Pottery Studio Tour: Get to Know the Folks at Natchez Clay

1. Keisha April 25, 2010 at 6:46 pm -

   AWW. Now I hate I left MS so soon. Wonderful video :).
2. Keisha April 25, 2010 at 6:38 pm -

   I lived in MS all my life and traveled to Natchez so much to visit cousins when I was young. I now live in Texas and did not find out that there was a clay business in Natchey till recently. I wish I had discovered them earlier. I would have paid them a visit!!!!!
3. Diana March 9, 2010 at 1:48 pm -

   Thank you Natchez Clay for sharing your wonderful studio! I picked up a lot of very useful ideas for my home studio (in the garage!). You gals rock! :)
4. Tana February 16, 2010 at 1:31 pm -

   As one of Natchez Clay’s newest pottery students, I want to say: Well Done!! Not only does Natchez Clay have a great facility, the atmosphere is Wonderful. The ladies I have met are warm and friendly. They are FULL of encouragement, ready and willing to help when needed. Mary Baugh is such an inspiration with LOADES of patience for us Newbies sitting at the wheel. I’m loving the experience and ready to sign up for the Hand-Building Class!
5. Thomas February 16, 2010 at 1:13 pm -

   What a pleasant working site…the studio is well kept and organized. It made me re-think a few things myself…even after more than 45 years in both my own studio, teaching college ceramics and managing a multi-thousand square foot ceramics factory! My hat’s off to you folks! Oh, and the sunset over the pond was magnificient! Many thanks!
6. Jeri February 16, 2010 at 12:46 pm -

   Wonderful studio! So many great ideas… hope to try some of them for use of space. You also made me homesick for the river. Used to live in Memphis! Thanks for sharing your ideas.
7. Donna February 16, 2010 at 10:49 am -

   Hi Genevieve. Thanks for the kind words. I’m sorry the video ended abruptly. I hope you got to see our shelf arrangements, rolling kiln cart and the great devices for measuring pot height. Maybe if you try again, you’ll get to the end! There is a beautiful sunset shot taken from our kiln yard!
8. Karen February 16, 2010 at 9:17 am -

   What great ideas! I love the covers for the wheels. I run a small commercial studio in WI and will put some of your great ideas to work in my space. I’ve also been using cement board (not sure of the brand) in the studio for a wedging table, shelving, work boards, and for drying tiles. It’s a great replacement for drywall and much easier to keep clean. It also dries slabs fast for quick projects. Thanks for the informative video. Karen
9. Genevieve February 16, 2010 at 4:32 am -

   I loved this studio tour, but it seemed to end abruptly while showing the kiln shed arrangements. I don’t know if it’s my computer or my connection or what, but what a shame. It’s a shame you only got honorable mention, your tour is actually more interesting than the three so-called top ones that we had to vote for. I would have voted for yours if it had been a contender. Well done.
10. Cindy February 15, 2010 at 4:01 pm -

    I really enjoyed visiting your studio via this video. You get my vote for #1. I’ll definitely look into the Hardi Board. If I ever get to Natchez, I’ll plan on a visit. Thanks for Sharing. Cindy
11. Donna February 15, 2010 at 11:54 am -

    COME PLAY WITH US AT NATCHEZ CLAY! Because we have had so much interest in visiting our studio (even before the video came out) we have been contemplating having a Potters Social at our studio. This would be a weekend get together for potters just to share ideas, problems, etc. The format we planned was to charge a minimal fee to feed you breakfast and lunch. We would encourage everyone to bring their work and just get to know each other and socialize. (We’re really big on socializing in the South, you know.) Because Natchez is such a beautiful place to visit (see http://www.natchezms.com) with gorgeous antebellum plantation homes and tons of history, we would also try to set up a home tour or two for folks that wanted to take in the history. The rest of the time we’d just spend talking pots, swapping ideas, maybe doing a composite project or something fun like that. We’re considering doing it in the spring when it is GORGEOUS here in Natchez. Anyone interested? Donna
12. Donna February 15, 2010 at 11:53 am -

    Hi Cactus, We haven’t had a request for day or week space yet, but we’d be happy to oblige. I’d have to say for a day you would just be our guest. We could definitely work out something for a week. See my next post about our Potters Social. Thanks for the nice comment about our studio! Donna
13. Cactus Jack February 15, 2010 at 10:48 am -

    Loved the video, many great ideas. Looking for Hardiback to use in my class and the piano hinges make displays easy. If I ever get out East I will stop by. Do you rent day or week space? Cactus
14. Donna February 15, 2010 at 8:58 am -

    Hi again from Natchez Clay. We are overwhelmed with all the responses we’ve gotten from our studio tour! How exciting! We must give credit to the creator of some of our great studio organization ideas, Conner Burns. Conner created the terrific booth covers and discovered the wonders of Hardi Board in the studio. Please bookmark a link to our website (www.natchezclay.com). I will be posting more of our studio tips and hopefully more video ideas. For those of you who LOVED our aprons, Mary is quickly sewing up more of them in great fabrics. We will offer those on the website along with some really cool potter t-shirts designed by my daughter. I just haven’t had time to get them up because we are off the the Alabama Clay Conference this weekend as a vendor. We’ll be selling tools and t-shirts there, so look for us if you’ll be attending. If you will send me your email address (to natchezclay@gmail.com) I will send you an email when we get the hints, aprons and t-shirts up on the site. You’re going to love them!! And for those of you who have written me and I’ve not responded….you will hear from me after we get back from the conference. I REALLY appreciate all your kind words. We know we are lucky to have such a great studio space as well as such a terrific group of potters in our studio. We can’t wait to share more with you all! Happy potting! Donna Jones
15. Carla February 15, 2010 at 8:17 am -

    WOW what a place! Thank you for sharing such a great place! What fun!!
16. RIchard February 15, 2010 at 7:59 am -

    Great job on the video! My studio is much smaller but the organizational ideas were great and I’ll be using many of them to increase the effectiveness of my space. Thanks!
17. susan February 13, 2010 at 8:05 pm -

    Great video…love how organized you are…looks like you all keep things rolling in an orderly fashion. Think I’ll get in my studio and clean up!!! You gave me some great ideas….!! Thanks for your info..and well done video. Sue B.
18. Joan February 13, 2010 at 12:57 pm -

    I loved your video and your spacing saving ideas. I was curious about what kind of building you found, house? factory? and did you have to make changes to it. Also how many potters does it accommodate to make it a reasonable investment. And Square footage? Your sunsets are magnificent.I get a few too. I overlook a creek that runs into the Mississippi south of St Louis.
19. Brigitta February 13, 2010 at 12:40 pm -

    I really enjoyed watching this video — what a great relaxed way to show off a studio. I also admired all the ideas the owners of the studio came up with to make life in the day to day workings of the given space very easy and the way the potters make the surroundings and devices used do some of the work for them. Well done!!!!!!!!!
20. Valerie February 13, 2010 at 11:30 am -

    AWESOME!!! I loved this video! I am so envious. I have worked in small cramped chaotic areas for so many years I would go COMPLETELY and pleasantly mad to be able to work in a place like the studio in this video. It is fabulous!
21. Suzi February 13, 2010 at 10:17 am -

    Great tour…..many useful ideas …..BEST is the way you convert studio space to gallery space with the wheel cover display boxes……….and Hardy Board……Thanks… ;)
22. judi February 13, 2010 at 8:55 am -

    After 13 years in a 6 wheel, 2 kiln, outdoor raku-space high school studio with a glaze bucket closet, reclaiming area, ware cart storage, wedging table, slab roller and a pug mill I will be moving shortly to Whidbey Island in the Pacific Northwest where I will have a cubby hole in the laundry room for my wheel and a spot in the carport for my kiln! Lordy, lordy, the challenges I am facing. But I got GREAT ideas from your video that I can apply to my tiny space (the Hardy Board is a FANTISTIC alternative to plaster bats!) Thank you for the tour and the ideas! judi
23. claire February 13, 2010 at 8:11 am -

    What a great idea to put kiln post on a cart! Thank you for sharing, Claire
24. mary February 12, 2010 at 9:50 pm -

    Resident Mary here from Natchez Clay. We’re so glad you’ve enjoyed our video. And I tried kissing the frog, no prince here either! We’ve gotten a few emails about the aprons specifically. I’ve been making them and have a new stack of them for the Alabama Clay Conference. If you’ll be there you can get one from me at our booth. If you’d like a sweet throwing apron shoot me an email and I can send one your way. I’ve got lots of nice florals, solids and even a super mario brothers throwing apron! mary.baugh@gmail.com for pictures!
25. Loretta February 12, 2010 at 7:59 pm -

    that was a GREAT studio tour! Lotsa helpful ideas and suggestions…..and thanks for sharing more details on the hardi backer board! I’m gonna hafta try it!
26. sandi February 12, 2010 at 7:12 pm -

    i did…i kissed the screen but no prince appeared……who got him first?! Thanks for sharing all the good ideas.
27. Donna February 12, 2010 at 6:46 pm -

    Thanks to everyone for saying such good things about our studio. We are definitely a bunch of happy potters, and we know we are blessed to have such a good location. We have some other good ideas we forgot to put in our video, so write me at natchezclay@gmail.com if you want to receive our “more good ideas” email. Because I’ve had so many emails, I will tell you that the material we use for our table tops is Hardi Backer board. You can get it at most hardware stores. It is heavy and hard to cut (special blade required) but it is fabulous. I believe it comes in 3 x 4 or 4 x 8 sheets. This material is virtually indestructible. You can use a scraper to wipe off the excess clay then sponge down and it dries completely in a minute. It is great to absorb moisture from the bottom of pots, but don’t leave them on the table to long because it absorbs fast! It is also great for rolling slabs, but again…don’t leave it there too long. The rolling reclaim table in the video also has Hardi Backer on it. Our tables have been used constantly for over 6 years, getting scraped and sponged time after time, but they are still in great shape. Try to purchase it with no finish. But if it is a little rough, you can sand it. The more you scrape it, the smoother it gets. If I had it to do all over, I wouldn’t have put the Hardi Backer on solid plywood for the reclaim table. Building a frame with some slats for support would have allowed it to get air from the bottom, and it probably would have absorbed faster. But we like the solid support for the work tables, since they are great for wedging. WARNING…do NOT glaze or stain on the Hardi Backer…it won’t come off. Thanks again for watching our video. We did it very quickly one day right after Christmas, and we hate there were no more potters or work in the studio at the time. But we knew the idea was to show off our innovative studio ideas. And…did anybody notice the frog? Thanks and Happy Potting! Donna
28. ELAINE February 12, 2010 at 6:33 pm -

    It is wonderful to see that someone in this part of the country has a nice community studio. Here in Baton Rouge all potters have done is talk about it. Elaine
29. imelda February 12, 2010 at 4:51 pm -

    thanks for sharing your many great ideas with me it was a great video imelda
30. Sheila February 12, 2010 at 4:25 pm -

    This was a wonderful video that gave so many great ideas to all. Thank you for sharing. Everything was very well thought out! Sheila Tarshis
31. Carla February 12, 2010 at 4:23 pm -

    My studio is small, sunny, and has a lovely view but I am the most disorganized person and always run out of space. I admire the organization of the Natchez Community Studio people. Very inspirational. Many thanks for sharing!
32. Barbara February 12, 2010 at 3:06 pm -

    What a great space! And what a wonderful job you all have done to make it work so efficiently. A collection of potters are usually some of the most creative and generous people you will ever find. Kudos to all! You look like you are having so much fun there. Thanks so much for sharing the video. It is my favorite so far!
33. Lorraine February 12, 2010 at 2:59 pm -

    Wow, thats a great space! good ideas for storage and I really liked the wheel covers to display on! thanks for sharing your studio. I’m sharing this video with our Titirangi Potters committee here in Auckland New Zealand.
34. diane February 12, 2010 at 2:33 pm -

    you’ve got my vote! Thanks for sharing your successes while operating a Community Clay Studio.
35. ben February 12, 2010 at 1:18 pm -

    What a great studio space! So many good ideas for storage and efficency. I’m saving this video to refer back to for my own studio! Thanks. ~Rebecca Humphrey http://www.etsy.com/shop/rebeccahumphrey
36. Laura February 12, 2010 at 12:38 pm -

    I loved your video, thank you for sharing so many helpful orginizational tips. You are very blessed to have such a great setting for your studio!
37. adi February 12, 2010 at 12:25 pm -

    we are a group, working in a studio located in a semi basement floor, facing the main street of a dense commercial area. we also recycle most of our shelves and other accessories and we show beautiful art pieces on our annual exhibitions. however, as much as I like our urban atmosphere it will never compete with the Mississippi river at your front door. enjoy it. love your video.
38. Joy February 12, 2010 at 12:20 pm -

    Wow! My studio is extremely compact so I am always looking for storage ideas. Have panel shelves too from a recent bedroom remodel but hadn’t thought of the S hook idea (shortsighted, since I use them all over the garden shed). My resident woodworker is going to be busy tonight creating measuring tools. Kudos to you ladies. No wonder your studio is a success!
39. Babs February 12, 2010 at 12:19 pm -

    Awesome! What fabulous organization! And that makes for an easy place to work…let the creativity flow! I could feel your energy from the video. You guys are definitely winners in my book! Thanks for sharing.
40. Marian February 12, 2010 at 12:07 pm -

    I enjoyed the video very much. I noted several great ideas for modifying for my own little space. You have a wonderful arrangement, made even better with that gorgeous view!
41. Mary February 12, 2010 at 11:59 am -

    Thank you…. This the most useful studio video. Each of us can learn from the creative, economical ideas put into practice making a small place both efficient and attractive. Mary Rochester
42. Kathleen February 12, 2010 at 11:46 am -

    Excellent video! I wish I lived in Natchez! So many great ideas and a wonderful facility.
43. Sue February 12, 2010 at 11:45 am -

    I loved watching your tour and hearing all the tidy ways you keep your studio. Great sunset, too!

Leave A Response