Making Marbled Clay | Zach Orenstein | Episode 475

Zach Orenstein | Episode 475

Zach Orenstein has a communications major with a focus in Graphic Design. Zach is a Graphic Designer full time and potter by hobby. Zach has taught marbling workshops, was a TA at Haystack MtSchool, and a member of the MCA. Zach loves to cook and bake in during his freetime and when time permits, to travel the world.

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How do you find workshops to teach?

The first place where I was able to teach a workshop was through a woman that I met at a workshop that I was actually a TA for. So Jonathon Mess who I mentioned earlier. He taught a ceramics class at Haystack Mountain School here in Maine and a lady who manages a studio reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in teaching marbling or agate ware workshops out there. I said, Yes, of course. So I have taught a total of 2 workshops out there, which I know isn’t many, but after the second workshop she told me if I ever had enough people who are interested or whenever I want to teach a workshop just to reach out to her and we can set up a workshop anytime.

How do you teach a workshop without giving away your secrets? Do you hold things back and leave it them to discover some things on their own?

I definitely hold back on some things. If anyone is listening who has taken my workshops, I’m sorry. I pretty much tell people to feel free to experiment. Either in the ways that you layer clay, in the ways that you trim, in the glazes that you use. Experiment. There are plenty of variables that I can adjust to make my work better or worse. But I found something that makes me happy for the moment so I am sticking with it. I want to try and encourage others to try their zany ideas. I do have my own methodical way of doing things and I can’t expect everyone else to have the same method.

Why do you hold back on some information? What is the purpose of that?

It’s about self-exploration. You have to find the answers for yourself sometimes. You can’t spoon feed people answers all the time. Then they won’t remember how they got to that solution. If they are working on marbling and are wondering why they can’t get it to look as clean as it could and then they finally find the way to make it happen, then they will say, Man, I will never forget this because I learned it on my own and I know how to do it on my own now.

Sometimes I do something with clay and I don’t write it down and I forget how I did it. How do you remember your process?

In terms of actually coloring the clay is something that is just very basic. I have found the measure of mason stain to clay, to be honest it is just a one to one ration. One tablespoon of stain to one pound of clay. I know everyone is thinking , You don’t measure stain by volume you measure by weight. I might be wrong but it has produced colors that I enjoy. When it comes to patterns, I have done multiple patterns at once and made markings on the mugs to know what pattern was what. And from there I just focus on the one pattern at a time.

Do you have any kind of hand protection or skin protection when you are working with mason stains?

If I have cuts on my hand, yes, I will put gloves on. Other than that, no. I will be looking back and wishing I was not so dumb in my 20s thinking I was invincible. When I am mixing my colored clays I put a mask on and make sure I am not inhaling the mason stain.

How about when you sand?

Oh, yes! I definitely have a mask on when I sand. The only time I don’t wear a mask when I am sanding is if I am wet sanding.

Now that you have your “thing” how do you push yourself to experiment with new ideas? What do you focus on, colors, shapes, what are you looking for when you are experimenting?

If I am experimenting to push myself it is mostly with the blending of the colors. As a graphic designer I like graphic designs, as silly as that sounds. One of my favorite pieces that I ever made it looked like a barber pole. That is how clean the lines were and it was perfectly evenly distributed with purple, yellow, and black. There is no muddiness. It is just clean and simple. So for me pushing myself is stepping outside my comfort zone and maybe mush the colors together a little bit. Let’s wedge the colors together so it is not as graphic as I so desire. Some of my favorite pieces are my left over pieces. Any extra pieces from my other work, I put together in a ball and wedge that and I get these absolutely random, absurd patterns that I could not ever plan.

How has being a graphic designer influenced your work as a potter?

I have sat in Adobe Illustrator and I have designed the perfect mugs and bowls proportion wise, printed those out and then tried to recreate them on the wheel. So that is one way it has influenced me, another way is I have designed my own stencils to use for glazes when I was glazing before. And also color schemes, I feel like knowing color theory has definitely helped me when I am making marbled works.