How to Make Your Own Projects

Staying Productive and Motivated in the Studio

Jumping into any art form or craft is always exciting. You get to learn and practice so many new skills. One of the best parts of being a beginner is seeing your work improve as you figure out the tricks. Pottery is no different. Especially when throwing on the wheel, you tend to spend time practicing centering, then you practice cylinders or bowls before going on to bigger and more intricate forms. At these early stages of making pottery, it’s pretty simple to set very specific goals and projects, but what about after you have mastered the basics and developed your work? 

Giving yourself a specific project can do wonders to keep you focused and improving. Always having a clear goal will not only give you direction while in the studio, but it will also help you build the habit of creating. Depending on your personal work style, a self-driven project can either help set your schedule for the next month or two or even act as a daily challenge. In this way, a personal project can really motivate you to get in the studio and start moving clay around. 

If you are not quite sure how to set yourself to a project, I’ll give you a few ideas to get you started. In my opinion, there are three great types of projects that can keep you focused on making work while keeping you inspired.

Commissions

Accepting commissions is a great way to both keep you focused in the studio and challenge yourself. When someone falls in love with your work and asks if you can make a specific piece just for them, it’s a huge compliment. The client will either have some specific ideas and requests, or they will want you to have absolute artistic freedom. When they have some specific ideas, chances are pretty good that they will be outside of your usual work. This is a great opportunity to try something new and experiment without having to come up with all of the ideas yourself. Working on projects like this will point you in a specific direction, and then all you have to do is problem solve to get to the final result.

One of the best parts of commissioned projects is you get the chance to practice your communication skills. The client may have some crazy ideas that you don’t think will work at all. This is a great opportunity to brainstorm with them so that the project better aligns with your work and capabilities. That being said, sometimes trying those wild ideas will yield incredible results. 

My best suggestion for commissions is to have open communication. The client may simply want a large serving bowl, but you may want to try a new shape for the rim or even add a handle! When you tell them about your new ideas, they will probably get caught up in your excitement and really want you to try the new ideas. This is a great way to both have a clear focus for your studio time while expanding your creativity.

Revisiting Old Projects

While commissions can be a great source of projects to keep you busy and focused, they are not for everyone. One way to spark your creativity and get your hands working is to simply redo what you have already done. What do I mean by this? Let’s assume you have taken an art class. Whether it was in high school, college, or even at your local clay studio, chances are pretty good that you had an instructor giving you a project to work on. If you are having a hard time coming up with what you should make, simply look back to those old projects and give them another go. 

Revisiting an old project that you’ve already completed is a super easy way to give yourself a specific goal and direction for your studio time. If you still have the printout for the assignment, then it’s that much easier! In that case, you will have a clear outline of goals and objectives and even a timeline. Obviously, if it is an old project, the “due dates” will be different, but they will still give you an idea of when to have certain aspects completed. Once you have the project outline in hand, the really fun part begins: you get to change the project to whatever you want!

Let’s be honest, a lot of class projects and assignments do not align with what we do in our personal studio practice. This is where you get to change the rules and goals of the project to better fit into your work. Did the original project have you making a sculptural form while blending two different traditional techniques? Change the project to a series of vases instead. Or if the project had you making 10 mugs as close to the same as possible, try making 10 mugs the same shape, but decorate each one differently. Find a way to adjust the project so that it better fits into your artistic practice and lets you expand your creativity.

Commit to a Single Form

You may be the type of person who just wants to crank out functional wares without worrying about big concepts and challenges. That’s the type of potter I strive to be, personally. Having a few variations on different pots, and just enjoying the process of working with clay. If you relate to this, but end up never knowing what to make in the studio, one simple project you can give yourself is to focus on one form.

For this type of project, you could decide to commit to making the perfect bowl. This can be a great project for a single day, or it can stretch to a year, or longer! Before committing for a full year, you could challenge yourself to make 10 bowls to the best of your ability for a week. After that week, take a look at your work and pick what your favorite one is. Then the next week, you can make 10 bowls similar to that, but try to refine the foot or the rim. This is a great method to not only refine your skill in making a specific form, but to also work out what you like best and find your personal style. One of the best parts of this type of project is that once you have the best bowl you can make, you can shift your focus to plates. Then you can move on to vases, then mugs, then pitchers, and on and on and on. Following this type of project will make sure you always know what to do in the studio while also clearly showing you how much you are improving as a potter. 

Tips for Creating Your Own Projects

The wonderful thing about creating a project for yourself is that it can keep you focused and motivated while in the studio. I have given my thoughts on three types of projects you can tackle. Now I would like to give you a few tips for when you set out on one of these projects. 

• Have a specific outcome

Before you sit at your wheel or work table, it’s a great idea to know what the end goal is. When creating a project for yourself, clearly state what is your desired outcome. Do you want to end up with 20 perfect mugs? Are you having a second go at an old project? Does your client want matching ice cream bowls for them and their partner? Knowing what your end result is will guide your process as well as keep you focused and on track.

• Give yourself a due date

Knowing when you want to have the project completed is one of the best ways to keep you on track. This is especially important when working on a commission. You don’t want your client to be waiting longer than they need to. Estimating the time frame for a project will get easier as you get to know your process better. Also, having a specific deadline will help keep your project moving forward.

• Make more than you need

This tip is less about outlining your project than it is about the actual making. If you have been working with clay for any length of time, you most likely know that things don’t always go as planned. Some pots will crack or warp in the firing. Sometimes your glaze will drip too much and stick to the shelf. In order to safeguard against having to completely start over, simply make more. If your project is to make 20 teapots, it’s not a bad idea to make 25 or even 30. If something bad happens, you have extras so you can still meet your goal. If nothing bad happens, you have that many more pots to enjoy!