much of that like depth or variation in it but then also I really really enjoy working with it so it's exciting too. Absolutely love that. So what would you say was your biggest obstacle when it came to finding your voice? Probably just
00:18:59
Speaker
I feel like maybe I got in my own way a little bit. I think it would have been so much easier if I had just worked with the underglaze from the start, but I was just worried that people didn't like it and I thought, oh, people like this drippy glaze style better. And so I think if I had thought more about what I liked versus what I thought other people liked, I would have had an easier time kind of finding my voice.
Gaining Confidence Through Unique Style
00:19:29
Speaker
What is something you do to help you get out of your own way now?
00:19:33
Speaker
Sometimes I do still definitely get in my head and I get stuck and I can't figure out how do I decorate this piece that I'm working on. I saw somebody on YouTube say that they would actually ask their piece out loud, how do you want to be decorated? Which kind of feels a little bit weird, especially when you start doing it yourself and you're just kind of sitting in your studio talking to your pot.
00:19:59
Speaker
How do you want to be decorated? It feels weird, but it is something that I do and it always tends to work for some reason. Like I'll, I'll feel really stuck and I won't know what to do. And then I'll just ask the piece like, you tell me what do you want? And then I always tend to get an answer from that. I absolutely love that. I love hearing that. That's so cool. So.
00:20:20
Speaker
What would you say are some of the benefits that started coming your way when you found your voice? I think maybe just more confidence in myself. When I found my voice and working with this underglaze and really kind of defining my style, I just felt more confident in what I was making. I think especially kind of at the start, when you're trying to figure out your style, you don't have that
00:20:43
Speaker
confidence as much when it comes to maybe selling your work or talking about your own work. So I think really kind of developing your style just gives you the confidence to say, you know, I know my stuff is good enough to sell. I really can do this. I love that so much. I love that. And I definitely agree with that. So what advice would you give to someone looking to discover their own unique voice with their pottery?
00:21:06
Speaker
I think just like mess around and have fun. I don't think you need to take it too serious. I think if you are really kind of in your own head, like, Oh, I need to make my own style. I need to figure this out. I don't think it's really gonna.
00:21:21
Speaker
come out of you, it should feel really natural. And at least for me, if I'm thinking too hard about anything, it's going to feel forced. So I think just kind of mess around, don't think too hard and just kind of have fun. And I think eventually it'll just kind of flow out of you without thinking. At least that's what happened for me. Just kind of stop thinking and just start doing something. And then eventually you'll find what you like.
00:21:46
Speaker
Some excellent advice right there. Luke, it has been a great chat today. And as we're coming to a close here, what is one thing you want to hammer home with my listeners today? I think especially for people just starting out in pottery, just make sure that you're having fun in the studio. You don't need to think too hard or try too hard. Just do what's attracted to you and have a good time.
Learn More About Luke on Instagram
00:22:08
Speaker
Some excellent last words of advice right there. Luke, it has been so great chat today. Where can my listeners go and learn more about you?
00:22:15
Speaker
Check out my Instagram, it's cosmicclay on Instagram. Check that out and you'll see my website and everything else. Thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery. 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
00:22:43
Speaker
All you have to do is go to shapingyourpottery.com forward 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 gonna get burnt out. You can have multiple styles with your pottery and you can be known for something. So again, go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash 53 themes, that's five, three themes to get these 53 themes.
00:23:12
Speaker
Thanks guys, I'll see you guys next time.