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Andrea Swift | Episode 791
Andrea Swift’s pottery journey began, first, with being a collector of it 25 years ago. As a collector, Andrea loved that everything she bought was one-of-a-kind. After relocating due to her husband’s job, Andrea decided to take an 8-week class at a community studio to pass the time while waiting for math teaching positions to open up. Andrea was instantly hooked and within the year, set up a small home studio in her basement and hasn’t looked back since.
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Do you strictly use commercial glazes or do you mix any of your own?
I strictly use commercial. I would love to make my own glazes. But I am a glaze hoarder. I have close to 500 commercial glazes. I mean from every manufacturer you can think of. I even have terra color glazes from overseas. So because I like such a big variety of them there’s no way I would possibly have close to enough storage to make my own.
How do you organize your glazes?
I have nine metal carts in my glaze room and they are all organized by manufacturer. With Amaco all the ones that I have all fit onto one of these carts and then I have my Spectrum and I have my Coyote and my Mayco….I have glazes from anyone you can think of.
What do you do with your least favorite glazes?
I donate them. If I don’t like them I find a potter, Hey, do you want to try some new glazes? And I will give them away.
How often are you re-stocking on your glazes?
It depends on the glaze. So there are some that once I get to the bottom, I don’t dislike them, but I don’t like them enough to buy them again and once they’re out, they’re out. What I do with the ones I use the most frequently is I will draw a black dot…if I have two back ups then the pint that I am using I will have two black dots on there. If I have one in back up then I have one black dot on there. If I am at a pint that has no black dots on it then I know I need to order a back up. So it’s there when I need it.
What do you do your experiments on? Are they test tiles or are they real mugs?
They’re real mugs. I always have a couple of mugs in a load that I know I am not going to sell, so I will test on those. Or I will make a big bowl and I will just tape it off into sections and test on that. Or there’s always something that comes out that I am not going to sell so I use it for a glaze test, little tester bowls or I will throw cylinders and test on those.
So you are willing to test on a good cup thinking it will probably be fine?
Probably. But if it’s a really great mug shape that I love, I won’t test on that. But if it’s a tumbler, just a plain cylinder then yes, I will use it for a tester.
Do you listen to anything in the studio and if you do, what?
I do sometimes. If I am really trying to concentrate I have to have some kind of background something going on. If it’s something that needs all of my attention I will listen to music. Sometimes I try to listen to books or podcasts but I can’t do that while I am working because I can’t focus. So I will listen to those during other times. If it’s something that I don’t need to concentrate as much on what I am doing, if I am just doing something simple, then I can pay attention. If I just need a mindless whatever I will put a Marvel movie in. Because I can listen to it, I know what’s going on. I don’t have to watch it, you know. (laughter)
Book
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Contact
Instagram: @potterybyandrea