Ceramic Guild holds annual holiday sale
The USU Ceramic Guild opened the doors of their studio to the public Friday and Saturday for their annual holiday sale. With prices beginning at $8, the items on display were all created by ceramics students.
This year marked the first time the event was held in the studio. Traditionally, the holiday sale has been held in the TSC, but due to a number of reasons, including scheduling, the event was held on their home turf.
Perry Haas, undergraduate student in the program, said the change of venue had many benefits.
“The sale overall was really good,” Haas said. “It was nice to have it in our individual spaces and show off our own work.”
Haas recently won best of show for undergraduate level.
Guild President Bobby Free said, “The opening was really social. A lot of faculty and students came.”
The guild used this as an opportunity to show the community their studio. Christmas lights were hung up and poinsettias dotted the room.
“We all came together and cleaned the studio and decorated together,” said Mandy Stigant, first-year graduate student. “We all cut out snowflakes, but never got around to hanging them up, but we do have a lot of cool snowflakes that we made.”
Along with the usual bowls, plates, mugs and vases were jugs, a lamp and ceramic rocks.
Ceramic rock creator Stigant described her work and said she picked the rocks for the storytelling that each rock has to give.
“Rocks and river stones. They are a kind of study. I was exploring surface techniques,” she said.
Rhonda Egbert, who starts her third year in January, said the graduate students are very accomplished.
“I think the graduate students are high quality and very knowledgeable,” she said. “A lot of them have been in it for 15 to 20 years.”
In addition to graduate students, Egbert said the department has some very accomplished professors.
“John Neely and Dan Marsh and Joe Davis are all very experienced and knowledgeable,” Egbert said.
Egbert also said many students have come from many different places because of the faculty’s reputation.
Running the kilns requires a tremendous amount of effort, Egbert said. A kiln is like a campfire or bonfire that requires constant attention as well as six truckloads of wood, she said. USU has three wood kilns and a salt and soda kiln, she said.
Sunshine Cobb, second year graduate student, said firing is tricky because of the exact temperatures needed at different stages of the process.
“They go up to 2200 – 2300 degrees,” she said. “There are certain (phases) you need to hit.”
They can keep the temperatures fairly close by monitoring temperature gauges placed at certain points inside, Cobb said.
The large ceramic ovens can be tricky and students need to take round the clock shifts for the entire firing period of a few days.
“They’re unpredictable, that’s a really fun exciting part of it,” Egbert said.
Joni Hogge, sophomore potter, said the uncertainty of the final product is what makes it so exciting.
“Every firing is different,” Hogge said. “You can guess what it’ll look like, but you never really know.”
Ceramics are very important to many of the students.
Stigant said, “When I was a senior in college I took my first clay class and got hooked.”
The Ceramic Guild is also excited for the upcoming Mug Your Valentine sale where they will be selling mugs and hot chocolate.
–r.perkins@aggiemail.usu.edu