Basement Pottery Studio

My name is Amanda Boyd, and the purpose of this blog is to share adventures of my tiny basement pottery studio. I have slowly been collecting and assembling pieces to make half my basement, that I share with my 5 dogs into a productive area to create one of a kind functional and sculptural pieces of art. Let me show you around. 


This is the view from outside my studio. I divided my basement in half, so my dogs still have a place to hang during the day--safe away from my raw materials behind this half wall. 

Just over the half wall, you can see the raw materials I use to make the different clay bodies I make via a bucket and some plaster. 

Against the back wall, next to my furnace is where i glaze or modify leather hard pieces. It was built with a full sheet of particle board over two box frames ( that I originally intended to use as flower boxes on my front porch!) Ooops 

 On the left side of my studio is my firing area. (Yes I know I need better ventilation, but I need to sell some pieces first). I have the parts of 2 electric Skutt Kilns, one of which is currently functioning with two tiers and one dummy ring. This kiln uses a kiln sitter with manual controls.

A look from inside my half-wall studio is another view of my clay making area. I recycle bone dry scraps in a 5 gallon bucket. It then sits for about a week before I mix it around with a stick and an more raw materials until the slurry is appropriate for slaking on my plaster bat.

A closer look at the plaster I use to slake my clay. I usually just dig in and plop the slurry on the plaster and let it sit for a day before wedging and kneading. 

This is my kick wheel. It was a present from my girlfriend for getting my master's degree last may. It is also a Skutt- Thomas Stuart series. 

A zoomed out view of my studio. Along the right hand side you will see my canvas table where I pull most of my handles and do a lot of hand building with coils. 

So these are the working areas of my studio. I plan to share with you many adventures including: 

• Making Clay
• Kneading Clay
• Throwing Pottery
• Hand Building Sculptures
• Modifying Thrown Pottery
• Pulling Spouts and Handles
• Lady Sculptures
• Firing in Electric Kiln
• Building a Trash Can Raku Kiln
• Bisque and Glaze Results

Get ready!

-Amanda Boyd