Get Creative!

I finished unpacking and reassembling my studio this past week. After I’ve had a break from the studio, I’m raring to get back to the slabs of clay and start creating. I’ve got some custom orders to complete to get me started. Time away often inspires new ideas and shape variations to conquer. Some new texture rollers arrived in the mail. Let the fun begin!

The public feedback I received from the art show in Huntsville was positive and up-lifting. Attendees entering my booth mouthed the words I often use to describe my pottery: “happy”, “colorful”, “whimsical”, and “useful” were some of the words I heard. An artist couldn’t ask for any better commentary than that! My pottery creations successfully reflect and communicate the fun I experience making each one. 

Creativity is contagious. One of the best parts of participating in a show is experiencing the vast amount of creativity other artists bring to their own art. It is inspiring.  I love creating with clay and am lucky to have this wonderful outlet for self-expression. I’ve heard people say, I can’t make art, I’m not creative. That’s false. Creativity can be conveyed in all sorts of ways besides making art. Think about the ways you express yourself -- your own personal creativity factors into that.

Garden bells with lots of fun texture to decorate are in process. It will be up to you to finish them! Click here to sign up for the class and express some creativity!

Making Memories

Often, I’m commissioned to create something out of clay that captures or generates a special memory for the owner. I like these assignments. They are humbling, fulfilling and terrifying all at once.

Some examples of recent projects include this memorial wind chime I just completed. It commemorates the love of a dog and its human. This particular animal was rescued and adopted. As a dog owner myself, I know the heartache when a favorite pet dies. Hopefully, this memento can provide a visual and musical reminder of happy memories as it gently sings and sways in the wind. 

It’s the hair of this mask that has me excited. I’ve made similar shapes in the studio before. This one was commissioned by a local friend. I found a discarded broken construction broom several months ago and knew I could use it as part of a future project. Et Voila! I cut the 'well-worn' bristles to create the spiky mane for the mask!

I love it when customers send me photos of their purchases in use. Here are some recent examples. A baking dish (pictured above) purchased as a holiday gift and commissioned in a specific glaze color combination was put straight to use filled with a favorite baked grits recipe. An oval flower block can be used year round. This beautiful mantle display (pictured below) features local art and the vase filled with cotton branches. Seeing these photos evokes memories for me too. It makes me happy to picture customers using their ClayByLaura creations and reminds me that what I do is fostering new memories all the time. 

What special memory can I create for you? Click on the photo above to begin!

Learn As You Go

Teaching is one of the ways I learn. I was reminded of that again this past week in a craft party class I taught for The Muse. It was lots of fun resulting in an array of colorful, musical wind chimes that will grace the gardens of each student!

Every class or workshop introduces me to a new group of people. It’s been the start of many friendships and lasting bonds. I enjoy the solitary practice of creation in my studio, but breaking out, sharing class-time with students and getting that interaction is special. 

Teaching gives me new perspective on ‘the way’ I approach and make art. I have built my creative skills through practice and learning from classes and workshops. But when the tables turn and you teach a skill that might be easy for you to do, it’s important to step back and look at it differently. How do you approach this skill if you’ve never done it before?  How do you explain it in words? How do you demonstrate the skill? How do you break it down into understandable, achievable tasks? 

I always come away from teaching a class with ideas that have been sparked by a student. Their technique or approach is often one I’ve never thought of before. Sometimes we repeat what we know, just because it’s what we know. Getting a new perspective from someone approaching it with a fresh perspective is fantastic. 

I like to plan. I make lists, I outline tasks, I set goals. Somehow the classroom setting always veers off the planned course and inevitably leads to new discovery. Perhaps that technique I thought would be so simple to explain, show and teach does not register with the student. It opens up new ways to teach and new ideas of how to create. I'm so grateful to share some of my skills with others -- because in the end I am the one who learns just as much!