◊ News, Events, Inspiration ◊ April 2025

Inside this issue: Spring classes open for enrollment. New class on handles, lids, and spouts available. Two soda firing classes scheduled. LIGHTPLAY exhibition leaves soon. Leora Druckman submits a sculpture for an art show. Plus more exhibition news, events, and informative videos.

Jessica Krivan and Dave Timm

clean kiln shelves after soda firing

Get ready, get set...

...and get registered for spring classes at the studio. From introductory courses to advanced and specialized courses, we offer you a full range of pottery instruction: get started with clay, enhance your skills, move up to intermediate and advanced levels, and even tackle new ceramics challenges, like glaze making and soda firing.

Here is our full schedule of upcoming classes:

Introductory and Continuing Wheel

• Mon, Apr 14-May 19, 3:30-5:30 pm, with Kevan Wilson
• Mon, Apr 14-May 19, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Kevan Wilson
• Thu, Apr 17-May 22, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Nancy Bulkley
• Thu, Apr 17-May 22, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Nick Glynos
• Sat, Apr 19-May 24, 9:45-11:45 am, with Laila Chalati

Early Bird Discount in effect through Apr 1

Intermediate Wheel Throwing

• Thu, Apr 17-May 22, 12:30-2:30 pm, with Nancy Bulkley

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 1

Coffee and Clay (In studio or via Zoom)

• Wed, Apr 16-May 21, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Nancy Bulkley
• Sat, Apr 19-May 24, 9:30-11:30 am, with Nancy Bulkley

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 1

Hand Building

• Thu, Apr 17-May 22, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Elliott Kayser

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 1

New! Handles, Lids, and Spouts

• Fri, Apr 25-May 30, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Kristina Greenstone

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 8

Advanced and Intermediate Spring / Summer Clay

• Tue, Apr 22-Jul 8, 6:30-9:00 pm, with Elliott Kayser

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 8

Advanced / Intermediate Independent Study

• Apr 30-Jul 16, 6:30-9:00 pm, with Rose Gomez

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 8

Enroll today.

Upcoming soda firing classes:

Good news! We've expanded our schedule of 10-week soda firing classes to include both a morning and an evening class so you can choose the time that works best for you.

Atmospheric Soda Firing

• Tue, May 20-July 22, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Kay Yourist
• Wed, May 21-Jul 23, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Kay Yourist

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 20

Register here.

Also open for registration:

Glaze Formulation Understood

• Fri, Apr 4-May 9, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Elliott Kaiser

Glaze Formulation Section 2

• Fri, May 23-Jun 27, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Elliott Kaiser

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 23

Sign up here.

Next Try It class

Have you tried wheel throwing yet? It's great fun and relaxation.

Try It Once on the Wheel

• Sat, Apr 26, 1:00-2:30 pm, with Laila Chalati

Register now.

New class!

Handles and Lids...

Class prerequisite: Prior experience with wheel throwing or hand building.

Handles, Lids, and Spouts

• Fri, Apr 25-May 30, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Kristina Greenstone

Early Bird Discount effective through Apr 8

Reserve your place.

Leaving April 5...

...LIGHTPLAY, a brilliant exhibition of ceramic lamps by local ceramic artists Elliott Kayser and Kate Tremel. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to set aside time to view this enlightening exhibition before it's gone.



Exhibition hours:

• Now through April 5
• Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays
• 12:00-6:00 pm

Elliott Kayser's whimsical animal lamps include a whole host of dinosaurs, plus elephants and other animals you might see on safari in Africa. Kate Tremel's elegant pierced lamps cast a lovely contemplative play of light and shadow. For both artists, these works arise from and promote the joy of light and play.

Come visit the gallery and bask in the glow of these lamps.

"My Everyday Face" by Leora Druckman,

a sculpture with multimedia

"My Everyday Face"

You are looking at "My Everyday Face," a ceramic sculpture with multimedia by Yourist student Leora Druckman. It is Leora's submission to the call for artists for the "Disabled Women Make History (And Art)” exhibition, hosted by the Disability EmpowHer Network and the Toledo Museum of Art.

Not all disabilities are apparent to the eye. Leora created "My Everyday Face" to reflect the feelings people don't see as she navigates the challenges of everyday life. Her challenges include struggling to maintain some functionality while dealing with serious health issues and attempting to find some peace while staying informed about the world. 

Inside the sculpture is an LED display that repeats niceties like “Hello,” “I’m fine,” and “Have a nice day!” representing her surface interactions with others. Wires entering the ceramic sculpture symbolize the onslaught of daily media. And, the foam bubbling out of the sculpture captures the barely contained feelings of confusion, dread, and overwhelming exhaustion.

As Leora explains, "Channeling these feelings into my art gives me a way of understanding and expressing what I am experiencing in a way that everyday surface interactions do not."

Visit the Disability EmpowHer Network for more information about this exhibition.

Job opportunity

Studio intern

We're interviewing potential studio interns for spring and summer to help with studio maintenance in exchange for studio use. The successful applicant should know how to mix glaze, load kilns, mop floors, and perform other typical studio duties. An internship is a great experience and resume building opportunity. Please send a letter of interest, including your previous pottery studio experience, to Kay Yourist.

Do you have pieces...

...still waiting patiently for you on our shelves? It's time to get reacquainted with them now. Our shelves quickly get overpopulated so we must clear them regularly to accommodate new work. On April 30, we will remove all bisque and glaze ware that has accumulated on the shelves in March.

• Please pick up your glazed pieces and take them home to enjoy.
• Please glaze your bisque ware now or take it home for glazing in the future.

Regrettably, any unclaimed bisque ware and glazed pieces remaining after April 30 must be discarded to make room for new work.

Potters quick tip

Q. I'm interested in expanding my skill at decorating with slip. Can you give me some ideas to try out?

A. Take a look at these slip decoration tips and techniques from potter Reida Sage. They cover making slip, coloring slip with mason stains, creating tactile textures with slip, and carving and decorating intricate mandala designs. See more of Sage's pottery on her Instagram page.

These videos are part of our continuing series for beginners at all levels.

Camera-eye view of

pottery wheel in motion

On-site exhibitions

We'll let you know when new ceramics exhibitions are on display and open to the public. Before you go to an on-site exhibition, be sure to check the art museum's web site for any current health precautions.

Pewabic: Detroit's Pottery: documents the pottery's past while celebrating the present. Pewabic Pottery. Ongoing. More . . .

Playful Dining: a virtual exhibition that is mostly about toy dish sets belonging to children of the past. International Museum of Dinnerware Design. Ongoing. More . . .

From Asia to the World: Ancient to Contemporary Art. Display includes blue-and-white porcelain, celadon, and enamel ceramics from China, Korea, and Japan. Toledo Museum of Art. Now–June 29, 2025. More . . .

Making Her Mark. "...highlights the achievements of women ceramicists since the early 20th century." Flint Institute of Arts, December 21, 2024–September 28, 2025. More . . .

Pottery perspectives

Opportunities to expand your knowledge of ceramics past and present.

A Camera Mounted to a Potter’s Wheel Puts Ceramics in a Dizzying New Perspective. Get a camera-eye view of what happens when you throw a pot. More . . .

A Woman’s Revolution in Kiyomizu Ware. Yuko Hayashi, fourth-generation artist at the venerable Koson Kiln in Kyoto, "has developed a unique technique called 'Tsuchibasami,' in which delicate cuts are made on the surface of white porcelain to create intricate chrysanthemum petal patterns." And she appears to do this using nail scissors. More . . .

The Women Behind Pyrex, America's Favorite Dish. International Museum of Dinnerware Design. The video of IMODD's March online lecture is now available. More . . .

And three from Colossal:

Porcelain sculptures inspired by biology by Shiyuan-Xu. More . . .

Refined vessels sport sharp teeth by Martha Pachón Rodríguez. More . . .

Examining the gendered body by Jessica Stoller. More . . .

The Michigan Ceramic Art Association has announced the dates and location of its Michigan Mud Conference for 2025:

Michigan Mud 2025

May 16-17, 8am – 5pm

Frostic School of Art, Western Michigan University

The conference program includes keynote presenters Kyungmin Park and Paul Briggs, both noted ceramic artists, plus live demonstrations from 23 artists and designers, and much more.

Find out more on the MCAA website.

Teapot and frustum* jar

by Linda Sikora

CERAMIC GESTURES: A Studio & Teaching Practice in North America

The International Museum of Dinnerware Design's April on-line lecture features Linda Sikora, Professor of Ceramic Art at Alfred University, School of Art and Design, who addresses the broader context of studio research and its influence on the production of ceramic works.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025, 6:30 p.m.

*Frustum jar? Something to store tasty frustums in for tea time? Well, no. In case you were "resting your eyes" when frustums came up in geometry class (as I was), a frustum is basically what you have left when you cut off the pointy part of a pyramid or cone.

Learn more here.

The International Museum of Dinnerware Design (IMoDD) has issued a call for entries for Picnic, its Sixth Biennial National Juried Exhibition.

This exhibition is an opportunity for artists and designers in all media to explore the theme Picnic through the creation of specialized dinnerware or 2D and 3D work related to the topic.

Exhibition dates: September 6, 2025—January17, 2026

Exhibition location: Kingston, New York

Application deadline: May 31, 2025

Get details here.

Chums, Chucks & Cheeks?

Master potter Florian Gadsby demonstrates how to create and use three forms—the chum, the chuck, and his newly minted "cheek"—that support vessels from the inside to make trimming pottery easier.

Piecing Textures for Great Pottery

Inspired by quilts, ceramic artist Ann Ruel of Little Street Pottery Pottery has come up with a fresh technique for creating textured pottery by piecing together clay slabs. She demonstrates three projects, including one that gives you a woven look without actually weaving.

Here are our open studio, gallery, and shop hours for 2025:

• Tuesday, 12:00-6:00 pm
• Wednesday, 12:00-6:00 pm
• Friday, 12:00-6:00 pm
• Saturday, 12:00-6:00 pm

There are no open studio hours on Thursday. Saturday open studio hours begin at noon with the exception of one Saturday a month, when the Try It Once on the Wheel class meets from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. Check our class schedule for the date for this class.

Please remember to sign in when you arrive for open studio and sign out when you leave. And make sure to clean your work area thoroughly before leaving.

We welcome all ceramics lovers and all area potters to shop with us for their pottery needs during our open studio hours. Students may purchase tools as needed during their classes as well.

To help us keep our studio safe and healthy for all students and members, please keep track of current advisories on the transmission risk and hospitalization numbers for COVID and other communicable respiratory diseases in Washtenaw county at this link:

Washtenaw County Health Department page

We have curbside delivery of clay, tools, and pottery during our regular hours. If you have a specific need, please call us at the studio, during regular hours, at 734-662-4914.

Yourist Studio Gallery

6087 Jackson Road

Ann Arbor, MI 48103

734-662-4914

www.youristpottery.com | Instagram

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