Rev up your creative momentum . . .

. . . in our 6-week summer classes for wheel throwers and hand builders. With inspiration all around, summer is a great time to get your creative juices flowing. Classes on tap this summer include

Introductory and Continuing Wheel Mon, Jun 4-Jul 9, 7:00-9:00 pm, Kevan O. Wilson Thurs, Jun 7-Jul 12, 12:30- 2:30 pm, Nancy Bulkley Thurs, Jun 7-Jul 12, 6:30-8:30 pm, Kay Yourist Introductory and Continuing Wheel Sundays Sun, Jun 10-Jul 15, 1:30-3:30 pm, Steve Warrington Coffee and Clay Sat, Jun 9-Jul 14, 9:30-11:30 am, Nancy Bulkley And don't miss our Enrichment Series of workshops scheduled this summer. See the next article for more information.  Still time to join in! Advanced / Intermediate Independent Study Tue, May 1-July 31, 6:30-9:00 pm, Kay Yourist Feeling the need for clay? It's not too late to join this class. Talk to Kay if you are interested. Register today.

Also on our upcoming class schedule:  Give the wheel a try Try It Once on the Wheel Sat, June 9, 1:00-2:30 pm, Nancy Bulkley Introduce the kids to clay Kids' Clay Mornings Mon-Fri, Jun 18-22, 9:30 - 11:30 am, Nancy Bulkley Our only summer class for children is limited to 10 lucky participants, so avoid disappointment and enroll your kids ages 7-10 now. Coming this fall Advanced and Intermediate Clay Tue, Sep 11-Dec 11, 6:30-9:30 pm, Alex Pratt  Early Bird Discount in effect through July 30. Advanced / Intermediate Independent Study Wed, Sep 12-Dec 12, 6:30-9:00 pm, Kay Yourist  Early Bird Discount in effect through July 30. Sign up here. 

Let your talent flower

Take a workshop in our new Enrichment Series , one-day sessions that will enable you to dig in and focus your attention on a single form or technique. Perfect your teapot-making skills with Kay, master box making with Nancy, and pick up an exciting surface design technique with Darcy. Lunch is provided as part of these classes. Making Teapots With Kay Yourist Fri, Jun 15, 9:30 am-2:30 pm . For intermediate to advanced students with basic to advanced throwing skills. Experienced hand builders are also welcome. Box Making With Nancy Bulkley Fri, Jul 13, 9:30 am-2:30pm . All levels of experience are welcome to learn multiple ways of making ceramic boxes, with special attention to functional lids. Silkscreening on Clay With Darcy Bowden Fri, Aug 24, 9:30 am-2:30 pm. Learn this easy method of adding a new dimension to your clay surface by applying your own drawings or found images. Find out more about these classes and enroll here. 

At the studio

Due date reminder If you were a student in Alex Pratt's class last term and are planning to participate in our fall student show, be sure to get your pieces for the show to the studio by August 25 . Josette Steele will be at the studio on August 25 from noon to 5 pm to collect your works for the show. Please bring three pieces of your best work to exhibit. We ask that your works be given a sales price as all works in our gallery are for sale.

Saturday open studio hours have changed Saturday open studio hours now run from 12:00-6:00 pm . We've made this change to avoid studio congestion during class on Saturday mornings. Thank you for observing the new hours.

Overcrowding alert If you have bisque ware from May on our shelves, please come glaze it for firing or collect it and take it home by June 30 . Sadly, we must discard any bisque ware remaining after that day.

Ready, load, fire Here's the tentative schedule for our next gas kiln firing: Loading : Monday, June 18 Firing : Wednesday, June 20 Unloading : Friday, June 22 Remember, our gas kiln firing dates are based on the availability of enough works to fill the kiln and could change. Start glazing now to get your pieces ready for the next firing.

Tool Time: Using a conical shredder Wondering what those long conical clay shredders are good for? In Kay's next free Tool Time demonstration on Sunday, June 17, she'll show you the many ways you can put the versatile conical shredder to use. There's no need to register in advance. Just drop by the studio at 4:30 pm . 

Potter's quick tip

Q. I'm having a problem making the attachments to my pieces stay put. How can I solve it?  A . "Dr." Martha Grover and Ceramic Arts Daily come to the rescue with Grover's recipe for a paper joining slip— her "goop"— for keeping the attachments to her work in place. You can also use this joining slip for repairing cracks in green ware. See Martha Grover's gallery of elegant porcelain work here . 

Ceramics events calendar

Dennison Darcy "Ghost" Collected Surface: Functional Ceramics at Taubman Health Center

Exhibitions In the Garden: Pottery Inspired by Nature . Now-June 18. Yourist Studio Gallery. More . . . Breaking With Tradition: Contemporary Ceramics . Now-January 27, 2019. Harris–Burger Gallery, Flint Institute of Arts. More . . . Group Ceramics Show, WCC Faculty, Staff, and Students . Now–June 10. Gifts of Art Gallery. Taubman Health Center. More . . . Collected Surface: Functional Ceramics . Huron Valley Ceramics Collective, June 18-September 9, Taubman Health Center. More . . . Michigan Ceramics 2018 . October 5–31, Padnos Art Gallery, Calder Art Center, Grand Valley State University. More . . . Annabeth Rosen: Fired, Broken, Gathered, Heaped . November 16, 2018– March 10, 2019, Cranbrook Art Museum. More . . . Butter . April 6–August 25, 2019. Third Biennial National Juried Exhibition presented by the International Museum of Dinnerware Design. Museum on Main Street. More . . .

Workshops, speakers, and more 2018 Ann Arbor Art Fair . Thursday, July 19 – Sunday, July 22. Kay will exhibit with the Ann Arbor Potters Guild on the steps of Hill Auditorium. We'll have all the details in our July issue. More . . . Michigan Ceramics Juried Exhibition . This Biennial exhibition and competition showcases the excellence of ceramic art and its diversity across the state of Michigan and neighboring states. Entry deadline for 2018 is August 1. More . . . Gail Kendall Workshop . October 6. In conjunction with Michigan Ceramics 2018. Ceramics studio, Calder Art Center, Grand Valley State University. More . . . 

Resources for potters

Don't be a drip(per)!

Learn how potter Chic Lotz cleverly trims her pottery to prevent those nasty, unwanted drips on kiln shelves. See pottery by Chic Lotz here .

Yourist Studio Gallery 1133 Broadway Ann Arbor, MI 48105 734-662-4914 | www.youristpottery.com •Classes and workshops •Community studio workspace •Pottery tools for sale •Exhibit gallery