The Challenge 2024
It all began with a coffee break.
One of the things that we love best about attending guild Coffee Breaks is the sharing of inspiration. At our October 2024 Coffee Break, the potters were issued a challenge: make a large piece of pottery that is out of your comfort zone, based on pictures found in a pottery book brought to the meeting.
Our potters rose to the challenge and created some truly wonderful pieces.
Chemo Warrior - Eva Gallagher
The Challenge: create a sculpture, animal or human
Eva’s thoughts: A cancer diagnosis can be devastating news. If chemotherapy via transfusions is prescribed you may be in a hospital bed for several hours a day, for weeks and even months. You will have lots of time to reflect – disbelief, anger, gratitude at having made it so far in life at least and hope. Hope once your inner warrior kicks in to fight your cancer!
This piece was designed with holes in the head, that you pinned papers slips to using a nail. Using the paper strips, people are invited to restore Chemo Warrior’s hair with their thoughts on your cancer journey.
Inspiration picture from the coffee break
Garden Fountain - Elizabeth Jones
The Challenge: to create something that requires planning
Elizabeth’s thoughts: My challenge was to create something that had to be planned. When I saw the photo, it reminded me of a fountain and I always wanted to have a garden fountain. So I started with a fountain pump and did the math to determine the dimensions of the fountain. I made a few mistakes with the math and it is a little bit wonky, but it fits the purpose. The glaze I chose is a commercial glaze that I didn't really like, but it reminded me of sun shining on water and I thought it was perfect for the fountain.
Elizabeth’s inspiration picture
Sky High Vase - Susan Miller
The Challenge: make something tall, slim and not necessarily practical
My pottery is usually very functional. I don’t care for knickknacks that you have to dust. If it doesn’t have an obvious purpose, it’s probably not in my house. The pot in the inspiration picture didn’t seem to have a purpose, so when I made this piece, I gave it a purpose - holding dried plants. That made me feel better about the piece. It actually wasn’t that hard to make. I’ve made one other plant pot that is about the same height. That pot was made from slabs whereas this vase was made using coils.
Clay = PSH 505Glaze = Hannah’s fake ash Construction technique = coil/hand built
Inspiration picture from the coffee break
Large Vessel - Kelly Kellough
The Challenge: make something large and vertical
Kelly’s thoughts: This was a challenging piece for me to make as most of my past pieces were so small. I wanted to make a large slab vase as my wheel skills still weren’t up to this challenge. The most difficult part was attaching all the slabs. Being at the guild late at night meant there were no other potters around to help, so I was totally on my own to hold up pieces while others needed to be attached. So, I learned to use my body, especially my chest to rest a half-attached slab to the piece while I worked. It was much like a game of Twister! I tried some carving at the leather hard stage and glazed with cone 10 glazes, both of which were also out of my comfort zone. I learned a lot and had a great time and absolutely love my piece.
Kelly’s inspiration picture
Cowboy Boot - Francine Rosborough
The Challenge: make something chaotic/abstract
Francine’s thoughts: I am new to pottery and this was my 1st challenge. When I saw the picture, I thought of denim. My piece is my cowboy boot with denim details. With the guidance of fellow members, I built the boot and denim with slabs of clay. I then under glazed the patches and used AMACO Blue Rutile glaze for the denim. I’m proud of my first big hand building project!
Inspiration picture from the coffee break
Beast Within - Cindy Hadden
The Challenge: make something bulbous and severe looking
Cindy’s thoughts: If you have seen my pottery, you will immediately understand why this was such a challenge. I love to make pieces that are delicate, detailed and usually botanical or whimsical in nature.
To make such a large piece, I chose coil building, a relatively new skill. I titled my pot “the Beast Within” as it seemed to me that something was trying to burst out of the inspiration pot. Rough, crackled textures and splatters of underglaze seemed to speak of the violence of this piece. It was a great challenge!
Cindy’s inspiration picture