Featured Mud Colony Blogger - Lyn Cole

MC; What do you love the most about being a potter/ceramist/clayworker?

LC: It’s very easy to be passionate about clay- I bet everyone comments on how special it is! For me, it’s the endless possibilities for experimentation- I have a curious mind, and designer dirt is the only thing that has kept me faithful to it for so long.

I love that I can make a functional, sculptural, sensible,crazy or beautiful form from clay. 

 MC: What inspires you ? 

LC:Everything can inspire me in some way- a shape or pattern I see in nature or on fabric,  or a form that I want to mimic or distort or develop in a different way.

 MC: Tell us about the processes involved in producing your work ?  

LC:Most artists have a body of work that others recognise as theirs. Maybe because I’ve been studying ceramics, rather than working on my own practice, I have a multitude of approaches- and not one favourite yet. I’ve worked in coloured clay, raku, hand building, throwing and many different claybodies. When my new studio is built I hope to create a production style of work that at the moment I’m developing in sketch book work.

  MC:Describe your studio

LC: My current studio is packed in boxes around me as I write this, because we are moving, but it is perfect!! 6m x 6m, concrete floor, sinkarea, 9 steel shelf systems and beautiful cabinets with deep pot draws with tons of bench space, so lots of storage, and only a door away from my house.Table ‘zones’ for wedging, glazing and making. My biggest wish is for my new studio to be built quickly. It will be brick, nearly the same size, but with a kiln room next door as well and seperate from the house. Not having a studio for 6 mths or more is going to be difficult for me!!!!

MC: How do you market  and sell your work? 

LC:I only make in clay for fun so dont have a plan here- but words of advice from an experienced artist......... keep up with technology! Facebook, Tweet, website etc and as new systems become popular- jump on board.Always learn about marketing and good business practice! I’ve seen too many great artists flounder because they only lacked business knowledge. Ask for advice from the experts.

MC: How did you find Mud Colony?And  what impact ,( if any), has it had on your

blogging?  

LC:Adriana told me about the Colony when she first launched it.My own blog rarely had comments from other clay lovers, but since joining the Colony I’m now enjoying chatting to new online clay buds and have discovered more clay blogs to follow, you can never have too many clay stories to read!!!

MC;Best pieceof advice you have been given about your practice

LC; If something doesnt work, ‘its only a pile of dirt’, squash or smash it and move on, ‘dont get attached to every piece you make’.

MC;What would be YOUR advice to someone just beginning their practice?

LC;Be patient!!! It takes time and dedication to be proficient any clay body, style, technique or firing choice. In clay, you are always a student, the learning will be forever.

Lyn Cole is a regular contributor to Mud Colony

with her  blog- Lyn Cole -Ceramics
And have a look at this great interview with Lyn  at Creative Womens Circle