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Emilie Bouvet-Boisclair | Episode 1107
Emilie Bouvet-Boisclair is a Canadian born artist living in Illinois. Emilie’s approach to pottery is formed by a past of learning to throw with a production potter, and being immersed in the community studios of Chicago. Emilie has been a painter in her youth through her mid 20’s, holding a BA in Fine Art from the State University of New York, Geneseo. Emilie’s passion in the arts lies in the process of discovery.
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How do you contain the dust as a maker inside the house?
You have to wipe things down. I have to say that I am only using the coil and pinch method inside and sometimes sculpture. But I am not having a lot of little scraps everywhere. The way I coil and pinch, there is almost no scraps when I am done with the piece; there might be a couple little dots here and there of clay, but it’s not a messy technique.
Are glazing inside also?
Nope. I don’t glaze inside. It’s way too messy for me!
In our interview on the podcast you mentioned that you will make on the dining room table so I am wondering if there is a concern for food safety?
That’s a really good question. I use Amaco clay that is used all over the country with children. So I am not worried about food safety, but I do keep it tidy- I wipe the surface down, I put everything away when I am done. So I keep it safe.
You mentioned that you leave the pieces on the table to dry, and I am curious how you control the drying process?
Coil and pinch is literally the only thing I do in the house. Ever since I started rolling my work out, I never have an issue with cracking. And the compression of the pinching is enough. These little details you learn on the way, I just don’t have cracks on my bottoms anymore, ever since I changed my technique. So it’s great that it dries fast because it isn’t going to dry in the garage!
Is clean up any different inside the home compared to clean up in the studio?
I just wet sponge everything. I should probably be using our sink downstairs that is more for laundry instead of the sink upstairs in the bathroom. So I am guilty there, but out in the studio when I am wheel throwing, I am not super neat; I am a pretty messy person so it takes a lot longer to clean in the garage studio than in the house. I keep it tidy inside because I have too.
What is your favorite form to make on the wheel, and what is your favorite form to make in coil and pinch?
With coil I have been having a lot of fun lately (because this is what I have been working on so of course I can talk about it) getting my bases as wide and as shallow as I can go and then bring them in. So I am really experimenting pushing that form to see what happens if the base is wider and the top is smaller and narrow. I just can’t kick it. Maybe I will be pinching all year! On the wheel I really like building altered forms on the wheel. I make these spice cellars on the wheel. I think the things that are hard end up being the things you are proud of. These spice cellars that have an insert on the inside that is a cross. It took me a long time to figure out how to dry those without warping them into a square every time. So I like a challenge when I am on the wheel.
Book
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Contact
Instagram: @twinettepoterie