Clay Guild fires up one-of-a-kind gifts
Published: Sunday, December 4, 2011
Updated: Monday, December 5, 2011 00:12
It’s a message. It’s a person, a literal imprint of clay caked palms, skillfully shaping every surface and detail of every angle. It’s hours of meticulous mixing to find the perfect glaze. It’s the finished product of precise scientific processes undergone to get just the right effect. The Ball State University Clay Guild, a student ceramic art organization, revealed that something as simple as a cup is far more than an object — it’s a story.
“When you know the person who made the piece, there’s an instant connection between the user and creator,” Ted Neal, associate professor of art and Clay Guild adviser, said. “You know that they’re receiving the profit from their work. every time I use it, there’s a direct connection to the person who made it.”
and when the hallmark of the holidays seems to be a mass-produced, commercial montage, the group intends to put their designs on sale rather than on a pedestal this season.
“I have all of my work that’s going on sale labeled and ready,” junior ceramic and psychology major Collette Spears said. “It can be hard to part with some things, especially if you just made them, because then you think that they are the greatest things ever created. But as time goes on it gets easier to do.”
Spears, the president of the Clay Guild, has close to 50 pieces, including cups, vases and bowls, going on sale this week. The sale will last from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Wednesday until Friday in the Atrium. it will feature hundreds of pieces, all from ceramics majors, professors, graduates and students taking recreational ceramics classes, Neal said.
when one glances at the sales tables, it’s easy to recognize each artist has their own flair that flourishes in their work.
“A lot of my pieces are wood fired, which is a technique that creates more rustic look,” said Kyle Thorne, junior ceramics major and vice president of the Clay Guild. “I make things that I would want to own myself. I love the process of making [pottery ware] as much as I love having them when they’re finished, and I want to let others to have that same enjoyment I get out of each piece.”
while creativity is a portion of what gives these pieces value, it’s also the creative processes that add worth.
“When a piece is produced, even something small like a cup or bowl, there is the hour it takes for the creator to make it, the coatings of glaze on the piece, two different firings in the kiln to create the desired effect and the energy it takes to run the kiln,” Neal said. “When we sell items, there is a loss rate compared to the work and resources that gets put into it.”
Prices vary, from $6 to around $20 for the majority of the pieces. The creators put the price tag on their own work, but try to keep a college student’s budget in mind.
“When it comes to corporate, high-end stores, they can price things however they want,” Thorne said. “But with us, we want people to have our work, we don’t want to make it prohibitive to be able to own one of our pieces. We don’t want something like price to stop this process of sharing.”
Neal said out of each sale, the artist takes home 70 percent of his or her profits, and the other 30 percent goes to the group for uses such as supplies and bringing visiting artists on campus.
Spears said she encourages fellow students to keep the Clay Guild’s sale in mind for gift-giving this season.
“There is less specialness in buying something mass produced at Target,” Spears said. “Knowing the thought and creativity that went into each piece helps you appreciate it more and establish a relationship with the object. plus, our pottery is unique and one-of-a-kind with different atmospheric firing that is difficult to re-create, and you can’t get that in a store.”
Clay Guild fires up one-of-a-kind gifts