The Warwick Pottery Newsletter - April/May 2024

Spring has sprung! To our potters, readers, and community members, welcome to another edition of the Warwick Pottery Newsletter! We enter the Spring with a pep in our step in anticipation of the warm weather to come. In our April/May Spring newsletter, we’re providing some policy reminders, sharing more glaze test tiles, soft launching our annual holiday sale, and featuring a new Student Spotlight! Keep reading to see what’s been happening at Warwick Pottery this month. Warm regards, Marilyn

What’s Happening at Warwick Pottery

Our Pottery Class Waitlist is Now Available! Thank you for your interest in registering for classes at Warwick Pottery, where you just might find wheel love! Something wonderful has happened at the Pottery. Our program has become tremendously popular, which has resulted in a waitlist for all classes. We wanted to take a moment to thank our community members for their interest and remind you how registration works… Currently enrolled students have priority for the upcoming semester. If a seat opens up in our class, we offer it to the next person on the waitlist for that day/time. We understand the frustration of waiting to get your hands dirty and appreciate your patience! If you’d like to be added to the waitlist, please sign up for our waitlist by clicking here

Our Annual Spring Cleaning Begins!

Claim Your Bisqued Pots by June 15! It’s hot, hot, hot! It’s crowded, crowded, crowded! We’re talking about the Kiln room, overflowing with bisque pots waiting to be claimed. Now is the time, everyone! Please come and claim your pots before they are discarded. Deadline: June 15 Any unclaimed pots will be discarded after this date. We thank you for your cooperation in helping us clear out our space!

What’s Cookin’ in the Kiln - Our Mega Glaze Combo Extravaganza Continues!

From left to right, top to bottom: Layering Glaze over Shiny White Frosted Blue over Shiny White Shiny Black over Shiny White Sea Mist over Shiny White Iron Red over Shiny White

Glaze Tests Policy

We would like to remind everyone that all glaze tests conducted in our studio belong to Warwick Pottery. This policy ensures that our community benefits collectively from the valuable insights and data gathered through these tests. By centralizing our glaze tests, we aim to: Maintain Consistency: Ensure uniform quality and standards across all projects. Enhance Learning: Provide access to comprehensive results that can inform and inspire everyone's work. Support Innovation: Facilitate the development of new techniques and creative ideas within our pottery community. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in adhering to this policy. Together, we can continue to foster a collaborative and thriving artistic environment.

Clay & Firing Policy

We want to share some important details about our clay and firing processes to ensure that everyone is well-informed. Firing Details Bisque Firing: We bisque fire our clay to Cone 06. Glaze Firing: We fire our glazes to Cone 6. Clay and Firing FeesRegistered Students: You may purchase clay directly from Warwick Pottery. Your clay pieces will be fired at no additional cost. Using Clay Purchased from Outside of Warwick Pottery: If you wish to try a different clay, please note that we charge $4 per pound of clay, per firing. Example: A 1-pound clay piece will incur a $4 fee for the bisque firing and an additional $4 fee for the glaze firing, totaling $8 for 1lb. Warwick Pottery will not fire the work of someone else who is not a current student. This includes friends or family members who have made or painted pottery in your home studio. Unfortunately, it is too risky to fire work we have no control over, and do not want to risk damage to our kiln! We hope this information helps you plan your projects and manage your materials effectively. Thank you for being part of our creative community!

Key Changes at Warwick Pottery - Out with The Old and in with The New!

New Standard Glazes Our studio will transition exclusively to the clay and glaze company called Standard Clay Company. All other glasses currently in the studio will be phased out. Personal Supplies You are welcome to use glazes from your own stock. Warwick Pottery will happily fire these for you. Think of these personal supplies as part of your unique creative expression, similar to bringing your own paints to a painting class. For any special glazes please purchase your own and ensure all jars brought into the studio are clearly labeled with your name. We believe these changes will enrich our community's artistic endeavors and maintain the studio's vibrant, collaborative spirit. Thank you for your cooperation and happy creating!

The Cylinder Project: The Katie McAllister Experience

Last summer Rachel presented our Wednesday night class with the Cylinder Project— make five cylinders each class, cut them in half, and critique your pieces’ structure. At first, I wasn’t sold on spending time making pieces just to cut them, but after some encouragement from Rachel, I decided to take on the challenge! Each week I wedged five balls of clay, all one and a half pounds, and committed myself to finish the cylinders in the first hour of class. I lined up the completed cylinders, and with Rachel, we chose the best two or three to keep. We split the remaining two or three in half and evaluated the floor and wall thickness, consistency, and overall structure. I continued this process week after week for about eight weeks until I used a whole bag of clay and ended up with 16 completed cylinders! Throughout this process, I found it to be an extremely rewarding and great learning experience. I have been throwing pottery for almost 12 years. Challenging myself to make the same piece consistently with a time constraint helped me to perfect a lot of fundamentals- centering, opening, and pulling. It also helped me be more self-critical and gave me permission to toss a bad piece and recycle the clay. Comparing the cylinders that I felt were my best on the first week to the cylinders that I made on the eighth week showed how much I improved. I am so glad Rachel challenged me to do this and I highly recommend this challenge to every potter. I am now considering doing it again with bowls! In the end, I poured wax into the 16 cylinders and turned them into candles that I sold at our studio sale. I didn’t like how my glazing came out, but that is the art of practicing art... Always looking for better!

Do you want to be featured in our monthly newsletter? We’d love your contribution! See Marilyn for more details!