Wandering through a craft fair or farmers market, a pottery booth will always stop me in my tracks. Learning to make my own pieces has been a dream of mine and back in my teaching days I was given access to a wheel once. With the help of a YouTube video I managed to make a glorious mess, and not much else!

So in June when Dave gave me a pottery class for my half birthday – half birthdays are a story for another day – I was so excited!

We took the three day class at Mudd Pottery together and while it was a great couples activity, it was pretty clear that only one of us was hooked from the start. Over the three days we managed to create four pieces between the two of us, two fun little ice cream dishes we use regularly and two small pots – and when I say small I kind of mean really small – a little bigger than a shot glass. It was super fun and definitely whetted my appetite and left me wanting to learn more.

After hearing about my pottery class my dad wanted to know when he was going to receive one of my masterpieces! With his 85th birthday coming up in February, I knew I needed to create something just for him. I signed up for a hand-building class with Nice Pottery. It was a perfect afternoon learning a new craft in the instructor’s beautiful backyard, tucked right at the base of Diamond Head.

Hand building was really interesting and it was surprisingly easy to make something impressive. First we rolled the clay through a slab roller, then used templates to cut out the shapes, used fancy little rolling pins with designs carved into them to add a pattern, and finally sealed the pieces together to form our mugs. The instructor later glazed and fired the items for us. I also made a small plate that afternoon — a happy bonus I gifted to a friend for her birthday.

The mug was so beautiful and I could not wait to give it to my dad – complete with a message just for him in the bottom of the cup. It was even better when I was able to travel to Arizona and deliver it in person! And in his very dad way, I know he liked it!

With two pottery classes under my belt I was ready to take my learning to the next level and I knew exactly where I wanted to do it! Here on Oahu we are lucky to have the Hawaii Potters Guild. The Guild was founded in 1967 and it is undoubtedly an institution here on Oahu. In order to take classes with the guild you have to apply and hope you are selected in the lottery. It was my good fortune to get into a 12 week course beginning in January and running through the end of March.

Each Wednesday I headed into town and joined my class of about 18 people and our fantastic instructor Daven Hee, who taught us everything from the basics of wedging the clay, centering it on our wheel, forming a cylinder, and trimming, to more advanced techniques of stacking multiple pieces to build larger creations, making lids, glazing, and even airbrushing our projects.

I’ve learned so much already and know I’ve barely scratched the surface. I can’t wait to see where this goes from here, and thankfully I have 12 more weeks to learn because I’m signed up for another session. Recently I was fortunate enough to purchase a very high quality used wheel so I will be getting in more practice at home!

These are the first three pieces I created.

Bubble Bowl – no, it is not an ashtray, it is a bowl that collapsed on itself and I went with it!

First Pour – my first time making a spout and a handle.

Sea Ring – my favorite bowl that I use all of the time. The color is called Moss Goo but it reminds me of the ocean and I left a ring of raw clay, hence the name Sea Ring.

I have four more pieces waiting to be fired and I will be sure to share those and more as I continue learning and growing. I love hearing from friends who are creating their own masterpieces so please share your favorite projects, pottery or otherwise, with me!