Craft

What exactly is craft? To me the word ‘craft’ is a bit of a woolly term.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is both a verb and a noun: an activity involving skill in making things by hand,  and also work or objects made by hand. It carries connotations of both excellence and mastery in making and at the same time, it suffers from a lower status. Craft is often perceived as the country cousin of Art. Somehow making functional and practical pieces is not seen as glamorous or interesting–but I have a different opinion.

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I love craft! I love objects that are beautifully made, where the skill of the maker is evident and the creativity inspires me. If something is made with craftsmanship, it implies that it’s made by a person who has invested their time and energy into learning and mastering skills and creating something unique. If as object is well crafted, is it made with love? Certainly the love of materials, the love of making and the satisfaction of doing something well.

However, things can be made with love and not with skill. We’ve all made or received something from someone special that might be lumpy, sloppy, heavy and even ugly. In spite of that it’s beautiful because really, it’s about the connection—made with love.

But when you are creating things for the love of making and the satisfaction of improving, then you have to employ craft. You have to up your skill level, be an acute and dispassionate observer of your own work, and have the drive to keep going when things turn out badly.

I recently brought a mug into the house because I noticed it had a small separation in the bottom-a kind of crack but it didn’t go all the way through the base. As I was washing it out, turning it over and feeling it, I thought ‘this is a terrible mug!’ I obviously hadn’t spent the time to evaluate it after I pulled it out of the kiln. I suddenly realized how bottom heavy it was, it wasn’t balanced and pulled noticeably on my hand as I lifted it up. Clearly, I needed to work on better craftsmanship and I’ve definitely improved since then!

This is one of the things we work on in class. First we build skills until you can make the clay do what you want and then we work on glazing which is a whole different skill set. Then you learn to evaluate your work and look at what needs to be improved and what is working well. The final part of good craftsmanship is to keep working!
This is a continuous process. As we try new techniques and explore different ideas, we have to keep evaluating and working to improve.

New Classes are starting next week with two options available!

Let me know if you’re interested!

Zoom Class
Eight Week Session-$224
Mondays: 7:00-9:00pm         
August 3rd-September 21st

During this session we will continue with Zoom ceramics class! We’ll explore making ceramics at home safely with a virtual meeting once a week and scheduled glazing times later in the session. I will offer a  progress check with questions and answers every week and demonstrations of techniques as needed.  We’ll concentrate on looking, evaluating, gaining control of your work and expressing yourself.
I have 3 spots available for class in-person and in my studio! If you don’t have a place to work with clay at home, contact me. These spots are first come-first serve and masks are mandatory!

Independent Study
Eight Week Session-$109
August 3rd-September 21st

This class is a self-paced, work on your own option. It includes two glazing classes and our show-&-tell final, a bag of clay, glazes, and all the firings. It is only available for advanced students who have had class with me before.
Glazing opportunities will be arranged closer to the time.

Classes are in held via Zoom and in my Fairfax Studio
ALL LEVELS WELCOME!

One last thing, I’m part of the ACGA -Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California, and we usually host a big art fair of very high caliber work in Palo Alto. Of course this year it didn’t happen, so instead we are having a fabulous online sale starting August 1st and lasting for 10 days. You can go to the website and see all kinds of fantastic ceramic and glass work! If you choose to buy anything, individual artists are donating a percentage of their sales to a charity of their choice. If you want to buy any of my work, I will be donating to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. They do an amazing job helping wild elephants. Click on the link below to visit the ACGA website and see the show!

https://acga.net/