As I mentioned I will continue to teach at Pottery Northwest and I'm starting to understand how things work there. Residents get to propose their own classes and we've had coffee focused class, and another that had beer brewing as a focus - so there's lots scope to play with. After 2 years of watching some really talented people not giving themselves the permission to take their clay practice seriously - I wanted a class that had the structure I could really push my students with. The class I proposed and taught this time was called “up your game”.

I was lucky to have a great mix of students old and new and they all took the challenge of the class seriously. They set themselves goals at the beginning of the semester and smashed past them, challenging themselves to try new things and put a little more effort and consideration into their work.

It was really fun to teach the class and have the freedom to be ‘tough,’ calling my students out when they were cutting corners. As a bonus trickle on effect, while I always try to ‘up my game’ in my personal practice – teaching this class made me more aware in my own studio too.

I am very proud. I only spent 3-4 hours a week with these projects, but at the end of 10 weeks – it feels almost as good as if they were my own. I’m reminded it’s a real honor to teach. Here are a few pictures of their work.