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Madde

@maddesullivan.ceramics

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GAMECUBE CONTROLLER ORDERS ARE OPEN -DM me 🥰
Calgary AB Canada
❁ Pottery Instructor
❁ Bad Joke Maker
❁ ADHD / hEDS

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Months of work on these controllers and I’m now ready to let them loose on the world!

Custom orders are open!
DM me for more info!

#gamecube #ceramics by @maddesullivan.ceramics

One month into learning Lino and I’m already obsessed 💕

#linocut #printmaking #speedball @speedball_art by @maddesullivan.ceramics

(Part 1) Production has started on my GameCube controllers and I couldn’t be more excited. Tune in for part 2!

#GameCube #retrogames #ceramics #pottery by @maddesullivan.ceramics

✦ It’s just the way it goes when your brain is spicy! ✦

#pottery #adhd by @maddesullivan.ceramics

Hell yeah

This process is so satisfying I’m excited for what the results will be!

#pottery #handmadepottery by @maddesullivan.ceramics

I’m kinda busy 🤷🏼‍♀️

#pottery #wheelthrown by @maddesullivan.ceramics

7 years in and there’s still stuff I would have killed to know sooner 🫠

✰ Learn how to hand build first ✰
Ok so this is a lie, I DID learn how to hand build first. But it’s so important that I wouldn’t change that! Hand building gives you SUCH a good understanding of the clay and opens so many doors for making.

✰ Start with stoneware ✰
I’m pretty quickly jumped to using a porcelain type clay body in my work after I started and it made things way more difficult than it needed to be. Staying with a mild-medium grogged clay can help so much with learning how to pull thin walls since there’s already structure there!

✰ Don’t start selling your work too soon ✰
I put WAY too much pressure on myself to sell my work when I was not even close to being ready to. My work was unrefined, heavy and oh god just ugly. But at the time it was the absolute best I could make and I was beyond proud of it. When things wouldn’t sell, the pressure got even bigger and it burnt me out for a good year. I would definitely wait another year before I start selling my work rather than only two years after I started.

✰ Do it for no one but yourself ✰
Relating to the past point, I started hating making pots because I tied their value to money directly, and not to how making them made me feel. It took me 2 years to undo that feeling and only recently do I LOVE sitting down and potting again.

#pottery by @maddesullivan.ceramics

Wobbles won’t win this time! And here’s why!

✦ Anchor your whole body ✦
Locking down those elbows is super important, but making sure you’re stabilized all the way to your core is the key. We want to be a brick house, baby.

✦ Where’s your wheel speed? ✦
It’s SLOW! Ain’t no Indy 500 out here, we just slingin mud! Slow that wheel down and take hold of that control. You’re telling the clay what to do!

✦ Working big, compress! ✦
Compression will be your best friend to fight wobbles. I love using a yellow rib on the outside to help me with evening out the structure and compression.

✦ Working small, ignore it! ✦
If you’re working with under 2 pounds, I find my best success to fight a wobble is to pretend it’s not even there, then address any height problems at the end with a nice rim cut off

Try these out and let me know how they work for you!
❤️❤️❤️

#pottery #wheelthrown by @maddesullivan.ceramics

I don’t think I’ve heard another instructor talk about circus tents, seals and amusement park rides while teaching before 😅🏺

#potteryteacher #pottery #wheelthrown by @maddesullivan.ceramics

I never think about how long it actually takes me to get up to the top of a wall, I was surprised this pull was so long!

Slow is the way to go!

#wheelthrown #pottery by @maddesullivan.ceramics

First of all, is anyone going to talk about how hard learning a new skill is as an adult???

Ok so why do I think you should start with hand building?

✦ Information Overload! ✦
Wheel throwing is hip and with it for sure 🕺🏻but not only are you learning how to work with clay, you’re also learning how to control a giant tool! 😖 It’s a lot to take in all at once so you might not see progress as quickly as you’d like to.

✦ Learning a whole new language ✦
Working with clay for the first time can feel like learning a new language. So being able to focus on only the clay makes it way easier to understand what it’s saying and what it wants. 🧐

✦ Pressure and movement ✦
Beginner throwers often struggle with figuring out how much pressure to use on their clay, but if you’re familiar with making pinch pots or sculpting with fresh clay you’ve already got those skills locked in🔒Which makes transitioning to throwing so much easier.

✦ Endless possibilities ✦
With the knowledge and skills learnt in a hand building class, you open up so many doors for what you can do with your thrown work. Uniqueness and originality are key in making your work stand out from the crowd. 🧚🏻

But of course, do what excites you! There is no wrong way to work with clay 🥰

#pottery #handbuilding by @maddesullivan.ceramics

Can’t get any height? Keep pinching off that wall? Is there always a stupid wiggle that makes you want to punch your piece off the wheel and never come back?

Let’s fix this.

★ Offset your fingers ★
Your inside hand should be higher than your outside hand! Not by a lot, but enough to let the clay SQUEEZE through the gap and stretch, rather than being pinched off by pressure!

★ Pause at the bottom ★
Introduce your pressure at the bottom then just stay there for a bit. If you move up too quickly you’re going to miss some clay at the bottom and now you have a wobble. Take your time! Move up slowly after hanging out at the bottom

★ You’re touching too much of the clay★
It seems wrong, but the less skin or tool surface area you have touching the clay as you pull, the less drag you’re going to have, and less drag means less wobbles! Smaller surface area moving material takes off less slip and you need that slip to pull!

★ Don’t be afraid to stop mid pull ★
It’s ok to stop halfway through and take a moment to regroup, add more water, smoke a joint, whatever you need. Just remember when you come back to that pull, start where you left off, not at the very bottom.

Happy Throwing my loves 🥳

#pottery #wheelthrowing by @maddesullivan.ceramics