Story by: Kris Dickeson
Editor – I Love Creston

It all started with a combined passion for creating pottery and the need for a place to do it. Now, over a decade later, the Valley Mudders Pottery Group has a designated workspace and resources accessed by about 15 members. Their community studio on Northwest Boulevard in Creston houses a reference library, wheel, top hat kiln and electric kiln, slab roller, extruder and most importantly, a place to meet and pot.

A not-for profit community based volunteer organization, the Valley Mudders’ mandate is to operate as a community resource in the art and craft of pottery. The group sustains its efforts through membership and class fees, holding craft sales, workshops and grants.

Members Rosamond Moore, Maureen Cameron and Janet Schofer took some time while sculpting teapots one afternoon to share the story of how the Valley Mudders came to be.

“Doris Corbeil taught two classes at Prince Charles Secondary (PCSS) through the college around 2000 for about 12 students,” said Moore. A year or so later a small dedicated group started meeting weekly at PCSS to use the pottery wheels and I joined them. We just had a closet to store everything in so we called ourselves the Closet Potters.”

Over the next couple of years the interest and numbers grew prompting the Closet Potters to look at relocating and were invited to use the Wynndel Hall. It was here they became the Wynndel Mudders Group and Cameron became involved.

“It’s easy to get hooked on pottery once you try it,” Cameron explained. “With talent, enthusiasm and a vision we built up a very active group and went on to host workshops, bringing in Master Potters. With the new location we saw different faces and it has been and evolution process for us.”

In 2012, the group moved into its current ‘in-town’ location and registered as a society, the Valley Mudders Pottery Group. It’s here they hone their skills and explore their craft by trying new techniques and projects and more importantly, support each other. As the creative juices begin to flow, so does the conversation.

“The social aspect is important,” said Schofer, who is also from the Wynndel days. “It helps broaden and improve what we do. We collaborate and a bunch of us will work on one project, like these teapots.”

With a smile, Moore echoed this sentiment.

“The companionship is huge,” she said smiling. “And the benefit of working in a group is that we learn from each other and have the confidence to try new challenges.”

Because it belongs to all of them, the Valley Mudders Pottery Studio is more than just a space to meet and pot. A big table in the centre of the room offers enough room for up to eight people to gather round and work facing each other. The walls are lined with shelves displaying all sorts of projects at different stages of completion and are lit by a string of lights suspended above. The studio radiates positive, calm homey feeling with an underlying buzz of creative energy.

“The clay is an extension your state of mind,” Cameron pointed out. “I feel a happy anticipation as soon as I have it in my hands, it’s immediate and I love how clay feels. It’s very comforting and sensory. I will sit and play with clay for ages and see if it will form into anything.”

Moore followed up with her own perspective.

“Potting is very therapeutic,” she said. “While I’m talking my hands are working the clay and what comes is from a subconscious access to part of yourself you aren’t aware of. I often wonder what part of ‘me’ I will find today. It’s an exploratory process with no goal.”

Schofer piped up that she has found her niche in sculpting.

“That’s where I connect,” she said. “I’m more artistic when I’m sculpting. I also enjoy experimenting with new pieces and always scoping out things to try. One of the latest is using broken glass. I can’t wait to fire it and see how it turns out.”

As much as pottery is an art, it is also a science. After the clay is modeled, it is dried and fired usually with a glaze or finish. It must be fired to a high enough temperature to mature the clay and it hardens enough so it holds water. An integral part of this process is the application of liquid glaze to the surface of the unfired pot, which changes chemical composition and fuses to the surface of the fired pot, allowing it to hold water.

“The most exciting part is seeing how it turns out,” Cameron explained with a chuckle. “It’s always a surprise. We try to create a vision we have in our head or reproduce a piece but it always comes out different.”

Joining in the laughter, Moore and Schofer nodded in agreement.

“But the real fun is in the texturing,” Moore said. “We use a variety of techniques and materials to do this including feathers, coffee grinds and doilies. I’ve even put a pot in turkey poop in a barrel and lit it on fire. It came out with a pewter sheen. You just never know what you will end up with.

The Valley Mudders run classes and workshops as the demand requests, and introduce new clay skills and inspiration by hosting major workshops. The workshops offered are for groups of five or more, all ages to introduce working with clay as a creative pursuit. Other financial supporters include the Town of Creston, Columbia Basin Trust, the Community Arts Council of Creston and Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance.

For more information on the Valley Mudders Pottery Group:
valleymudders@yahoo.ca
www.facebook.com/valleymudders?fref=ts