Open studio hours:
Now- October 20: Friday-Tuesday any time! (no open studio on Wednesday and Thursday, but if you are in a class on those days, you are welcome to stay late or come early)
*Please note important changes!
Muddy Creek Pottery is a community studio. If you are a current student, you are welcome to use open studio hours. If you have taken a full class with Heather in the past, you are welcome to sign up to become a member in order to use open studio hours for your own work. (more info on that below) *Please note that there is no longer drop in open studio hours for non-members.
A great part of open studio is getting to know other potters. Please introduce yourself to other people in the studio and freely share yourself and your skills/knowledge. There are so many right ways to do things, and we all help to enhance each other’s work. Muddy Creek Pottery is proud of its welcoming, generous atmosphere, and you can help make it even more awesome!
Memberships at Muddy Creek Pottery
Three ways to use the Muddy Creek Pottery Studio:
The studio has grown and we are shifting the ways the studio is used to accommodate you better! While there are no longer per day rates for drop-in open studio, we now have three options to support your work with clay. Choose from being:
- a current student
- a member
- a glaze and fire member.
Check in with Heather to register!
Current Students: When you are enrolled in a class at Muddy Creek, you have access to student open studio hours from the first class until the last day of class. Limit of 50 pounds of clay per month for purchase/making/firing. You’ll have clay and tool storage and up to 2 boards of storage space for pots.
Membership: For previous students not currently enrolled in a class, a limited number of memberships are available each calendar month. (May-January) This is a great option for those who would like to continue their clay work independently. You are welcome to pick your months in advance. Choose from two options:
Full Membership: $160 month
Muddy Creek Pottery is happy to offer memberships to potters who have taken at least one 6-8 week class at the studio and feel comfortable using the studio independently.
Members have full studio access during open studio hours, use of up to 3 shelves for work, use of one shelf upstairs for clay and tool storage.
All clay must be purchased at Muddy Creek Pottery, and no outside glazes are permitted without permission. Firings will occur regularly as kilns are filled. Members may purchase and fire up to 50 pounds of clay/month.
Members must apply for a space and sign a member contract agreeing to studio policies.
Glaze and Fire Only Membership: $110/month
This is an option for potters who have taken at least one 6-8 week class at Muddy Creek and have a home studio. Limited to a maximum of 50 pounds of clay for purchase/firing monthly. Clay must be purchased at Muddy Creek Pottery for $40/bag. This membership includes both bisque and glaze firings and open studio use for glazing bisque fired pieces. Outside glazes may be used by permission only. Does not include use of studio equipment. All other studio work happens at your home studio.
Members must apply for a space and sign a glaze and fire member contract agreeing to studio policies.
AND HERE ARE SOME STUDIO GUIDELINES TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND:
Welcome to Muddy Creek Pottery! We are happy to have you as part of our community. Here are some guidelines to help keep our space welcoming, joyful, clean and healthy for everyone.
- Be an expert cleaner. Clean wet with sponge or mop and towel dry. Dispose of clay scraps in large reclaim buckets, leave your wheel spotless, place throwing water near reclaim buckets, return any clean tools or boards/bats to their proper home. Sponge/mop and towel dry the floor where you have worked. A box of cleaning supplies is on the bookshelves. Leave the studio cleaner than you found it! No dry sweeping please…help us minimize dust.
- A Muddy Creek tradition for open studio users: Leave an extra 10-15 minutes to clean something beyond your own space. (alternatively, bring something nice for the studio)
-wipe any boards, tables, bats, walls, cabinets
-mop and towel dry floors. Even ½ of one floor is great!
-tidy the bathroom
-wash some windows or wipe doors
-wipe glaze buckets and scooters
-fill some fresh water buckets
-dust windowsills and things on them
-bring a bouquet of flowers, tp, paper towels, coffee, cream, snacks….
This really keeps our studio humming along. Thank you!
- Glazing. Glaze buckets are for student and member use. Get a half bucket of water for cleaning as you glaze. This bucket can be left by the back door to settle when you are done. Any brushes may be used for waxing, but they must be washed well with hot soapy water after use.
-no glaze anywhere on the bottom of pots
-leave a ¼ margin on the bottom of your pots free of glaze
-flaking glaze on the outside of pots will not be fired
-If Heather is concerned about the well being of your pot, it will not be fired
- Other surface materials: Slips, underglazes, clear glazes, stains and kid glazes are for use only if you have been trained on how to use them in a class or by Heather.
- Clay: All clay used at Muddy Creek Pottery must be purchased here. $40/bag. No outside clays.
- Pug Mill and Slab Roller: These are here for you to use once you have been trained to use them! Just ask Heather if you need training or a refresher. ** Be sure the pug mill is closed properly with both plastic caps on and plastic sheet between depressed plunger and plastic top lid. Leave slab roller/canvas cleaner than you found it.
- Kiln work is done by Heather. Only signed, fully dry pots will be fired. Firings will occur regularly as soon as there are enough pots to fill the kiln. Every effort is made to load kilns fairly. Please trust that firings are happening as efficiently as possible. It takes about 1 ½-2 hours to unload and load, 9-16 hours to fire(depending on glaze or bisque) and at least 12 hours to cool the kiln. Please be patient.
- Plaster Bats are great for drying out clay. Please, no fingernails or tools on plaster. Help us keep plaster bits out of the clay. (it’s bad, trust me)
No heat guns or torches in the studio.
- Accidents happen. If something breaks, leave a note. Please don’t move work that is not yours.
- Try to clean/finish your work before the bisque firing so that sanding is not required. If something must be sanded, it must be done outside. NO SANDING INSIDE.
- Studio towels are for clean hands. Or for cleaning surfaces that have already been mopped/ sponged. Try keeping a large sponge by your wheel as you throw? If your towel or apron become clay covered, please take them home to wash.
Open studio use is for independent work. Feel free to ask small questions of other studio users, but save your big questions for class. Open studio hours are posted at www.muddycreekpottery.org under “open studio”, and also on the front porch. Please sign in every time you use the studio and use the cleanup checklist before you leave.
- All studio materials stay in the studio. Slips, glazes,underglazes, brushes, tools, books, bats, boards….
- Make- up classes. If you know you will miss a class, please write that on the studio calendar. Heather will try to fit you into another class during the session if there is space, but if that is not possible, you may take one free open studio day after the class ends and write “make-up class” on the sign in sheet.
- Please pick up work within 30 days of being notified it is fired. After that point it will be discarded to make room for new work. Class work should be completed within the class session. (ask Heather if you need to make other arrangements)
- New classes will be offered to current students who would like to continue before being widely advertised.
- Clay and all personal belongings should be removed from the studio on the last day of your class or membership unless you are enrolled in an upcoming class session.
- Muddy Creek will make every effort to help your pots succeed. But pottery is risky, and there are many things out of our control that can happen along the way to mess up your work. (kiln problems, glaze application, accidental breakage…) While we feel terrible when something happens to your work, we are unable to compensate you for that.
Members and current students are welcome to use a shelf on the wall upstairs for tools and clay and personal belongings. (you might need to share a shelf) Please mark your shelf with your name on tape.
- Muddy Creek is a sanctuary for many wonderful humans. You can help keep it that way for everyone.
-Check in with yourself before you enter. Take a deep breath and exhale. Your energy affects other people. Your words and behavior matter. Please bring your best self in.
-Introduce yourself to anyone you don’t know in the studio. A simple greeting keeps the place feeling warm, even if you don’t feel like chatting.
-Music on headphones unless all studio users are in agreement on tunes
-We love your pets and kids so much, but leave your pets and kids at home.
-no smoking anywhere near the studio
-take phone calls outside
-Be kind. Harassment, intoxication, discrimination, and disrespect have no place here.
-please limit strong perfumes/scents.
- For students and members with home studios: Current students and members are welcome to make work at home to be fired at the studio, as long as quantity does not exceed the 50 pounds of clay per calendar month maximum. Non-students and non-members need a regular or glaze and fire membership for pots to be cooked. For students this means work made at home during the duration of your class. (see member information document)
*This is a living document and will change as needed. Your feedback is very welcome and helpful! Please let Heather know how this can be more clear or if any additions would be helpful.
Open studio hours:
Now-October 20: Friday- Tuesday any time! (no open studio on Wednesday and Thursday)
*Open Studio is only available to current students or current monthly members*
