Where can I make my own mug?
April 2, 2010 8:23 PM Subscribe
Is there a pottery studio in NJ where I can go to make a mug instead of just paint it?
Of course, I would like to paint it afterwards too. I've googled, but I can only find places where you can pick out an item and paint it. I want to make my own, but without any fancy classes. Just give me a pound of clay, let me sculpt it into a mug or whatever I feel like that day, and then come paint it a week later after it's baked.
Preferably in north or central Jersey. Manhattan would be OK too, but lets see if I get any Jersey recommendations first.
Thanks!
Of course, I would like to paint it afterwards too. I've googled, but I can only find places where you can pick out an item and paint it. I want to make my own, but without any fancy classes. Just give me a pound of clay, let me sculpt it into a mug or whatever I feel like that day, and then come paint it a week later after it's baked.
Preferably in north or central Jersey. Manhattan would be OK too, but lets see if I get any Jersey recommendations first.
Thanks!
The search term you're looking for is "open studio", but your best bet is to call a ceramic supply store near you and ask if they can recommend a studio with open hours (or at least if they have an advertisements board). There definitely ARE places that will let you do this as a beginner, but maybe not as local to you as you would like.
(I'm not saying pottery is easy, but they regularly make school kids do some as part of the general exposure-to-art curriculum here with no real instruction. The worst that ever happened to me was it fell apart and looked like crap. The only thing I would be worried is if you plan to use this mug for actually drinking out of, in which case you need to worry about what glazes you use and will it hold liquid and stuff... totally harder than it sounds.)
posted by anaelith at 9:44 PM on April 2, 2010
(I'm not saying pottery is easy, but they regularly make school kids do some as part of the general exposure-to-art curriculum here with no real instruction. The worst that ever happened to me was it fell apart and looked like crap. The only thing I would be worried is if you plan to use this mug for actually drinking out of, in which case you need to worry about what glazes you use and will it hold liquid and stuff... totally harder than it sounds.)
posted by anaelith at 9:44 PM on April 2, 2010
FWIW, when I was a kid I recall clay that you could buy and then bake into something ceramic-like in your oven at home. Maybe this isn't good enough, but it could be worth trying.
Google suggests this. For $9 and an hour of your time, how can you go wrong? :)
posted by jrockway at 9:26 AM on April 3, 2010
Google suggests this. For $9 and an hour of your time, how can you go wrong? :)
posted by jrockway at 9:26 AM on April 3, 2010
This place in Rocky Hill (near Princeton) makes what I consider to be the best coffee mugs in the world. Give them a call, they might have a suggestion.
posted by cosmac at 10:38 AM on April 3, 2010
posted by cosmac at 10:38 AM on April 3, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
I know it's not just walking in to shape a mug, but I don't know if a place would let you do that without any instruction at all. I'd be worried your piece would explode in the kiln or something.
I'm not trying to be jerky, it's just that the way your question is worded, it sounds like you'd be a novice, and it's not quite as simple as the way you're thinking of it, when you're talking about starting with raw clay and ending with the kind of high-fired piece they make in pottery studios.
posted by palliser at 8:45 PM on April 2, 2010