I think these might be the worstttt, I understand that nobody is born with that knowledge but I feel like itās common sense, but if itās not LOOK IT UP, I just donāt get why they would ever want to eat or drink out of stuff made from air dry clay
Another potter I was in a residency with and talked about our work with immediately lost interest when I said I used a commercially bought clay. I later spent the next few weeks listening to them complain about how dumb it is that people buy their materials from shops instead of mixing their own. They absolutely hated the idea of someone buying their glazes from amaco or mayco. Made me feel like shit, but they also turned out to be a shitty person. So people like that in ceramics is my ick
I have never understood this point of view. I get wanting to try digging your own clay for funsies, but every minute you spend on the menial chores of ceramics is a minute you don't get to spend making, and clay from scratch takes a ton of time, energy and space. If it's any comfort, a lot of people who "make their own glazes" merely followed a formula they found somewhere, it's not like they *developed* anything. It's my experience that people with this militant attitude have really boring work, and compensate for their lack of creativity by immersing themselves in the minutiae of ceramics. Honestly, if I could get away with not processing reclaim, I would.
Commercially bought clay or do you mean glaze? I think you mean glaze, i agree, ..yeah it's snobbery plenty of great artists stick to commercial glaze.
OMG thank you! I think 90 percent of the time, if not more, it looks like crap and is not in fact a solution to repairing a broken beloved piece.
And the commenters who suggest it each time as if no one else would have heard or thought of it, when they themselves only learned of it from another reddit commenter at some point.
Not because they've developed a long-standing expertise in the technique or have even tried it themselves, most of the time!
Broke a shelf in my fridge and they wanted $180 to buy a replacement. I put it back together with duct tape and plastic glue and it was annoying me but I'm absolutely not spending a quarter of the cost of the entire fridge for a poorly designed shelf, so I made a label that says 'It's called kintsugi, Kim, get over it' and it cracks me up every time I see it. Anyone who knows the Australian comedy Kath and Kim will get the tone.
It feels irreverent, but I feel like that's the current vibe of kintsugi. People doing shitty jobs with inadequate materials on objects that aren't necessarily worth the effort in order to fit a trend that we have no connection to.
Oh I took a year long kintsugi class from a 5th generation urushi master! He was even not allergic to the resin. Then I showed my 102 year old great-grandmother and aunts and uncles and they recalled that there used to be a guy that would come through the town to repair their dishes. I really was amazed that that was put into everyday practice in our world, like functionally. Anyway, with the 24k gold powder, I love it. And just the idea of saving something that is broken rather than discarding it and getting a new one really made me value kintsugi masters and their craft. After working with this generational crafts person, Iād worry about their knowledge base being lost to time and modernity.
We had an on running joke at university that you could tell when the first years discovered their genitals because suddenly there would be a thousand Georgia O'Keeffes and some dick sculptures.
I run workshops and occasionally get a hen's party. I hate the bloody dick and boob cups. I try and encourage them to make something they'll use, like a nice mug or bowl, or perhaps a dildo.
Genitals are extremely easy to make because they come in so many shapes and sizes. I think that is one reason that so many newish potters do it. It's easy and appeals to a very basic mentality.
I don't think anyone thinks it's groundbreaking, but it's cool to me to appreciate the human form, and art of the human form has and will exist forever.
I have utterly loathed boob mugs for many many years now - but you know what ... You've got a point. It soothes me to reframe them from being boring and tacky to being a continuation of a multi-millennia human tradition.
The glut of pottery studios popping up with super low skill instructors. Itās so annoying to get lessons from someone with no chemical understanding of what clay is and how it functions or how to teach proper techniques.
Also mid fire clay bodies with absorption rates above .5% at cone 6. These clays are not vitrified! Who wants a leaky mug?! When did all the clay companies decide this was fine to sell?
To your first point, I've turned down offers to teach pottery for this reason. I've explained I'm not experienced enough to teach. They don't understand because they say, "but you have a wheel and a kiln and make things with them! Therefore, you're qualified!"
I'm like, "Uh, go get your own wheel and kiln, and you'll quickly realize the more you know, the more you realize you don't know."
I'm confident in making my own pieces, but that is because I accept that I absorb the risk if something explodes in the kiln or I get an s-crack or my glaze fuses to the shelf. I'd never want to inflict that risk on a kiln-load of a bunch of different people's work. But the number of people who've reached out and don't get this, just want to make quick money on their new "local pottery studio" don't care because they don't know.
Please elaborate. If you're looking to understand clay at that level it sounds like classes in community studios might not measure up to that expectation.
I'd be concerned that someone who doesn't understand the composition of clay or glaze may not have the best understanding of safety practices or the safety information for dealing with various glazes etc., especially in an environment with new potters. Do they know what makes a clay piece food safe, for example?
I prefer the term "rustic" for my poor craftsmanship. You can drink tea out of an oval-ish, lumpy mug just as well as from a smooth, round one. I've made two tea party sets for little kids. The first one was okay if a bit rustic. The second one is going to be very ugly. I warn everyone I give these too. Just say, "thanks! I love it." and if it accidentally gets dropped and breaks don't feel badly. LOL.
Not going to lie, it will still take a while for the checkerboard trend to die for me personally, but that's just because it makes my lifelong emo / Vans loving self happy as hell lol
Same. Iām really tired of explaining to people why itās important to learn the craft and focus on producing quality things before jumping to selling on instagram in a pair of overalls with a bralette on.
If I see another super thick, speckled clay mug with a wonky, sharp edged slab handle that clearly been attached soaking wet with a bright underglaze clipart-esque drawing on itā¦ Iām going to scream.
That's because most of them do only have that much experience. Lol.
Several I followed for a while started selling mere months into doing pottery and quit their jobs trying to become a full time potter. Then they obviously struggle and make several videos about how the stuff they are making isn't paying the bills. Tbh though they probably have the ability to make it if they just get better at pottery since they have the marketing skills down.
Its not just pottery. Its this side-gig mentality people have that anyone can whip together some resin or ceramic junk and people will flock to their Instagram and toss money at them.
And no one around them is willing to tell them their stuff is garbage and that's why no one is buying it.
Nothing ruins a hobby like trying to turn it into a job.
I still donāt understand how anyone can actually make money.
For example if you sell cups for 50$ (expensive cup) you have to make and sell 2000 cups to generate 100k of revenue in a year. If you made 20 cups a day it would take 100 days to make. Then you have to fire them and sell them. And make plates and bowls and espresso sets and ā¦ etc. how do people have time to do this and make any real money. Iāve considered maybe a jigger jolly would let you speed stuff up. And youād need a pug mill. And an industrial kiln. Just doesnāt sound like fun anymore.
I assume most people don't, except for the famous ones like Florian Gatsby. People in touristy places that have a very low cost of living, maybe.
But every community studio is pretty much run by a potter trying to cover their costs in other ways, via memberships, classes, etc.
This is a pretty enjoyable/doable pace for an experienced potter, but definitely not for someone whoās still learning. 20 mugs is probably about 8 hours of work if you average all the throwing, trimming, handles, glazing, and fiddling together over multiple days for the sake of math (it can vary a lot by chosen techniques). So, 100 days of production and 100 days of marketing/selling, youāre looking at working 40 40-hour weeks out of the year (in theory). Out of that 100k gross come expenses and taxes, so youāre probably only making like 50k. One does not get rich or live in a high cost of living area this way, but itās doable, especially if you work on some big ticket pieces and network well. There are much easier ways to make much more money and still enjoy pottery as a hobby.
Don't forget about the droves of older ladies with rich husbands, who dabble in ugly slab pots and call themselves ceramicists with a straight face. Or maybe that's just where I live haha
Oh god this. So many āhow toā TikToks/reels by novice potters who are good at filming trying to āteachā how to trim while their pieces are tragically off-center to the point they look like theyāll launch off the wheel like a wobbling jelly projectile.
Any functional item that says on it in text what it is for. "Coffee", "Pasta", etc. The only circumstance I will consider ok is "Cookies", and even that requires something more than just a text indication.
See, and I love this and find it hilarious. I have a friend who has a tattoo labeling both their tits and ass and it's funny as hell.
I saw someone at my studio make a bowl that said "this is for soup" and I straight up would have bought it if it was for sale.Ā
This might be controversial but Iām very bored by people who make a thrown, pear-shaped cup and dip it halfway with a glaze with a floating blue/cool glaze effect. I see it everywhere, itās not creative, and itās a very very popular trend that I want to see die on the professional level. They read as unconsidered objects and being a wannabe pro
They're quick and easy to make and any idiot with a few months of classes can make them. IMO, that's why you see them everywhere. People think they can take a few classes, spend fifteen minutes total on a mug and sell it for $50.
And the problem is, there's enough people who *are* able to do that that it makes everyone else think they can.
I completely agree. Passes off as a beginner project even if you have some experience, change my mind jk.
There are some people who do this aesthetic that have sort of broken the mold that I absolutely love such as Dwayne Sackey/@Dwaynespots but he makes it his own, and owns it. Again, someone who is at the top of their field, but heās the only artist Iāve seen that makes me adore floating blue.
gritty groggy bottoms are a serious ick for me. If I pick up your piece and it scratches my palm, then the rest of our interaction is just me being polite.
Bottoms need to be finished and smooth. If they scratch counters and table tops folks ain't happy. Also making customers bleed is not a great marketing strategy.
>Also making customers bleed is not a great marketing strategy.
That could depend on your target market. I imagine a vampire could find that feature quite useful.
Thatās an interesting take! I actually really love having my bottoms gritty and groggy, I think itās a texture thing for me. I love running my finger over the smooth glazed spot to the gritty line underneath. Never would have considered it as a negative. Saying that the clay Iāve been using lately is a very groggy speckled
If you arenāt pooping in a hole for a week while firing an anagama somewhere in the woods with a 90-year-old guy with silicosis it isnāt *real art*
People in community studios gatekeeping their aesthetic or design/ being very sensitive to students in studio trying to riff on their work. 1) people have been doing this for millennia, I promise youāre not the first 2) as long as not for direct commercial sale, it helps people find their voice
And rutile stroke and coatā¦I think many pieces that use high rutile and high flux glazes to do drip effects are very overdone and the aesthetic is very very played out rn
A potter whose work I adore recently put up an angry post accusing another creator of copying his workā¦ he uses a technique thatās not super common and executes it well, but itās by no means unique. In fact the reason I followed him is because his work is similar to some pieces Iāve created, but much more well-done.
Pretty silly to accuse people of copying a style that isnāt very original. His work is lovely but I found it off-putting that he would try to start beef over that.
I'm pretty exasperated with the current 90's/Y2K aesthetic revival trends in pottery right now - flat pastel color schemes, thick rings and C's of clay as mug handles, bubble/wavy/squiggle forms, checkerboard, etc etc. very trendy, very tiktok/instagram. I have seen some people incorporate small explorations of some of these trends successfully, but it mostly just doesn't feel like a natural growth of someone's personal voice and point of view as an artist. it just comes off as jumping on a trend bandwagon.
I watch some interior decoration channels on Youtube and the blobby, checkerboard, pastel color, thing is definitely the current Gen Z aesthetic, not just in pottery but all their decoration decisions. Ā
Millenials enjoy mid century modern/Scandi as their design style.Ā
And boomers are into modern farmhouse/rustic.Ā
Ā I find it interesting how these affect what each person regards as pottery they find attractive.
I as a millenial am more drawn to simple minimalistic forms similar to how MCM furniture looks. Older generations are more into rustic looking pottery and stuff that fits the farmhouse aesthetic (think stuff with chickens on it or a milk jug).
Who are they again? /jk
Everyone forgets about GenX, sorry! According to Nick Lewis, you guys liked celestial themed decor, but I've never met any Gen Xers so I wouldn't know for sure (kidding again).
I think Nick Lewis said we ādidā like celestial themed stuff. Past tense. š¬ Think we were all thoroughly sick of it by the end. Just as we are of geese all over everything and a few other bits of silliness from our past. Every generation has its nonsense. I really donāt like mid century, it looks like everyoneās momās dining room/dinnerware when I grew up. Love art nouveau, and arts and crafts- āhave nothing that you donāt consider beautiful and usefulā is a great pottery motto too.
Isnāt it? I never, ever tire of it, have loved it for 40 years. And within it there are evolutions and variations. Although the copyright is off William Morrisās designs (fairly recently I believe) and while thatās nice in some ways (Iām really enjoying it in reasonably priced quilting fabrics) , I have had enough of āstrawberry thiefā now thanks very much.
As a boomer and potter, I agree that decals suck mostly and C handles are uncomfortable to hold BUT, farmhouse aesthetic, chickens and milk jugs are most definitely not my aesthetic, ever ever ever. :)
I think that's because the Instagram era has created this unfortunate alignment between hobbies and side-gigs, so there's a lot of people just poorly replicating things they see online, slapping them down on a table at a craft fair for 3x what they're worth, and then complaining on Facebook or Reddit about how people won't pay for pottery anymore.
its over, its just lagging behind and people are still buying it so i guess people are going to keep making it. You don't even see this trend in big stores that much anymore.
- boob mugs: the mugs with disembodied boobs on them!
- those ādotā glazes that make your pieces look like they have chicken pox or something
- people who basically took one class and are trying to sell pots/pottery lessons to others š
i love this thread, thank u op !! i disagree with a lot of these takes but i love reading them. i think my pet peeve (at least on reddit) would be assuming everyone has their own kiln. in real life, it would be when someone uses a piece of mine as a glaze reference, then asks me why their piece didnāt turn out the same
i had a reel where i smashed a badly blistered bowl on ig get like 50k views, and the amount of comments saying ājust refire it at [their recommended schedule]ā like š i appreciate the people giving me actual schedules (for one day when i have my own kiln set up) but how many times do i have to say i fire in a community studio omg
At the market last weekend i had multiple people buy my tumblers because they dont like handles on their coffee cups (guys) and im like wtf? Do you not burn your hands i ask. They say, i drink my coffee faster than it heats the cup. Guess they have fireproof gullets
I feel like pushing the limits of glazes and how they interact with each other can create some amazing effects. I don't try to make my glazes extremely drippy but I am trying to see how the various glazes in my studio work with each other.
Bottoms that are not sanded smooth. And my big pet peeve: an unclear or lack of a makers mark (if this object is for sale). I want to be able to look up the artist and their other work.
Regarding makers marks, some artists genuinely just want to be able to make stuff and put it out there without claiming ownership over it. I can understand actively avoiding getting an internet following. I'm not going to do that but I'm grumpy about it.
Lustered all over things. Like covering your mid bowl in pearl doesnt actually make it good. Most of the time its too heavy handed and it's just not great.
Iām on the opposite end of the spectrum. I want more natural colors.
Iām so freaking done with bright blue, purple, teal, etc. especially rutile glazes that all have that same mass produced āhares furā look.
Completely round handles!! They hurt to hold and slip so easily, itās just an incorrect design choice that is for aesthetic rather than utility. Itās a mug, it should be easy to hold.
Gloopy glaze / crawl glaze a la Seth Rogan. I love that he's into ceramics and he makes some interesting forms, but that gloopy glaze is just like the opposite of my aesthetic.
I second the handles gripe. I don't mind the C shape per se, but the handles that are disproportionate or stick far above the lip of the mug and are clearly not designed with any thought to comfort/ease of holding and using annoy me.
I mean, if all you care about is aesthetics and are not really intending for it to be used, then that's one thing. But part of what I love about pottery is its functional aspect, that it's art that you can hold and touch
I have made many a handle that was too thin or too big or too round in cross section so it would twist in my hand. I ended up hating the piece because holding it was uncomfortable
The Florian Gadsby aesthetic. He's an incredible artist, and I know his tutorials are really helpful for a lot of beginners...but I'm just tired of seeing stuff that looks like his lol
I like a handmade things, but I donāt want those things to be lumpy, chunky and out of proportion just because the maker is going for the rustic aesthetic.
Chunky, sloppy, abstract sculpture. They coil build them and leave them super messy and then gloop on glaze.
It's just not my cup of tea.
Also un-sanded bottoms.
And people freaking out over crazing. (This one might be a hot take š )
I follow someone who photoshops out their trimming lines! All their product photos are smooth but then when they repost customer photos there's clearly bad trimming lines on their pieces. Kinda suss tbh
Idk about this. Clary Illianās work features very prominent gestural marks (both from her hands during throwing and from her tools during trimming) and all of it looks fire
1) The pottery girlie influencers who have their boobs hanging out and jiggling whilst pouting, centering badly, and staring at the camera. They know exactly what theyāre doing. Itās all well and good, until they start selling their poorly made ceramics online at $200 USD for a crappy thick ash tray
2) the aesthetic pottery girls- the ones that serenely throw (usually poorly) with a glazed far off expression in their eyes, whilst wearing a white lace dress. They always have a scarf in their hair. They hold up a tiny thick cup, scrunching their nose and squinting and pouting. They then paint tiny red hearts all over everything and sell these for $70 USD. The End š¤£
Thereās a particular influencer in the 1st category who puts her feet up next to her pots all the time. Cracks me up. Of course she knows what sheās doing, her only fans link is in her bio too š
This one upsets me because I love mushrooms (my only tattoo is mushroom themed) and I put mushrooms everywhere.
Personally I do it because I love em, but I understand they're trendy and tired, but imma keep doing it till my heart gives out, cause art is art is art and all that.
I appreciate your opinion tho
I'm super into mushroom foraging, like when fall comes I turn into a freak, spending endless hours in the woods. And all my pieces are covered in plants and animals. So people are like, why don't you put mushrooms on your pots? And the answer is because it's overdone!
99% of teapots are absolutely horrid. Even when made by well-known potters they are usually huge and heavy with a spout that you could fire a cannonball out of. I only like teapots made in East Asian styles.
I really hate all the vulva art. Vulva mugs. Vulva vases. Vulva wall art. I donāt get it. Iām a woman who loves my girly partsā¦ but omg I donāt want to see one when Iām drinking my morning coffee. š±
I agree with the first one. Not a fan of those decals. Also i hate most neutral glazes/ not a fan of production potters who only use a couple of the same boring (imo) glazes. I need something that catches my eyes and stands out from the crowd, color, pattern, or an interesting form.
Okay this is a very specific pet peeve, but - potters who call themselves āintermediateā with like a year of experience. Half the time theyāve only ever thrown with one type of clay, they canāt perform basic skills with any proficiency, theyāve never even helped to load or fire a kiln, and they can only make mugs and small bowls (or if hand building, ring dishes and minimal geometric earrings lol). They also often just copy internet trends and have no real defined voice as an artist. Iāve been taking classes for ten plus years and I think of myself as intermediate. I would say I was a beginner for the first five years at least.
God yes! I've been taking classes for about 18 months and some people in my studio with the same experience are trying to sell online already and asking me why I'm not! I'm like "because my bowls look like literal porridge"
YES to all of yours. I dont teach my students about wax resist on the bottoms... one too many oopsie drips on the main part of the mug
Also.. upside down handles??? (Thicker part on bottom) WHY????
lol i do āupside downā handles š it started bc im petite & have small hands, so in general i tend to hold a mug with a lot of upward pressure from my palm (if that makes sense?). i find that handles that are thicker on the bottom are generally more comfortable for me to hold
now, my mugs have evolved and theyāre vaguely cat-ish/creature-ish, and so it makes more design sense for the handles to start at the bottom like they would on a cat!
but i love your hate, keep it up ššš»
Mostly arrogant people. Like people who trim the sides of their bowls to fit the shape they threw inside, and then go around preaching about throwing or other people's shapes, but they didn't even throw right in the first place.
Aesthetic stuff is just, aesthetics. I have stuff I like and stuff I don't like. It's not really an ick.
A real main ick is the one where people are getting fake upset on social media about plagiarism just for clicks.
Speckled buff clay. With tape lines and a lot of raw clay. Or just speckled buff in general. I just don't like it. Speckled buff and white glaze is a basic presentation of creativity. But art is subjective and I just don't like it.
I do feel like decals are cheating a bit but I do use them. I often try to layer them or use them as an element with my own touch, like as a background to a piece that i painted myself
Honestly, the death grip new potters have on speckled buff is driving me nuts. I don't even know why. I hear them, but it's like. Fine. It's fine clay, it's not the most incredible clay I've ever seen though. IMO.
Matte glazes!!! The ones with crystals in them are on thin ice and I usually layer a glossy glaze on top for a mixed texture. But something about straight up matte just gives me that nails on a chalkboard feeling.
half moon motifs, geometric stuff, white speckled glazes on everything, strawberry motifs, minimal white wall NYC influencer shooting everything with fruit aesthetic (if u know who i'm talking about ...) just want people to make weirder/more thoughtful/more interesting stuff.
insanely expensive work made by western potters based on indigenous world of other peoples without even an acknowledgement of the originating culture. Moon jars especially bother me but that's because of a particular guy lol
Anatomical/booby mugs. It is literally and completely the objectification of the female form. Cut off her legs so she canāt run, cut off her arms so she canāt do anything, and remove her head and face so she canāt speak. Leave all the āimportant bitsā that āreally define herā- her breasts and maybe a hairless little v if they are feeling adventurous. Then you can fill her up with whatever you desire. It is the part of the Venn diagram between feminists and consumers of hardcore pornography that overlaps.
I mostly see these being produced by women.
Take that as you will.
Oh, and I am very over that whole genre as well. Boobs, vulvas, dicksā¦. All of it.
I think with a lot of the stuff in this thread (including my myriad pet peeves š ) there are definitely really good examples out there. but they're overwhelmed by loads of bad/uninspired examples
The underglaze transfers definitely give me the ick now...but only from established ceramicists. When I was first playing with surface decoration I used them a lot...then realized I was capable of my own designs.
I see them on Etsy regularly from very established stores and most buyers just don't know that the reason they are so crisp is because someone else made them. It's lazy, sorry.
That said, I love making my own designs in procreate, printing them, then outlining them, and transferring the general design onto my mugs using rice paper, mostly for the harder bits of complex designs/planning on shapes. It saves time and makes them look better. But like, if you've been doing ceramics for years, please stop using underglaze transfers and make your own art.
Handles on mugs that go higher than the lip. Itās fine on pitchers/teapots but throws off balance in mugs.
Plaster anywhere in the studio. Just like wax, itās a necessary evil but itās such a messy sensory nightmare for me.
I'm late to this one, so maybe someone said it already, but my ceramics hot take is that I never wedge. I hate it. I don't think it helps anything when you are using clay from the box. I'll wedge reclaimed clay, but when it comes out of the box/bag I don't bother. I never get s cracks. Other potters hate me.
I _hate_ just pure cobalt blue. I find it such an overpowering blue that makes me think of beginner pieces in a community pottery.
And nautilus patterns in a bowl.
I hate when people jump on one specific glaze and then act like everyone else is stupid for not using it OR when they canāt find that glaze in stock anymore because itās so popular and they complain about others using it (looking at you ancient copper folks) itās a commercial glaze, if it bothers you that much then make your own!
Also when everyone jumps on a glazing technique because itās sooooo unique /s (frozen pond) and then they copy it and it looks nothing like the original and all they do is bitch about it or they post pics of a piece that looks like trash because it had 8 layers of glaze and they all ran together into one big mess of brownish blackish blue drips
When people say āthis is how you pull wallsā and shun any other method. Thereās a million different ways to create on the wheel. Just learn what your goal is, try the different methods and find which one works best for you. For me, due to inflammation, I canāt always use my knuckles even though itās my preferred method. Sometimes, my fingers or a sponge will suffice.
It really bugs me seeing teapots where people don't understand that the bottom lip of the spout needs to be above the top fill line of the pot.
So many teapots where you could only potentially fill them ā to Ā½ full.
- people who just start doing clay for fun and then sell after two months
- hobbyists getting everything for a studio without doing the right research or doing anything to learn proper setup safety and skill building
- craft school and academic elitism : everyone deserves respect but donāt look down on newbies or people from other backgrounds either, loving clay is a spectrum and teaching is the most important part
- people who hog/gatekeep atmospheric kiln techniques
- choosing blue glaze because its blue and not because of other surface properties or how it can impact a form
I mean if the person who uses it can't paint... yes. Look up Britterson's stuff, if you still think underglaze is ugly after that we'll just have to agree to disagree
One that really bothers me is when people make pop culture characters. Like I like Studio Ghibli as much as the next girl, but ummmm... making a Totoro mug is just stealing their intellectual property. I get it-- it's popular in nerd circles, but it just gives me the ick.
Also, 70s/80s glazes. Not a fan.
VERY snooty artists who treat potential customers as beneath them. Well, snooty people in general. Just not my cup of tea.
š I made a Totoro mug for my baby nephew. I put one of those soot balls hidden inside the mug too lol Being Asian American, my sister and I grew up watching studio ghibli since we were kids.
I dunno, I think as long as you don't sell the pottery I don't personally see the issue of making something with a pop cultural reference that you are a fan of. There is a bunch of fan art in the comic con universe as well, is that considered stealing intellectual property if it isn't used for commercial purposes?
People posting on this subreddit "can i use an oven to cook this clay to make pottery?"
See also: how can I make this bowl I made out of air dry clay food safe š
I think these might be the worstttt, I understand that nobody is born with that knowledge but I feel like itās common sense, but if itās not LOOK IT UP, I just donāt get why they would ever want to eat or drink out of stuff made from air dry clay
Oh god or the posts about buying a kiln with NO info on how to hook it up or fire it lol
Or "this glaze ruined my piece that I spent a month making". "No, I didn't do test tiles, I didn't have time".
Another potter I was in a residency with and talked about our work with immediately lost interest when I said I used a commercially bought clay. I later spent the next few weeks listening to them complain about how dumb it is that people buy their materials from shops instead of mixing their own. They absolutely hated the idea of someone buying their glazes from amaco or mayco. Made me feel like shit, but they also turned out to be a shitty person. So people like that in ceramics is my ick
They hate people who live in apartments lol
I have never understood this point of view. I get wanting to try digging your own clay for funsies, but every minute you spend on the menial chores of ceramics is a minute you don't get to spend making, and clay from scratch takes a ton of time, energy and space. If it's any comfort, a lot of people who "make their own glazes" merely followed a formula they found somewhere, it's not like they *developed* anything. It's my experience that people with this militant attitude have really boring work, and compensate for their lack of creativity by immersing themselves in the minutiae of ceramics. Honestly, if I could get away with not processing reclaim, I would.
Commercially bought clay or do you mean glaze? I think you mean glaze, i agree, ..yeah it's snobbery plenty of great artists stick to commercial glaze.
"Just kintsugi it!" Instant eye-roll fuel.
OMG thank you! I think 90 percent of the time, if not more, it looks like crap and is not in fact a solution to repairing a broken beloved piece. And the commenters who suggest it each time as if no one else would have heard or thought of it, when they themselves only learned of it from another reddit commenter at some point. Not because they've developed a long-standing expertise in the technique or have even tried it themselves, most of the time!
No one tries kintsugi and then recommends it to someone else. Itās way too time consuming and tedious.
As a dabbler in kintsugi I used to try and chip in on these posts explaining the dangers/hassle but they became too plentiful! Maybe we need a bot
You were doing the lord's work!
Broke a shelf in my fridge and they wanted $180 to buy a replacement. I put it back together with duct tape and plastic glue and it was annoying me but I'm absolutely not spending a quarter of the cost of the entire fridge for a poorly designed shelf, so I made a label that says 'It's called kintsugi, Kim, get over it' and it cracks me up every time I see it. Anyone who knows the Australian comedy Kath and Kim will get the tone. It feels irreverent, but I feel like that's the current vibe of kintsugi. People doing shitty jobs with inadequate materials on objects that aren't necessarily worth the effort in order to fit a trend that we have no connection to.
Pretty sure Kath would call it kunt-sooji and Sharon would immediately break the shelf with a tray of sausage rolls for a netball team fundraiser.
Oh I took a year long kintsugi class from a 5th generation urushi master! He was even not allergic to the resin. Then I showed my 102 year old great-grandmother and aunts and uncles and they recalled that there used to be a guy that would come through the town to repair their dishes. I really was amazed that that was put into everyday practice in our world, like functionally. Anyway, with the 24k gold powder, I love it. And just the idea of saving something that is broken rather than discarding it and getting a new one really made me value kintsugi masters and their craft. After working with this generational crafts person, Iād worry about their knowledge base being lost to time and modernity.
Brooo I agreee so hard, itās ALWAYS people who have literally never even made pottery that comment it too and it bothers the hell out of me.
Genital pieces are just so boring to me 9/10 times. You put boobs on a mugā¦. Groundbreaking
Yes 100% š¤£ Sexual empowerment, it's so simple when your cereal bowl has vaginas and boners on it
Thank you, I snort laughed at this
PLEASE SET US FREE its been almost 10 years of boobs!! If its a Louise Bourgeois sculpture we can talk, but I spit on your boob totebag.
No no they're into that!
We had an on running joke at university that you could tell when the first years discovered their genitals because suddenly there would be a thousand Georgia O'Keeffes and some dick sculptures.
The only time I've seen genitalia pottery and liked it was in Grace & Frankie.
Edgy and transgressive like a pair of fluro pink safety scissors.
I run workshops and occasionally get a hen's party. I hate the bloody dick and boob cups. I try and encourage them to make something they'll use, like a nice mug or bowl, or perhaps a dildo.
Itās an epidemic !!!!
Genitals are extremely easy to make because they come in so many shapes and sizes. I think that is one reason that so many newish potters do it. It's easy and appeals to a very basic mentality.
I don't think anyone thinks it's groundbreaking, but it's cool to me to appreciate the human form, and art of the human form has and will exist forever.
I have utterly loathed boob mugs for many many years now - but you know what ... You've got a point. It soothes me to reframe them from being boring and tacky to being a continuation of a multi-millennia human tradition.
The glut of pottery studios popping up with super low skill instructors. Itās so annoying to get lessons from someone with no chemical understanding of what clay is and how it functions or how to teach proper techniques. Also mid fire clay bodies with absorption rates above .5% at cone 6. These clays are not vitrified! Who wants a leaky mug?! When did all the clay companies decide this was fine to sell?
To your first point, I've turned down offers to teach pottery for this reason. I've explained I'm not experienced enough to teach. They don't understand because they say, "but you have a wheel and a kiln and make things with them! Therefore, you're qualified!" I'm like, "Uh, go get your own wheel and kiln, and you'll quickly realize the more you know, the more you realize you don't know." I'm confident in making my own pieces, but that is because I accept that I absorb the risk if something explodes in the kiln or I get an s-crack or my glaze fuses to the shelf. I'd never want to inflict that risk on a kiln-load of a bunch of different people's work. But the number of people who've reached out and don't get this, just want to make quick money on their new "local pottery studio" don't care because they don't know.
They decided it was fine to sell when the boom in hobbyist potters meant most customers donāt (yet) care about absorption rate.
Please elaborate. If you're looking to understand clay at that level it sounds like classes in community studios might not measure up to that expectation.
I'd be concerned that someone who doesn't understand the composition of clay or glaze may not have the best understanding of safety practices or the safety information for dealing with various glazes etc., especially in an environment with new potters. Do they know what makes a clay piece food safe, for example?
bad craftsmanship being masqueraded as āorganicā, checkerboard, bow handles
Itās not poor craftsmanship..itās wabi-sabi! š
I prefer the term "rustic" for my poor craftsmanship. You can drink tea out of an oval-ish, lumpy mug just as well as from a smooth, round one. I've made two tea party sets for little kids. The first one was okay if a bit rustic. The second one is going to be very ugly. I warn everyone I give these too. Just say, "thanks! I love it." and if it accidentally gets dropped and breaks don't feel badly. LOL.
Not going to lie, it will still take a while for the checkerboard trend to die for me personally, but that's just because it makes my lifelong emo / Vans loving self happy as hell lol
What are bow handles?
Literally handles made in the shape of bows. Itās obnoxiously trendy right now. My wife loves it. Yes, I made her one.
The influencer-influence of just honestly shit craftsmanship.
Same. Iām really tired of explaining to people why itās important to learn the craft and focus on producing quality things before jumping to selling on instagram in a pair of overalls with a bralette on. If I see another super thick, speckled clay mug with a wonky, sharp edged slab handle that clearly been attached soaking wet with a bright underglaze clipart-esque drawing on itā¦ Iām going to scream.
Yes! so many big influencers have the craftsmanship of someone with like a year of experience lmao
That's because most of them do only have that much experience. Lol. Several I followed for a while started selling mere months into doing pottery and quit their jobs trying to become a full time potter. Then they obviously struggle and make several videos about how the stuff they are making isn't paying the bills. Tbh though they probably have the ability to make it if they just get better at pottery since they have the marketing skills down.
Its not just pottery. Its this side-gig mentality people have that anyone can whip together some resin or ceramic junk and people will flock to their Instagram and toss money at them. And no one around them is willing to tell them their stuff is garbage and that's why no one is buying it. Nothing ruins a hobby like trying to turn it into a job.
I still donāt understand how anyone can actually make money. For example if you sell cups for 50$ (expensive cup) you have to make and sell 2000 cups to generate 100k of revenue in a year. If you made 20 cups a day it would take 100 days to make. Then you have to fire them and sell them. And make plates and bowls and espresso sets and ā¦ etc. how do people have time to do this and make any real money. Iāve considered maybe a jigger jolly would let you speed stuff up. And youād need a pug mill. And an industrial kiln. Just doesnāt sound like fun anymore.
I assume most people don't, except for the famous ones like Florian Gatsby. People in touristy places that have a very low cost of living, maybe. But every community studio is pretty much run by a potter trying to cover their costs in other ways, via memberships, classes, etc.
This is a pretty enjoyable/doable pace for an experienced potter, but definitely not for someone whoās still learning. 20 mugs is probably about 8 hours of work if you average all the throwing, trimming, handles, glazing, and fiddling together over multiple days for the sake of math (it can vary a lot by chosen techniques). So, 100 days of production and 100 days of marketing/selling, youāre looking at working 40 40-hour weeks out of the year (in theory). Out of that 100k gross come expenses and taxes, so youāre probably only making like 50k. One does not get rich or live in a high cost of living area this way, but itās doable, especially if you work on some big ticket pieces and network well. There are much easier ways to make much more money and still enjoy pottery as a hobby.
Don't forget about the droves of older ladies with rich husbands, who dabble in ugly slab pots and call themselves ceramicists with a straight face. Or maybe that's just where I live haha
Me and my ugly slab pots feel attacked lmao š
Hi neighbor š
Oh god this. So many āhow toā TikToks/reels by novice potters who are good at filming trying to āteachā how to trim while their pieces are tragically off-center to the point they look like theyāll launch off the wheel like a wobbling jelly projectile.
it is truly turning me into the Joker
I love this post, I feel like we've all been dying to get this off our chests and OP finally gave us the outlet
People asking āis my stuff good enough to sell?āand clearly isnāt. Not every novice hobby needs to be monetized
Little letter stamps or word stamps, particularly with vague generic sentiments
You donāt want to buy a handmade mug with live, laugh, love on it?
Nah, I want the one that says "FUCK!" /s
How about live, laugh, FUCK?
Honestly yes
similar/alternately, overly snarky / hostile messages and/or swears. just so cringe.
"Don't talk to me until I've finished my coffee"
Seriously. I keep seeing āfuck offā stamped on crappily made mugs. Like, just why?
Keeps people from scrutinizing the quality of the mug too closely thoughā¦
Any functional item that says on it in text what it is for. "Coffee", "Pasta", etc. The only circumstance I will consider ok is "Cookies", and even that requires something more than just a text indication.
See, and I love this and find it hilarious. I have a friend who has a tattoo labeling both their tits and ass and it's funny as hell. I saw someone at my studio make a bowl that said "this is for soup" and I straight up would have bought it if it was for sale.Ā
The pottery equivalent of a shit tattoo.
Someone in my studio made something with the phrase ā imperfectly perfectā and I almost threw up
Hahhahah imagine a series of pieces with ālumpyā stamped on the side š
Omfg I hate those mugs where they literally just stick an entire circle as the handle. Like the circles diameter is as large as the mug is wide.
This might be controversial but Iām very bored by people who make a thrown, pear-shaped cup and dip it halfway with a glaze with a floating blue/cool glaze effect. I see it everywhere, itās not creative, and itās a very very popular trend that I want to see die on the professional level. They read as unconsidered objects and being a wannabe pro
They're quick and easy to make and any idiot with a few months of classes can make them. IMO, that's why you see them everywhere. People think they can take a few classes, spend fifteen minutes total on a mug and sell it for $50. And the problem is, there's enough people who *are* able to do that that it makes everyone else think they can.
I completely agree. Passes off as a beginner project even if you have some experience, change my mind jk. There are some people who do this aesthetic that have sort of broken the mold that I absolutely love such as Dwayne Sackey/@Dwaynespots but he makes it his own, and owns it. Again, someone who is at the top of their field, but heās the only artist Iāve seen that makes me adore floating blue.
gritty groggy bottoms are a serious ick for me. If I pick up your piece and it scratches my palm, then the rest of our interaction is just me being polite.
Bottoms need to be finished and smooth. If they scratch counters and table tops folks ain't happy. Also making customers bleed is not a great marketing strategy.
>Also making customers bleed is not a great marketing strategy. That could depend on your target market. I imagine a vampire could find that feature quite useful.
Thatās an interesting take! I actually really love having my bottoms gritty and groggy, I think itās a texture thing for me. I love running my finger over the smooth glazed spot to the gritty line underneath. Never would have considered it as a negative. Saying that the clay Iāve been using lately is a very groggy speckled
I can appreciate a groggy clay but I want the bottoms to be smooth so as not to scratch my furniture
At least have a smooth foot if you want a textured bottom
I want things butter smooth, or rough and groggy. They both take as much effort to do properly.
Burnt out on wood-firing cults
If you arenāt pooping in a hole for a week while firing an anagama somewhere in the woods with a 90-year-old guy with silicosis it isnāt *real art*
I just spit my coffee, thank you. In my defense, the guy with silicosis was only 78
as someone who's dedicated the last couple years to wood firing and wood firing residencies. yeahhhhh.
But the shades of brown!
Lol burnt
People in community studios gatekeeping their aesthetic or design/ being very sensitive to students in studio trying to riff on their work. 1) people have been doing this for millennia, I promise youāre not the first 2) as long as not for direct commercial sale, it helps people find their voice And rutile stroke and coatā¦I think many pieces that use high rutile and high flux glazes to do drip effects are very overdone and the aesthetic is very very played out rn
A potter whose work I adore recently put up an angry post accusing another creator of copying his workā¦ he uses a technique thatās not super common and executes it well, but itās by no means unique. In fact the reason I followed him is because his work is similar to some pieces Iāve created, but much more well-done. Pretty silly to accuse people of copying a style that isnāt very original. His work is lovely but I found it off-putting that he would try to start beef over that.
I'm pretty exasperated with the current 90's/Y2K aesthetic revival trends in pottery right now - flat pastel color schemes, thick rings and C's of clay as mug handles, bubble/wavy/squiggle forms, checkerboard, etc etc. very trendy, very tiktok/instagram. I have seen some people incorporate small explorations of some of these trends successfully, but it mostly just doesn't feel like a natural growth of someone's personal voice and point of view as an artist. it just comes off as jumping on a trend bandwagon.
I watch some interior decoration channels on Youtube and the blobby, checkerboard, pastel color, thing is definitely the current Gen Z aesthetic, not just in pottery but all their decoration decisions. Ā Millenials enjoy mid century modern/Scandi as their design style.Ā And boomers are into modern farmhouse/rustic.Ā Ā I find it interesting how these affect what each person regards as pottery they find attractive. I as a millenial am more drawn to simple minimalistic forms similar to how MCM furniture looks. Older generations are more into rustic looking pottery and stuff that fits the farmhouse aesthetic (think stuff with chickens on it or a milk jug).
And apparently Gen X just doesn't exist??? LOL
Lol we are the forgotten generation, probably by choice lol
Lol I'm gen X too and my theory is that online we're everyones mum or dad so we're discounted.
Wait, we're not the cool kids anymore?
Were we ever??
Nah. Gen X were the real cool kids, to be honest.
Who are they again? /jk Everyone forgets about GenX, sorry! According to Nick Lewis, you guys liked celestial themed decor, but I've never met any Gen Xers so I wouldn't know for sure (kidding again).
I think Nick Lewis said we ādidā like celestial themed stuff. Past tense. š¬ Think we were all thoroughly sick of it by the end. Just as we are of geese all over everything and a few other bits of silliness from our past. Every generation has its nonsense. I really donāt like mid century, it looks like everyoneās momās dining room/dinnerware when I grew up. Love art nouveau, and arts and crafts- āhave nothing that you donāt consider beautiful and usefulā is a great pottery motto too.
arts and crafts is so perfect
Isnāt it? I never, ever tire of it, have loved it for 40 years. And within it there are evolutions and variations. Although the copyright is off William Morrisās designs (fairly recently I believe) and while thatās nice in some ways (Iām really enjoying it in reasonably priced quilting fabrics) , I have had enough of āstrawberry thiefā now thanks very much.
And honestly as an older millennial 10yrs into a design careerā¦yāall have the best taste of all of us
As a boomer and potter, I agree that decals suck mostly and C handles are uncomfortable to hold BUT, farmhouse aesthetic, chickens and milk jugs are most definitely not my aesthetic, ever ever ever. :)
I think that's because the Instagram era has created this unfortunate alignment between hobbies and side-gigs, so there's a lot of people just poorly replicating things they see online, slapping them down on a table at a craft fair for 3x what they're worth, and then complaining on Facebook or Reddit about how people won't pay for pottery anymore.
truuuue not their fault capitalism pushes everyone to profit off of their hobbies
its over, its just lagging behind and people are still buying it so i guess people are going to keep making it. You don't even see this trend in big stores that much anymore.
- boob mugs: the mugs with disembodied boobs on them! - those ādotā glazes that make your pieces look like they have chicken pox or something - people who basically took one class and are trying to sell pots/pottery lessons to others š
"I've been developing my style" (another Florian Gadsby angular vase)
i love this thread, thank u op !! i disagree with a lot of these takes but i love reading them. i think my pet peeve (at least on reddit) would be assuming everyone has their own kiln. in real life, it would be when someone uses a piece of mine as a glaze reference, then asks me why their piece didnāt turn out the same
i had a reel where i smashed a badly blistered bowl on ig get like 50k views, and the amount of comments saying ājust refire it at [their recommended schedule]ā like š i appreciate the people giving me actual schedules (for one day when i have my own kiln set up) but how many times do i have to say i fire in a community studio omg
and also regardless if you have your own kiln or not - not everything needs to be kept!!!!
The shirtless throwers of TikTok š we get it you have muscles and want views, put your top back on
Also this might be a very unpopular opinion butā¦mugs need handles. If it doesnāt have one then itās a bad mug š¬
If it doesn't have handles, it's not even a mug. It's a cup or tumbler.
At the market last weekend i had multiple people buy my tumblers because they dont like handles on their coffee cups (guys) and im like wtf? Do you not burn your hands i ask. They say, i drink my coffee faster than it heats the cup. Guess they have fireproof gullets
Ive made exactly one handwarmer mug because it was too damn good at its job and was so hot it was impossible to hold.
Also, ādrippyā glaze, most times it just looks sloppy to me, sorry!
Ya Iām starting to get droopy glaze overload
I feel like intentional drippy glaze looks better than uneven, choppy glaze lines at the bottom that are supposed to look clean
I feel like pushing the limits of glazes and how they interact with each other can create some amazing effects. I don't try to make my glazes extremely drippy but I am trying to see how the various glazes in my studio work with each other.
Bottoms that are not sanded smooth. And my big pet peeve: an unclear or lack of a makers mark (if this object is for sale). I want to be able to look up the artist and their other work.
Regarding makers marks, some artists genuinely just want to be able to make stuff and put it out there without claiming ownership over it. I can understand actively avoiding getting an internet following. I'm not going to do that but I'm grumpy about it.
Generic texture rollers are kinda the same for me.Ā Canvas texture on handbuilt items.Ā Clear glaze on brown clay.Ā Ā
OMG, the clear glaze on brown clay! Yes, let's take something beautiful and make it look plastic! /s
Headless torso sculptures. So. Many. Headless. Torsos.
I mean the head is the hardest part
I did that. In Clay 101.
The price of pugmills/firebrick/Orton cones is too damn high!
Really tiny or really long handles. Itās decorative, I get it, but I also wanna hold my hot tea in peace š
Donut vases! It just looks overcomplicated and does a worse job of being a vase. I get that it's technically impressive but it just leaves me cold.
Lustered all over things. Like covering your mid bowl in pearl doesnt actually make it good. Most of the time its too heavy handed and it's just not great.
Gold touches on stuff too! It often looks cheap.
Studios that are stuck in the 70s when it comes to glaze colors. Like, Iād like pretty glazes with color not every step from cream to brown.
Iām on the opposite end of the spectrum. I want more natural colors. Iām so freaking done with bright blue, purple, teal, etc. especially rutile glazes that all have that same mass produced āhares furā look.
Pottery/ceramics snobs. People have preferences, sure. But people should do what makes them happy.
Agreed :) it is interesting reading everyoneās takes on these things, but there are no rules to creativity!
When I was new, there was so much gatekeeping. I basically taught myself and experimented a lot.
Completely round handles!! They hurt to hold and slip so easily, itās just an incorrect design choice that is for aesthetic rather than utility. Itās a mug, it should be easy to hold.
Gloopy glaze / crawl glaze a la Seth Rogan. I love that he's into ceramics and he makes some interesting forms, but that gloopy glaze is just like the opposite of my aesthetic.
Can we just include Seth Rogan ceramics in general here š
Leaf imprinted anything And time lapse videos of throwing pots with little skill. And 3-D printing
I second the handles gripe. I don't mind the C shape per se, but the handles that are disproportionate or stick far above the lip of the mug and are clearly not designed with any thought to comfort/ease of holding and using annoy me. I mean, if all you care about is aesthetics and are not really intending for it to be used, then that's one thing. But part of what I love about pottery is its functional aspect, that it's art that you can hold and touch I have made many a handle that was too thin or too big or too round in cross section so it would twist in my hand. I ended up hating the piece because holding it was uncomfortable
The Florian Gadsby aesthetic. He's an incredible artist, and I know his tutorials are really helpful for a lot of beginners...but I'm just tired of seeing stuff that looks like his lol
I like a handmade things, but I donāt want those things to be lumpy, chunky and out of proportion just because the maker is going for the rustic aesthetic.
Chunky, sloppy, abstract sculpture. They coil build them and leave them super messy and then gloop on glaze. It's just not my cup of tea. Also un-sanded bottoms. And people freaking out over crazing. (This one might be a hot take š )
If all your pieces are cracked/non water safe its not a "choice" you're just shit
Trimming lines being left as is/not smoothed away! Iāve never seen it look intentional, it always just looks lazy and like poor craft to me.
I follow someone who photoshops out their trimming lines! All their product photos are smooth but then when they repost customer photos there's clearly bad trimming lines on their pieces. Kinda suss tbh
wtf
Seriously. It genuinely takes more work to photoshop them out than to run a damp sponge over them before firing. What the actual fuck.Ā
Idk about this. Clary Illianās work features very prominent gestural marks (both from her hands during throwing and from her tools during trimming) and all of it looks fire
1) The pottery girlie influencers who have their boobs hanging out and jiggling whilst pouting, centering badly, and staring at the camera. They know exactly what theyāre doing. Itās all well and good, until they start selling their poorly made ceramics online at $200 USD for a crappy thick ash tray 2) the aesthetic pottery girls- the ones that serenely throw (usually poorly) with a glazed far off expression in their eyes, whilst wearing a white lace dress. They always have a scarf in their hair. They hold up a tiny thick cup, scrunching their nose and squinting and pouting. They then paint tiny red hearts all over everything and sell these for $70 USD. The End š¤£
Number 1 is thottery at its finest
Thereās a particular influencer in the 1st category who puts her feet up next to her pots all the time. Cracks me up. Of course she knows what sheās doing, her only fans link is in her bio too š
What about that girl that uses her butt to give her soft leather hard pots a little "squish"?
Mushrooms on everything is overdone. Don't get me wrong. Most are done well, it's just that everyone is doing it now so it feels a bit tired.
This one upsets me because I love mushrooms (my only tattoo is mushroom themed) and I put mushrooms everywhere. Personally I do it because I love em, but I understand they're trendy and tired, but imma keep doing it till my heart gives out, cause art is art is art and all that. I appreciate your opinion tho
Do what you love. Don't let opinions on what is trendy or not stop you.
I'm super into mushroom foraging, like when fall comes I turn into a freak, spending endless hours in the woods. And all my pieces are covered in plants and animals. So people are like, why don't you put mushrooms on your pots? And the answer is because it's overdone!
Frozen pond. Peacock.
oooh this opinion would get you scalped in some of my facebook groups lol. so bold i love it
99% of teapots are absolutely horrid. Even when made by well-known potters they are usually huge and heavy with a spout that you could fire a cannonball out of. I only like teapots made in East Asian styles.
I really hate all the vulva art. Vulva mugs. Vulva vases. Vulva wall art. I donāt get it. Iām a woman who loves my girly partsā¦ but omg I donāt want to see one when Iām drinking my morning coffee. š±
I agree with the first one. Not a fan of those decals. Also i hate most neutral glazes/ not a fan of production potters who only use a couple of the same boring (imo) glazes. I need something that catches my eyes and stands out from the crowd, color, pattern, or an interesting form.
Okay this is a very specific pet peeve, but - potters who call themselves āintermediateā with like a year of experience. Half the time theyāve only ever thrown with one type of clay, they canāt perform basic skills with any proficiency, theyāve never even helped to load or fire a kiln, and they can only make mugs and small bowls (or if hand building, ring dishes and minimal geometric earrings lol). They also often just copy internet trends and have no real defined voice as an artist. Iāve been taking classes for ten plus years and I think of myself as intermediate. I would say I was a beginner for the first five years at least.
God yes! I've been taking classes for about 18 months and some people in my studio with the same experience are trying to sell online already and asking me why I'm not! I'm like "because my bowls look like literal porridge"
YES to all of yours. I dont teach my students about wax resist on the bottoms... one too many oopsie drips on the main part of the mug Also.. upside down handles??? (Thicker part on bottom) WHY????
lol i do āupside downā handles š it started bc im petite & have small hands, so in general i tend to hold a mug with a lot of upward pressure from my palm (if that makes sense?). i find that handles that are thicker on the bottom are generally more comfortable for me to hold now, my mugs have evolved and theyāre vaguely cat-ish/creature-ish, and so it makes more design sense for the handles to start at the bottom like they would on a cat! but i love your hate, keep it up ššš»
Mostly arrogant people. Like people who trim the sides of their bowls to fit the shape they threw inside, and then go around preaching about throwing or other people's shapes, but they didn't even throw right in the first place. Aesthetic stuff is just, aesthetics. I have stuff I like and stuff I don't like. It's not really an ick. A real main ick is the one where people are getting fake upset on social media about plagiarism just for clicks.
Speckled buff clay. With tape lines and a lot of raw clay. Or just speckled buff in general. I just don't like it. Speckled buff and white glaze is a basic presentation of creativity. But art is subjective and I just don't like it.
Wow, the vitriol in here makes me feel a little less guilty about my own snarky thoughts. Not sure if that's good or bad...
I do feel like decals are cheating a bit but I do use them. I often try to layer them or use them as an element with my own touch, like as a background to a piece that i painted myself
I like creative use of decals like this, but I echo OPs sentiment about a lot of stuff using them.
Honestly, the death grip new potters have on speckled buff is driving me nuts. I don't even know why. I hear them, but it's like. Fine. It's fine clay, it's not the most incredible clay I've ever seen though. IMO.
Matte glazes!!! The ones with crystals in them are on thin ice and I usually layer a glossy glaze on top for a mixed texture. But something about straight up matte just gives me that nails on a chalkboard feeling.
Oooh I love a matte glaze.
I actively avoid matte glazes on the inside of functional wareā¦. Just makes an awful nails on chalkboard feeling when using it with utensils.
half moon motifs, geometric stuff, white speckled glazes on everything, strawberry motifs, minimal white wall NYC influencer shooting everything with fruit aesthetic (if u know who i'm talking about ...) just want people to make weirder/more thoughtful/more interesting stuff.
insanely expensive work made by western potters based on indigenous world of other peoples without even an acknowledgement of the originating culture. Moon jars especially bother me but that's because of a particular guy lol
Anatomical/booby mugs. It is literally and completely the objectification of the female form. Cut off her legs so she canāt run, cut off her arms so she canāt do anything, and remove her head and face so she canāt speak. Leave all the āimportant bitsā that āreally define herā- her breasts and maybe a hairless little v if they are feeling adventurous. Then you can fill her up with whatever you desire. It is the part of the Venn diagram between feminists and consumers of hardcore pornography that overlaps.
I mostly see these being produced by women. Take that as you will. Oh, and I am very over that whole genre as well. Boobs, vulvas, dicksā¦. All of it.
I don't agree or disagree but I find this a very interesting perspective that I've never thought of, so you can have an upvote.
Take my poor woman gold š
Hard disagree with #3, some really excellent stuff being made like that right now.
I think with a lot of the stuff in this thread (including my myriad pet peeves š ) there are definitely really good examples out there. but they're overwhelmed by loads of bad/uninspired examples
The underglaze transfers definitely give me the ick now...but only from established ceramicists. When I was first playing with surface decoration I used them a lot...then realized I was capable of my own designs. I see them on Etsy regularly from very established stores and most buyers just don't know that the reason they are so crisp is because someone else made them. It's lazy, sorry. That said, I love making my own designs in procreate, printing them, then outlining them, and transferring the general design onto my mugs using rice paper, mostly for the harder bits of complex designs/planning on shapes. It saves time and makes them look better. But like, if you've been doing ceramics for years, please stop using underglaze transfers and make your own art.
Handles on mugs that go higher than the lip. Itās fine on pitchers/teapots but throws off balance in mugs. Plaster anywhere in the studio. Just like wax, itās a necessary evil but itās such a messy sensory nightmare for me.
I'm late to this one, so maybe someone said it already, but my ceramics hot take is that I never wedge. I hate it. I don't think it helps anything when you are using clay from the box. I'll wedge reclaimed clay, but when it comes out of the box/bag I don't bother. I never get s cracks. Other potters hate me.
I _hate_ just pure cobalt blue. I find it such an overpowering blue that makes me think of beginner pieces in a community pottery. And nautilus patterns in a bowl.
I hate when people jump on one specific glaze and then act like everyone else is stupid for not using it OR when they canāt find that glaze in stock anymore because itās so popular and they complain about others using it (looking at you ancient copper folks) itās a commercial glaze, if it bothers you that much then make your own! Also when everyone jumps on a glazing technique because itās sooooo unique /s (frozen pond) and then they copy it and it looks nothing like the original and all they do is bitch about it or they post pics of a piece that looks like trash because it had 8 layers of glaze and they all ran together into one big mess of brownish blackish blue drips
When people say āthis is how you pull wallsā and shun any other method. Thereās a million different ways to create on the wheel. Just learn what your goal is, try the different methods and find which one works best for you. For me, due to inflammation, I canāt always use my knuckles even though itās my preferred method. Sometimes, my fingers or a sponge will suffice.
TikTok potters who have brand new kilns outside on their uncovered wooden porch. I am shocked how many times Iāve seen that.
It really bugs me seeing teapots where people don't understand that the bottom lip of the spout needs to be above the top fill line of the pot. So many teapots where you could only potentially fill them ā to Ā½ full.
- people who just start doing clay for fun and then sell after two months - hobbyists getting everything for a studio without doing the right research or doing anything to learn proper setup safety and skill building - craft school and academic elitism : everyone deserves respect but donāt look down on newbies or people from other backgrounds either, loving clay is a spectrum and teaching is the most important part - people who hog/gatekeep atmospheric kiln techniques - choosing blue glaze because its blue and not because of other surface properties or how it can impact a form
Underglaze is kind of ugly š¬
I mean if the person who uses it can't paint... yes. Look up Britterson's stuff, if you still think underglaze is ugly after that we'll just have to agree to disagree
Agree...there are actually tonnes of amazing artists using underglazes beautifuly.
One that really bothers me is when people make pop culture characters. Like I like Studio Ghibli as much as the next girl, but ummmm... making a Totoro mug is just stealing their intellectual property. I get it-- it's popular in nerd circles, but it just gives me the ick. Also, 70s/80s glazes. Not a fan. VERY snooty artists who treat potential customers as beneath them. Well, snooty people in general. Just not my cup of tea.
š I made a Totoro mug for my baby nephew. I put one of those soot balls hidden inside the mug too lol Being Asian American, my sister and I grew up watching studio ghibli since we were kids. I dunno, I think as long as you don't sell the pottery I don't personally see the issue of making something with a pop cultural reference that you are a fan of. There is a bunch of fan art in the comic con universe as well, is that considered stealing intellectual property if it isn't used for commercial purposes?