| |
Starting the new year right!
Have you resolved to broaden your horizons and try something new in 2013? Yourist Studio Gallery offers you the perfect opportunity to keep your resolution. Best of all, it's fun and easy to do.
 If you've never taken a pottery class before, sign up to try one out. If you throw on the wheel, get a taste of hand building. If you're a hand builder, give the wheel a whirl. Or if you've mastered the basics of wheel throwing, move up to the advanced wheel class and take on new challenges. And if you have youngsters, get them in on the act with the kids' clay class.
Classes start soon, so register now.
Class lineup for the first term of Winter, 2013
Yourist Studio Gallery also offers a Try It Once on the Wheel class, taught by Kay Yourist, on the second Saturday of the month at 1:00 pm. The next Try It class will meet on February 9, 2013.
The list of opportunities to experience clay does not end there. You can book an appointment for a One-on-One instructional session with Kay Yourist, throw a Kids' Birthday Party at the studio, or schedule a get-together with friends or co-workers at a Try It Group Event With the YSG Team. Community studio memberships and hourly community studio time are also available.
For more details and registration information, see the Yourist Studio Gallery class schedule.
|
Potter's quick tip from Kay
Here's one of Kay's favorites: after spray glazing a pot, do a final spray of 75% water and 25% wax and let dry. You'll then be able to handle your spray glazed pots without leaving fingerprints on them. The wax will burn off during firing and will not affect the glaze below.
|
You know what they say about pottery tools . . .
. . . you can never have too many. And you don't have to look far to find what you need because the studio offers an outstanding selection of tools, including a wide variety of ribs, carving and shaping tools, sponges, texture tools, brushes, cutoff wires, slip trailers, and lots more.
We also have the latest items in stock, such as
- Michael Sherrill's Drag Tool for fluting and carving
- Michael Sherrill's Mudshark needle tool and fettling knife in one
- MKM wooden stamps
- Xiem tools, including large and mini texture rollers, adjustable clay cutters, flexible rulers, clay bag ties, and those extra-sturdy, expandable art studio bags to hold all your indispensable tools.
A big shout of thanks goes out to Renee Baxter and Rose E. Gomez for doing a new year's inventory and reorganization of the studio tool supply. |
|
Why "throwing?"
Q: I know it may sometimes look like what I'm doing, but why is making a pot at the wheel called "throwing?"
A: Not because you're slinging clay around (at least we hope not). There seems to be some discussion today about whether the process of working at the wheel should be called "throwing" or "turning."
According to Dennis Krueger, writing in Ceramics Today, "the Old English word thrawan from which to throw comes, means to twist or turn. Going back even farther, the Indo-European root *ter- means to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn. The German word drehen, a direct relative of to throw, means turn and is used in German for throwing.
Because the activity of forming pots on the wheel has not changed since Old English times, the word throw has retained its original meaning in the language of pottery but has developed a completely different meaning in everyday usage."
So, you can throw or you can turn; either is equally acceptable.
We're here to answer your burning questions about the mysteries of pottery, so be sure to let us know what you want to know.
|
|
|
Studio calendar
First Sunday Video
Sunday, February 3, 2013, at 4:00 pm. Artists & Their Art: Michael Cardew.
Perhaps you've wondered who it is in the photograph overlooking the wheels at the studio. That's influential 20th century potter Michael Cardew gazing over your shoulder as you work. Read more about Michael Cardew in the Potters to know column below.
|
Potters to know
Michael Cardew
Bernard Leach called British potter Michael Cardew (1901-1983) his best pupil, and Paul Rice, noted collector, gallerist, and author, has named Cardew as "one of the finest potters of the century and one of the greatest slipware potters of all times." [Wikipedia] Inspired by his father's collection of Devon country pottery, Michael Cardew defied expectations and began learning to make pottery at the Fishley family workshop in Braunton, England. He later became the first apprentice at the Leach Pottery in St. Ives, where he "shared an interest in slipware with Bernard Leach and was influenced by the pottery of Shoji Hamada." [ Wikipedia] Although Cardew eventually started his own pottery at Wenford Bridge, it was a colonial service post as a ceramist in Africa that enabled him to support his family. During his stays in Africa, Cardew worked at establishing potteries, with mixed and sometimes frustrating results.Cardew spent his later career making pottery, teaching, and writing. His books Pioneer Pottery, about his experiences in Africa, and A Pioneer Potter, his autobiography, are classics in the field.
To read more about Michael Cardew and see his work:
|
Yourist Studio Gallery
Inspiring classes and workshops for new and experienced students
Bright, modern, fully equipped community studio workspace Comprehensive selection of pottery tools for sale Gallery exhibiting the works of celebrated artists
1133 Broadway Ann Arbor, MI 734.662.4914 |
|
