◊ News, Events, Inspiration ◊

October 2025

Inside this issue: Fall class reminder. Great Lakes Cup Show nears. Avoid a eutectic meltdown. Holiday Show dates set. Clay and pottery tool of the month. Plus more exhibition news, events, and informative videos.

Ireen Cleaton-Jones pulls tape

for the big design reveal

Discover the versatility...

...of clay in our fall classes. One of the great things about clay is that there's virtually no limit to what you can make with it and the ways you can decorate it. Join a class and let your imagination soar. Register by October 2 to receive our Early Bird tuition discount.

Here's our fall class lineup.

Introductory and continuing wheel:

Introductory and Continuing Wheel

• Mon, Oct 27-Dec 1, 3:30-5:30 pm, with Kevan Wilson
• Mon, Oct 27-Dec 1, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Kevan Wilson
• Thu, Oct 23-Dec 4, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Nancy Bulkley
• Thu, Oct 23-Dec 4, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Nick Glynos
• Sat, Oct 25-Nov 29, 9:45-11:45 am, with Kristina Greenstone
• Sun, Oct 26-Nov 30, 11:00 am-1:00 pm, with David Timm

Early Bird discount effective through Oct 2.

Intermediate wheel:

Intermediate Wheel Throwing

• Thu, Oct 23-Dec 4, 12:30-2:30 pm, with Nancy Bulkley

Early Bird discount effective through Oct 2.



Hand building:

Coffee and Clay (In studio or via Zoom)

• Wed, Oct 22-Nov 26, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Nancy Bulkley
• Sat, Oct 25-Nov 29, 9:30-11:30 am, with Nancy Bulkley

Early Bird discount effective through Oct 2.

Hand Building

• Thu, Oct 23-Dec 4, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Elliott Kayser

Early Bird discount effective through Oct 2.

Save my seat!

Expect the unexpected

Raku is a unique firing process that uses fire and smoke to produce exciting one-of-a-kind surface results.



Let's Do Raku

• Wed, Oct 8-29, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, with Kay Yourist

Sign me up!

Next Try It class

If you're intrigued by working with clay but haven't tried it, Our Try It Once sampler class is the perfect opportunity to get your hands in clay.

Try It Once on the Wheel

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

Register now.

Great Lakes Cup Show

Cups by Great Lake Cup Show invited artists

Clockwise from upper left: Charlotte Grenier,

Kenyon Hansen, Tom Phardel, Brian Westrick

You’re invited to join us in our gallery for the Opening Night Reception of the Great Lakes Cup Show! On October 24th, from 6:30-8:30 pm, we will celebrate the 40 artists featured in this year’s show and their one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces. The judges will announce “Best in Show” prizes, while gallery goers can vote for their favorite cup in the “Peoples Choice” award! Come enjoy refreshments, mingle with the artists, and toast their cups. All are welcome.

Opening reception:

Friday, October 24, 6:30-8:30 pm

Exhibition hours:

October 24-November 15

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays

12:00-6:00 pm

In addition to works by our juried artists, we are pleased to display select pieces by our four invited artists: Charlotte Grenier, Kenyon Hansen, Tom Phardel, and Brian Westrick.

See more information here.

From the archives

A eutectic in action

My cup runneth—uh, oh

So, what's a eutectic, you ask? Here's how Ceramic Arts Network defines it:

"Glazes in combination can form what is called a 'eutectic,' which is two or more materials that, when combined, have a lower melting point than any of them individually. For our purposes, that means glazes that do not run very much individually might run down the side of the pot when combined."

Layered glazes can produce spectacular results, but they can also present a risk, especially if the layered glazes flow, or move, in firing. The glazes on the cup in the photo—Pete's Copper Red and Purple Haze—are both runny, so they become super runny in combination—a eutectic field day. Here are some tips for avoiding a meltdown:

1) If you're uncertain about the behavior of your glazes, put a patty of bisqued clay called a cookie (aka, a waster) underneath your pot when you glaze fire it. A cookie may or may not save your pot, but it will save the kiln shelf (or save you from the hard work of cleaning the runny glaze off the shelf). There's a cookie under the cup in the photo.

2) Keep your second layer of glaze to the top one-third of your pot or less. Don't cover the whole pot with it or add it to the bottom of the pot.

3) Leave a generous unglazed margin at the bottom edge of your pot—at least 1/8 of an inch, and more if your glaze is runny.

From the Archives features a previously published item that is worth repeating.

The dates are set...

Mark your calendars and watch for details in our November newsletter.

Specifications: When fired to cone 10, Pomona has a shrinkage rate of 12% and water absorption rate of .5%. Pomona is a medium toasty-orange and an excellent throwing body.

Yourist Studio Gallery is the authorized dealer for Aardvark clays in Ann Arbor, so come check out our selection.

Pottery tool of the month

Job opportunity

Studio intern

We're interviewing potential studio interns for fall and winter 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.

Pottery pickup reminder

As the holiday season approaches, pottery production at the studio accelerates. So please help us keep the creative process moving and studio shelves free for new work by picking up your bisque and glaze ware.

If you have items on our shelves from September, please pick up your glazed pieces by October 31 and take them home to enjoy. Please glaze your bisque ware now or take it home for glazing in the future.

Potters quick tip

Q. I'd like to paint underglaze designs on my pottery, but I have awfully shaky hands and I'm reluctant to try it. Is there any hope for me?

A. Of course there is. Take encouragement from potter Ann Ruel, who demonstrates painting techniques that will work for even the shakiest of hands. We predict that you'll be painting designs on your pottery in no time.

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

The towering stacked sculptures of
Felicity Aylieff

On-site exhibitions

We'll let you know when new ceramics exhibitions are on display and open to the public.

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 . . .

Making Her Mark. "...highlights the achievements of women ceramicists since the early 20th century." Flint Institute of Arts, Now–October 12. More . . .

Designed, Printed & Fired. Taekyeom Lee's innovative work "...at the intersection of 3D printing technology and traditional ceramic making." Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, November 15, 2025–March 8, 2026. More . . .

Pottery perspectives

Opportunities to expand your knowledge of ceramics past and present.

Felicity Aylieff: Expressions in Blue. Sculptor Aylieff collaborates with expert craftspeople in Jingdezhen, China, to produce her towering stacked porcelain pieces. How do they do it? Very carefully. More . . .

"Texel" by Cecil Kemperink. An interactive sculpture of porcelain links that you can move and rearrange? Yup. More . . .

Splendid Settings: 100 Years of Mottahedeh Design . International Museum of Dinnerware Design. The video of IMODD's September online lecture is now available. More . . .

And three from Colossal:

Garden of unearthly delights?, by Kaori Kurihara. More . . .

Vibrantly patterned ceramics by Frances Priest. More . . .

Wood and ceramic assemblages by Expanded Eye. More . . .

IMoDD's Sixth Biennial

National Juried and Invitational Exhibition

"Only one dining experience may be universally remembered and loved by all."

This exhibition by the International Museum of Dinnerware design, on display through January 17, 2026, celebrates the picnic with picnic ware and related works by US artists and designers in all media. New creations are presented alongside cherished historic and vintage picnic ware of bygone eras.

Although we may not be able to travel to Kingston, New York—the new location of the IMoDD—to see the exhibition in person, we won't miss out. The online exhibition catalogue went live on the day of the opening, September 6, so visit the Picnic online catalogue.

Half Half: A Chinese American Life Expressed through Ceramic Art

The International Museum of Dinnerware Design's October online lecture features potter and ceramics educator Beth Lo discussing the influence on her work of being born in America of Chinese parents.

As Lo explains, "My work as an artist has always been an expression of my lived experience as an ABC, an American Born Chinese. This slide talk will follow my work in clay as I consider my various roles in the world through the years, from child, to parent, to caregiver, to social commentator."

Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 6:30 pm ET

Register here for the free presentation.

NCECA is coming to Detroit in 2026! "Volumes, the 60th conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), explores diverse cultures, material-driven experimentation, and conceptual frameworks that animate art created through clay. The essential energy of voices and sounds of the Detroit region catalyzes this conference’s theme."

Visit the NCECA site for details.

Empty Bowls appeal

Final bowl pickup October 17-18.

Throw a bird whistle

How did I ever miss this one? Hand builders always get a kick out of making bird whistles. Now the Ondo potter shows wheel throwers how to get in on the fun by making a bird whistle out of a thrown cylinder.

Hand builders, be sure to watch this video, too, because the Ondo potter shows an easier and perhaps more dependable way to construct the whistling mechanism. You can use the same mechanism once you've formed your bird by hand.

Hand build a bubble plate

In the September issue we featured potter Shirin Shabadar, of Ceramic Creation making a spectacular plate of joined leaf forms. This month we reunite with her to watch how she turns "functional art into a conversation piece" by combining multiple ceramic bowls into a beautiful bubble plate.

Open 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

Our open studio

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.

Sunday open studio hours for students continue through July 20 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm.

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.

Our pottery tool shop

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

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.

Stay healthy

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, flu, and other communicable respiratory diseases in Washtenaw county at this link:

Washtenaw County Health Department page

Our contributors

Contributors to this issue include Nancy Bulkley and Jess Krivan. Thank you.

Yourist Studio Gallery

6087 Jackson Road

Ann Arbor, MI 48103

734-662-4914

www.youristpottery.com | Instagram

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