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Megan Shawkey | Episode 1067
Megan Shawkey is a potter in central North Carolina whose work focuses on a modern functional style. With over a decade of wheel throwing experience, her work explores themes of contrast through rounded forms with geometric surface design and bright bold glaze colors.
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Do you have a maker’s schedule to keep your studio running?
I tend to really make based on how I feel. So I can really allow myself to make work that feels engaging to me and interesting to me and have my best work put out I would say. I often if I have a schedule is that I don’t like the wedge on the same day that I throw. I find it too tedious and tiring on my wrists. So I will weigh out my clay ahead of time. I will wedge my clay ahead of time and that helps me keep track of how much clay I am using.
Do you tend to make towards a product line making specific items?
It depends on if my making is being influenced by an upcoming show or craft fair of sorts. I try to have at least fifteen to thirty mugs for every craft fair or show. It depends if it is a two day show as well. If I am just making to make I will just decide what I am feeling and sometimes I weigh out three pounds of clay and let the wheel decide.
Is there a piece that you could just make forever? If you were told you could only one piece what piece would that be?
Platters. I like throwing big 16 inch, 18 inch platters. I use 7 or 8 pounds of clay and something about throwing, I really like making things that are low and wide like that.
When you are throwing platters how thick do you throw the clay? How thick do you want the piece to be when you fire it?
Since I use a midrange porcelain clay I try to keep it to ¼ of an inch at least. They are probably a smidge more. They are not half an inch thick. I actually don’t cut my platters off the bat. I let them kind of pop off on their own so I don’t need to cut them.
What is one challenge you are facing in your studio right now that you are trying to find a solution for?
Honestly sometimes it’s a little hard to get the clay I want to use. My clay is from Ashville and with the weather and hurricane it’s going to be a bit more scarce. So I think my challenge is I need to shop around and experiment a little bit more with other clay bodies and find something that I like just as much.
Who would you point to as a person that is your mentor in ceramics?
So I had several. My high school art teacher, Melissa Poppy, who introduced me to ceramics. And also in college my professor, Lisa Stinton, was really amazing in helping me grow and helping me get unstuck because I would sometimes really get into one thing and think, That’s it. I am done here. And I found that both of those people really helped me out a lot.
Book
The Potters Dictionary by Frank Hamer and Janet Hamer
Contact
Instagram: @the_tatted_potter