Spring is near . . .

What a productive potter! Steve Rodriguez admires his output

. . . and so are our spring-term classes . To encourage you to sign up promptly to reserve your seat in class, we offer an Early Bird Discount on tuition for our 14- and 6-week classes. The discount for our spring-term classes is available through March 18 , with two exceptions: the discount extends through March 10 for Saturday Coffee and Clay and through April 6 for Totem Towers.  Enroll now and save .

Here's our spring class lineup: Advanced / Intermediate Independent Study Tue, Apr 14-Jun 30, 6:30-9:00 pm, with Kay Yourist Early Bird Discount available through March 18. Introductory and Continuing Wheel Mon, Apr 13-May 18, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Kevan Wilson Thurs, Apr 16-May 21, 12:30-2:30 pm, with Nancy Bulkley Thurs, Apr 16-May 21, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Kay Yourist Early Bird Discount available through March 18. Introductory and Continuing Wheel Sundays Sun, Apr 19-May 24, 1:30-3:30 pm, with David Timm Early Bird Discount available through March 18. Coffee and Clay Wed, Apr 15-May 20, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with Nancy Bulkley Early Bird Discount available through March 18. Sat, Apr 18-May 23, 9:30-11:30 am, with Nancy Bulkley Early Bird Discount available through March 10.  Totem Towers Wed, May 6-June 10, 6:30-8:30 pm, with David Timm Early Bird Discount available through April 6.

Interested in a new experience? Give throwing pottery on the wheel a try. Our Try It Once classes are a great place to start.  Try It Once on the Wheel Sat, Mar 14, 1:00-2:30 pm, with Nancy Bulkley Sat, Apr 18, 1:00-2:30 pm, with Nancy Bulkley Our Try It classes are also great fun for groups of family or friends.

Register for classes at our web site today.

Studio life

Outstanding job, students!

On the last day of class, student potters gather to assess and celebrate their progress with the help of teacher Kevan Wilson . . . and some pizza, of course.

Cleanup reminder A thorough cleanup is an integral part of the practice of making ceramic art. The primary goal of studio cleanup is to avoid letting clay or glaze dry on any surface in the studio, including the floor. Of course the wheels, the hand-building tables, and the floor areas surrounding them must be cleaned and mopped thoroughly after use, but here are some of the more neglected areas of cleanup, where clay or glaze might linger and dry if not cleaned off: Sponges Sinks Ware boards and bats Water containers and other studio tools Slab roller and slab mats Wedging table and clay scales Glaze splashes and spills So don't spare the elbow grease. Keeping the studio clean is essential to a healthy, welcoming studio environment.

So long, bisque Our new classes are under way, and the bisque shelves are filling up fast. If you have bisqueware on our shelves that was fired in January , please glaze it or pick it up and take it home by Wednesday, March 4 . Sadly, we must discard any unclaimed January bisqueware remaining after March 4.

Ready, load, fire! Here's the tentative schedule for our March gas kiln firing: Loading : Wednesday, March 11 Firing : Thursday, March 12  As usual, we will fire in March when we have accumulated enough pieces to fill the kiln, so glaze, glaze, glaze now. Be sure to check with the studio for March firing schedule updates.

Potter's quick tip

Q. Help! I need a detailed review on how to improve at pulling usable handles.  A . Here's our old friend Simon Leach with a comprehensive tutorial and demonstration showing how to pull functional, consistent handles. As usual, Leach offers a number of tips and techniques as he works, including some related to aspects of pottery making other than handle pulling. His expertise makes this video worthwhile viewing for all potters, regardless of experience. This video is part of our continuing series for beginners.

Clay lover's events calendar

Sculptural Dinnerware Gifts of Art Gallery Taubman Health Center

Exhibitions Useful and Beautiful: Decorative Arts Highlights . Now-July 26, Flint Institute of Arts. More . . . In the Vanguard: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, 1950-1969 . December 14-March 8 , Cranbrook Art Museum. More . . . Kelly & Kyle Phelps: Blue Collar . January 24-April 27. Pewabic Pottery. More . . . Monumental: The Art of Viola Frey . March 4-June 14, Flint Institute of Arts. Includes her ceramic masterpiece, The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization. More . . . Sculptural Dinnerware : Presented by the International Museum of Dinnerware Design. March 16-June 5, Gifts of Art Gallery–Taubman Health Center. More . . . Form from Fire: The Arts of Japan . May 14-August 30. Muskegon Museum of Art. Part of the museum's Shaping the Future, Celebrating the Past exhibition. More . . .

Resources for potters

Embellishing your pots

Miss Linnea Lark returns with a video showing how to add clever, attractive coil embellishments to wheel-thrown pots. Never fear, hand builders, you can add these embellishments to your hand-built pots, too. This video is the first in a stimulating four-part series by Lark. We'll feature the rest of this series in future issues of the newsletter.

It's raku day . . .

. . . in the third episode of The Great Pottery Throw Down . Will the potters' efforts to master the challenges of raku firing produce masterpieces or utter disasters? For their spot test the potters are called on to produce original nerikomi pieces with "good impact and good color," to be judged by internationally admired nerikomi expert Dorothy Feibleman ! You can see examples of Feibleman's breathtaking works here .

Classifieds for potters

Pug mill for sale

Potter in SE Michigan is selling her Shimpo model PM071-V pug mill with aluminum barrel and de-airing vacuum pump. Seller has shot a mini-video so that you can hear the two motors running, the vacuum pump working, and the safety shut-off working when the cover for the open hopper is raised. Seller is asking @$1500 but is open to some negotiation. She accepts Paypal and Square for payment. Buyer can take possession of the pug mill by pickup or arranged meeting. If you are interested in purchasing this pug mill, you can get more details and see the video of the pug mill in action by contacting the seller by email .

Intern needed . . .

. . . for an exciting opportunity , open immediately, to help visual artist consultant Patti Schwartz organize noted potter Susanne Stephenson’ s upcoming show, "Open Studio Exhibition," to be held July 10-12, 2020. This internship offers excellent experience for an up-and-coming artist. For full details about the position, including how to apply, click on the pdf file below.

Studio and Gallery hours

Gallery/Tool Shop hours: Tues-Wed 12-6 PM Thurs-Sat 10 AM-6 PM Sun 4-8 PM Open Studio hours: Tues, Wed, Sat 12-6 PM Thurs 10 AM-12 PM, 3-6 PM Fri 10 AM-6 PM Sun 4-8 PM

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