Blog Post #19

Well, hello there! It’s been a little bit since my last update. Within the last few weeks so many things have happened, especially in ceramics. It has been a busy semester but very interesting. I’ve gotten some great opportunities and have learned so much.

One of the opportunities I had was to join my ceramics class to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference (NCECA) in Detroit, Michigan! At this conference, I met so many new people and gained so much insight and inspiration. I was able to attend multiple meetings and events during our time at NCECA. I was lucky enough to speak with some very incredible people from the ceramics and pottery community all around the world.

One of the highlights for me was the Re-imagining Outcomes from the Electric Kilns talk with Shikha Joshi (a studio potter based in Round Rock, Texas). During this talk, Joshi shared her passion for creating surface variation in an electric kiln with wild clay that she forages from almost every destination she goes to. I really appreciated her perspective on trials and challenges that have influenced her processes and approaches to achieve the varying outcomes of pieces during and after firing. She was honest about her failures, but used each one as a learning opportunity. I got so much inspiration from listening to this talk. It made me realize that sometimes ceramics can be unpredictable, but each outcome is a different story that can push creativity and help me with patience. NCECA was a blast and I am already looking forward to possibly going in the future!

As the semester approaches the final weeks, I will try to update more frequently since so much has happened since last update and more is to come. Until then, stay tuned!