Ceramic Arts Daily

the studio

I work at home, and I was extraordinarily fortunate to find a beautiful little airplane bungalow to rent with the space for the TWO studios I really need. The “dirty” studio, where I work in wet clay and glaze, is my 13×11-foot spare bedroom on the first floor, and the “clean” studio, where I draw, keep yarn, crochet, knit, and sew, is the upstairs 12×7-foot loft area. Nearly as important are the “portable studios” of my sketchbook, digital camera, and laptop. I gratefully am able to fire work in the kilns at Washburn University (less than a mile and a half away), where I teach.

My favorite aspect of my studios is utter privacy, and the way the morning sun streams in upstairs. (Windows compose three of the four walls, and the largest wall faces east.)

My least favorite aspect is also utter privacy, as well as lack of a kiln, and dealing with clay dust 15 yards from my bed.

paying dues (and bills)

Day job: Full time teaching as Catron Visiting Professor of Art at Washburn University. I teach design and special topics, as well as develop and perform art outreach programming for regional elementary schools and the Topeka community.

Ceramic training: MFA, Ohio University (Athens); BA, Xavier University (Cincinnati). Residencies: Red Lodge Clay Center, Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Mendocino Art Center.

body

Ideally, I run everyday, mop my floor everyday, always-always-wear my respirator and latex gloves, meditate, do yoga, and get lots of sleep. Really, I try to walk to work and the store as much as I can, regularly stretch my kinked up wrists, shoulders, and back, do standing work on a soft ergonomic surface, take breaks, contain clay shavings in wet buckets, and get a massage about twice a year. As far as health insurance goes, thank you, Washburn.

mind

Right now, I’m reading student papers. This summer, I was absorbed by psychology texts and memoirs of mental illness, but I adore fiction writers like Margaret Atwood and Virginia Woolf (recently). I also highly recommend listening to RadioLab, and This American Life on NPR.

Here is how I recharge, creatively:

I retreat through walking, reading, music, sleeping, and researching; and I connect through collaborating, engaging good artwork, discussing, and working with children.

This article appeared in the November 2009 issue of Ceramics Monthly.
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marketing

Sales are not my strongest point. Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? I am an amazing trader, and I’m taking applications for managers.

I think the fact that I write about other artists boosts my name recognition and adds another dimension to my own work. Exploring other media and alternative projects also broadens my audience base, as well as continually teaching.

I do try to grow my market or find new ones by exhibiting in cross-disciplinary shows, collaborating with non-clay artists, and becoming part of each local community into which I move.

I cherish the creator of my website (Thread Studio Web Design), but I wish I knew how to keep it updated myself. I also have not had the hoped-for onslaught of eager art buyers flooding my Inbox. However, the worst aspect of the Internet is that it lies. I make objects and visceral experiences after all, and globs of pixels, neat as they are, just don’t cut it.

It is most rewarding to share the strange mystery of my work (through both image and text) with my family and friends, who are scattered all over the country. I have gotten a number of exhibition invitations due to an online presence, and I know it has supported my applications to teaching jobs.

most valuable lessons  

What I haven’t learned yet is infinitely more interesting.
It is extremely difficult to really know what you want, but it is even more tricky to figure out why.
There’s a chasm of difference between originality and authenticity.

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stephanielanter.com    artaxis.net    accessceramics.org    redlodgeclaycenter.com

washburn.edu/cas/art/faculty.html    waitingroom.weebly.com