Having a hobby can be turned into an multitude of things and potentially make anyone stand out. However, some people may take their hobbies, pocket them and become invisible to the rest of the world. Few use their unique talents to transform them into masterpieces. TJC student Faith Rennie shares her love for pottery and how her artistic creativeness is given a whole new meaning. Inspired by Instagram influencers and her mother, who also enjoyed ceramics, Faith likes the creative freedom in her class, particularly painting and underglazing. She sold several pieces in a previous ceramics sale and plans to remake them. Rennie aspires to open her own ceramic studio, invest in a kiln, and explore techniques like raku firing and lusters.

For someone who may not be as familiar with pottery, it can be explained as the process of using clay at high temperatures to make different objects and shapes. Pottery is usually done on a machine called a pottery wheel that spins clay in a circular motion. An article from The Crucible art school’s website says that wheel throwing is one of the techniques used to make ceramic dish-like items.

“Wheel throwing works through the combination of centrifugal force and relative control by the potter. As the wheel spins, the clay is inclined to stretch and move outward. The potter controls the clay with their hands to push it toward the center and shape it in an even manner. The potter clay is at the center of the wheel, adding water to assist in the smooth, slow movement of the clay upwards. As the potter’s wheel spins, the clay is sculpted into shapes, most popularly for functional pottery.”

For beginners, this can take quite some time to master because of the demanding technique you should have. Rennie advises beginners to take a ceramics class and start with less detailed projects.

“I’d say go for making whatever you want. Maybe start in less detail if you want something easy. But other than that, just jump into it. It’s really, it’s a lot easier than you think, but also like challenging in a really fun way,” Rennie said. “And not everything is going to turn out how you thought it would, but some things might turn out better than you thought they would.” 

With pottery being such a detail oriented skill, there’s always a great reason for someone to spark interest. Rennie’s love for pottery began with seeing other influential figures on Instagram who were also creating ceramics. Secondly, her mother also had a very impactful foundation to the start of her journey.

“First, there were, like, the influencers that I saw on Instagram who were doing it. I can’t remember any actual names off the top of my head, but I just like looking around on Instagram,” Rennie said. “There are so many people who are really talented and really good at this sort of thing. And then second there was my mom actually did take ceramics in high school, I believe. And my mom and I are both very artistic. I mostly get my art skills from her, and she encourages me to pursue all types of artwork.” 

When it comes to the pottery class itself, there can be a lot to learn and face day-to-day. However, there are highlights that can be seen as well. Rennie is able to walk us through the things she enjoys about her class.

“Pretty much I can make whatever I want, we have these little projects that we have to do, but we can do them any way we want,” Rennie said. “So, there’s a lot of creative freedom and a lot of creative ideas being passed back and forth. And Paula, again, a really great teacher, always likes giving ideas to us, or like suggesting things, and we can suggest things to her, and she’s always willing to hear us out about what we want to do and stuff like that.”

Rennie has sparked interest amongst other East Texas natives like Zoey Wilford who has wanted to do pottery someday.

“I see this being an enjoyable hobby I want to enter myself into. People who do ceramics always seem at ease and more patient than the rest of us. I can’t wait to try it someday,” Wilford said.

For more information about the pottery course at TJC, visit the website at tjc.edu/art.