What the Resurgence of Pottery Says About Life Today
Laura Hull has had an on-and-off relationship with ceramics over the last half century, one that has sent her from Denmark to Australia to do apprenticeships. But after noticing the popularity of pottery drop off in the 1980s, she couldn't see how she could make a living with it and turned to her other passion, photography.
Five years ago, Hull was commissioned to photograph the works of Helen Jean Taylor, an influential ceramics artist and former teacher at Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge (CCLCF), for a book. That connection rekindled her romance with the pottery wheel.
"Jean talked me into taking some classes, and now I'm throwing pots again," Hull said. "It's been fun."
In many ways, Hull's bond with the craft mirrors how the ancient art form (that's at least 26,000 years old) has ridden the waves of prevalence over time. She, along with others, have been seeing a rise in the medium's prominence again, especially among hobbyists, over the last few years as people have been searching for something more analog in an over-digitized world.
"I think all the crafts are getting a reboot," Hull said. "There are all kinds of potteries all over the United States, and young people are especially gravitating toward it."
Ceramics is also having a moment in mainstream pop culture. In July 2020, HBO Max began streaming episodes of "The Great Pottery Throw Down," a popular British TV competition series that echoes (and is even produced by the folks behind) "The Great British Bake Off." On NPR's "Pop Culture Happy Hour" podcast, correspondent Linda Holmes called the show "one of the gentlest, the kindest, the warmest competitive reality shows you will ever see, even when things literally explode."
In 2019, actor Seth Rogen began posting photos of his ceramic creations — ashtrays, bottles and vases — to his millions of social media followers. He's since honed his craft and is even selling his ashtrays online at Houseplant, a cannabis company he cofounded with screenwriter Evan Goldberg.
I made these vases: pic.twitter.com/1AUPUxblDf
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 26, 2021
Patricia "Patty" Housen and Elizabeth "Liz" Rosenblatt, co-owners of Full-Circle Pottery in Mar Vista, have seen a swell of ceramics studios open across the Southland. "In the last three or four years, there's been a real growth in the number of studios in the West L.A. area and other parts of town, right to Pasadena," Housen said.
There's Green & Bisque in Pasadena, a place billed as a "clean, modern, clutter-free ceramics studio." Claytivity Pottery Studio, with locations in Silver Lake and Frogtown, makes throwing pots accessible with beginner wheel and hand-building workshops. And a new generation of potters, some of which are operated by women of color, like Cobalt & Clay in Frogtown, and POT in Echo Park and Jefferson Park, have made a splash on the scene.
The growing interest in this craft seems especially poignant during a time when many of us are doomscrolling on our phones and dreading yet another Zoom video meeting. The tactile process of forming something out of clay and minerals with your hands, firing it in the kiln, and then glazing it, has long played an important role in mental health and community.
Unplugging from the internet
Making pottery is a meditative experience, both physically and mentally. It's one that forces people to focus on the ball of clay in front of them, and not on the happenings of the digital world.
"They're sitting there manipulating clay, throwing pots and doing all these things that involve hand-eye connection, and texture and tactile sensations. And all those things don't really exist in their digital universe," said Ethan Stern, the executive director of CCLCF.
