An Eighth-Grader Making Pottery | Fin Barnes-Long | Episode 382

Fin Barnes-Long | Episode 382

Fin Barnes-Long is 12 years old and his love of ceramics started in an after-school activity about a year ago. Fin now has his own studio in the corner of the family garage where he loves creating something out of nothing, and making it as perfect as he can!

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Tell me about creativity. What makes one person more creative than another?

Depends on what kind of thing it is. With art if you are more interested in it you will do more research.

What makes you love clay so much?

I like getting my hands dirty and you can mold it into any shape. And you never know how it’s going to come out of the kiln, which is the exciting part.

You mentioned that you originally started with hand-building and then your teacher asked if you wanted to do the wheel. Which do you like better, hand-building or wheel work?

Definitely wheel work.

Why does wheel work attract you more than hand-building?

Because I am a bit of a perfectionist and it has to be a bit like perfect. With hand-building it is a bit more free. I like pottery because you can make it perfect.

Why the tea pot? Why do you like making tea pots so much?

I like that you can make it any and different shapes and throwing spouts and things like that. It is really good fun.

What kind of things do you go to to get inspiration?

I mostly use Instagram for inspiration. Just following lots of ceramic artists. I just take ideas from their posts and try out things on the wheel and see if it works.

How do you use Instagram and make it your own work and not steal it from someone else?

Things like tea pots, vases, and take the idea of what it actually is and turn it into a different shape, do different colors, and different patterns.

What is your second favorite thing to make?

Probably Mugs. I like pulling handles and they are quite easy and you can do any different shape.

What is your favorite day of school and what does it look like for you?

It is either Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday.

Why one of those days?

Because on Tuesdays and Wednesdays I have my pottery (class) and I can go on my lunchtimes. And on Friday lots of the firings are unpacked and it’s the day before the week-end so I get excited.