By AMY DAVIS
The Progress
Pottery classes have resumed at the Jimmie Hughes Campus in Mesquite. Classes for beginner and intermediate levels are now being held. There is also an option to call to schedule your own activity or even to walk in and have a volunteer get you started on a project.
“You can come and go as you please,” said Kathleen Birkholz who heads up the pottery studio.
The studio is equipped with top-of-the-line kilns, wheels, slab rollers and extruders. There is also an extensive selection of glazes, tools, and poured ceramics ready to be painted and fired.
“We want to teach you the right way to do things so that once you know, you can break all of the rules and let your own creativity show,” said Birkholz.
In July, Beginning Pottery classes are held on Mondays and Tuesdays from 2-5 pm. For information about this class call Call Birkholz at 702-443-4878.
An Intermediate Hand Building Class is held on Wednesdays and Thursdays in July from 2-5 pm, taught by Diane Alexanian. For information call Diane at 425-949-8440.
For the advanced group, there will be a Front Door Totem class on July 22-23 from 1-4 pm taught by Gail Smith. Call Gail for information at 801-633-5328.
“I have always wanted to get into pottery,” said John Durrants as he sat at the potter’s wheel last week with his hand cupping a piece of clay that resembled a large mug. “When you are young and busy chasing a dime, you just don’t really have the time to pursue those kinds of interests.”
Durrant said that he began coming in to the pottery studio in March, right before it was all shutdown due to the COVID 19 disruption. Now he is glad to be back.
“I have taken a few pieces home,” Durrant said. “But most of the pieces you make end up being turned back into a lump of clay as you practice.”
Birkholz has been involved in pottery and art for 50 years. “This is a life endeavor of mine,” she said. “It is definitely a love. To share creating with people who have never done anything like this is so rewarding.”
“I love to see what people come up with,” Birkholz added. “Pottery has become a bucket list item for at least two people that I know of, who have passed on already.”
Birkholz says that pottery is a form of therapy. “We have to find a way to relieve tension,” she said. “Sometimes beating the heck out of clay is the best way to do it.”
The pottery studio is open daily. Participants do not need to wait for a class to check it out. Volunteers like Kathleen Birkholz, Carol Van Lente and Gail Smith are at the studio daily to help with walk-ins.
Classes in the Summer are limited (but still available on demand) due to the fact that many of the art instructors are snowbirds.
“I encourage people to come by and maybe even just sit and watch,” Birkholz said. “You don’t have to be an artist. You don’t have to know colors. You don’t even have to be good at anything; just come and try it out.”
Information about classes can be found on the Fine Arts website at https://www.mesquitefineartscenter.com/.
