Home pottery studio

After being on backorder for 5 months my new Brent C pottery wheel arrived yesterday. Thus begins the start of my first home pottery studio.

I’ve been throwing pottery for something like 15 years now, but always in a studio. First Clayways in Austin (which has since become Austin Pottery), then Pottery Northwest here in Seattle. I was taking a class two years ago when I ruptured my bicep tendon in March. Then life happened. Then the pandemic. I ordered a Brent C wheel from Seattle Pottery Supply back in May but the manufacturer was on backorder. Little did we know the backorder was going to be 5 months long!

The wheel arrived yesterday and I picked it up with the help of friends with a truck. I came home with 2 bats, 2 plaster wedging boards (one for dark and one for light clay bodies), three different kinds of white and white/buff clays, and a stool.

Today I threw for the first time in 1.5 years with an entirely new setup and new clay. So I went to my go-to “remember how this works” pieces: some spoon rests and a bowl.

It’s going to take me a while to figure out how to work well in this new space. Using Daniel’s woodworking bench for wedging went way better than I had hoped. The throwing itself went great and I look forward to testing out the other two clays I got — Columbia White was groggier than I like. Cleanup didn’t go as smoothy as I wanted though and it’s going to take some time to figure out. I need to get a clock and radiant heater for the garage. I also need to store the clay inside (because wow cold clay is cold) but having warm water while throwing was really nice!

I’m super excited to get to play in the mud this winter with the convenience of a short walk to my garage!