January Early Registration will post below on 12/14 at 2pm-Booking software is currently being a diva…bear with us

Just click on the teal heading “January Early Registration” (I know, it’s obvious, but just in case). In there will be a link to a whole registration page. Beginner classes usually fill up super quickly. So, if you’re interested in one of those, take advantage. Regular registration will open on 12/15 at 7am (and you won’t need the early registration link/page, but you can use it if it’s easier!)

Welcome to december at the studio!

Take a gander at all the info below to help you know everything there is to know for the month of December.

December Studio News & Happenings

  • Decembers's Door Code is 263333. The code will change for January (just a head's up). If you look at your phone, that spells "Coffee" on the key pad, because...coffee, and please don't share the door code.

  • The studio will be open for practice the week of Christmas So, if you need a little escape from holiday stress (and visiting relatives) and need a quiet little bubble of creativity, c'mon down to the studio and make a thing. Or don't, and just sit and enjoy the silence. We won't tell.

  • If you're in a sale or market this month, let me know so we can spread the word for you and support you. Anyone who lets me know about their event will be listed in a separate heading below.

  • We'll be orchestrating a studio deep clean on January 10th. Anything stored in weird places (cough cough the floor, under tables) will be tossed, so be sure to move your things by the end of the month so they don't get recycled.

  • There won't be a zine for December or January, or maybe again. It's a ton of work, a ton of cost and a lot to do each month and it's just becoming a bit overwhelming to do on my own. Hopefully, after a wee break, I'll feel like getting back to it.

  • I know how challenging the holidays can be emotionally and mentally. It can bring up a lot of stuff, I know it does for me. If you're having a hard time, just text me and let's chat for a bit. You're not alone. 770 375 6909

  • Holiday Making Timeline - Just a reminder that Good Dirt has 250 artists and that everyone (pretty much) will be making some things for the holidays, so, if you're planning to stock a market with things you fire at Good Dirt, it probably will just make everyone sad. Southern Star rents out a whole kiln for firing, and that might be the way to go if you have a lot to fire. A dozen mugs? We got you. 75 christmas ornaments, a dozen trees, wall pockets and a 3 slab platters? Um...not so much. The extra work that come organically from folks making pieces for their family and friends, we can handle. Making goodies for a holiday sale just isn't feasible. Mugs under 6" get through the fastest, and platters/plates/wall pockets/zillions of cookie cutter ornaments/tall pieces/sculptures will take the longest. This is a reminder that the kilns are being fired and turned over constantly and that we don't fire first-come, first-served, but what will get the most through for the most folks. Be patient. Have realistic expectations, know everyone is going to do their best to make sure the work gets fired, and try to get any holiday gifts on the shelf by the end of November.

  • The next Pottery Throwdown Challenge is in December, so this gives you a head's up to make a thing and join in, if you want I'm LOVING how this group is growing, and getting to see more and more faces around the table. The throwdown is simply a studio-wide challenge to get us to break out of old patterns, get creative, and have some connection with fellow Good Dirtians. The December challenge was voted on in the last meeting and the topic is "anything you'd find in one of those holiday village sets". It doesn't literally have to be a little house, but it can. Get creative. One of the members suggested having a little display with our own Good Dirt village, where everyone contributes a piece and I LOVE that. All forms, all interpretations, all approaches - from surface decoration to handbuilding, wheel, sculpture - are welcome and wanted. We'll be meeting on Wednesday, December 17th at 8pm to share our results with one another and just celebrate as a group. Bring a snack to share if you want, BYOB, and check out what we all came up with. Come even if you didn't have time to make anything - it's great to connect and can be awesome inspo as we all share our process. Hope you'll join us!

  • This is a time where folks are experiencing unprecedented food insecurity. With SNAP in limbo, even more will go hungry. Children, the elderly, the disabled, and single mothers are the most impacted. Most folks on SNAP work full time (with the rest being elderly/children/disabled), but they are not paid living wages. In NE Georgia, 1 in 6 children faces food insecurity If you are in a position to, The Foodbank of NE Georgia is an excellent place to donate. They negotiate food at (on average) .10/lb, so money donations go much futher than food drop offs. For $2, they can provide 5 meals. HERE is their site to donate. And, if you're a member here and you are experiencing food insecurity, please let me know (Jess 770 375 6909).

New to the studio? Start Here!!!

First of all, welcome to the studio! We're really happy to have you in the space creating and giving yourself some time to de-stress, get your hands in clay, make some art and hopefully connect with some folks. It's going to sound suuuuper cheesy, but pottery is a form of therapy for me, and my happy little bubble where everything else falls away. It's the only kind of meditation I can do, haha. I hope it can be just as healing for you as it has been for me.

  • If you're brand new and doing studio membership, you'll need a shelf and some clay. EMAIL us to set up a time for a quick studio orientation and to show you where the clay is and get you a shelf. If you're in a class, your teacher will do that in the first class, so you don't need to reach out.
  • Take the time to read through the "Studio Rules to Know" section below. It will bring you up to speed on the things you likely won't cover in class/an orientation, but that you'll need to be aware of.
  • Studio Membership & Classes come with unlimited studio access. Just check the "Classes & Workshop" section below so you know when you can come in and practice.
  • Check out our glazing guide in the heading below. This doc is meant to help anyone who feels a bit unsure about glazing on their own. While not a substitute for learning in class, it is a great resource to jog your memory and give you some support. Just click on the heading "Glazing Guide" and you'll be directed to the doc.
  • We offer a special workshop each month to give everyone (and especially our newbies) some extra help (this month's workshop will be in the studio news section above, with a link). We also do private lessons, if you're feeling overwhelmed. Let us help you get over that initial steep climb of learning a thing and maybe getting frustrated in the early stages.
  • Do you need some extra support? ~ I think we could all use a little more of that right about now. If you're able, coming to the free coffee talks, coming in outside of class to hang out and practice, being vocal on our FB Group, grab the studio newsletter, and any other way that you can form connections in our little community will, I think, be a good way to lean on one another, hopefully feel safe and fully wanted, find like-minded folks, and have a little bubble to restore and reset when the world outside the studio doors feels like it's burning. Also, I'm always here for you, happy to listen, or just, ya know, do my job and answer questions and help with actual pottery things. But, I think with all the stress and uncertainty I think we're juggling, it's good to know I'm here for ALL of it. Text me anytime 770 375 6909
  • On that subject, most folks who quit pottery never come back after the first class. So, if you're feeling overwhelmed or disappointed, embarrassed or your brain tries to tell you're just "not good" at pottery (LIES!!!!!), please know that ALL of us started where you are. ALL of us flopped pots. ALL of us compared ourselves or felt frustrated. The ONLY secret to this whole thing is showing up, even when you feel like you're "failing". That failing is actually just what learning looks like and if you can stick with the discomfort, it will come, I promise it will come. And you can always reach out to me and I'll help you.
  • I hate that we're here, but with everything going on in our country, I want to be crystal clear on something: In this space, we honor and protect humans. Trans and LGBTQIA+ people are wanted and welcome here. Black and Brown people are welcome and wanted here. Immigrants -regardless of status- are welcome and wanted here. Anyone who wishes to be kind and respectful and learn from those different from themselves are welcome and wanted here. I know that's a lot and that this is just a pottery studio. But, it is also a refuge and an oasis for many who simply ask for human dignity and kindness. It's going to stay that way. *Check out the studio news heading above and grab a studio newsletter in our lobby to stay on top of everything going on this month.

Our Folks who are doing December Sales - INFO

  • Sunday, 12/14 from noon to 4pm at 195 Milledge Heights, a whole big old group of our lovely folks are holiding a sale. Visit Todd McGlaun, Shirley Stephens, Hilary Thompson, Meg Wilson, Sally Vandier, Tina Lawrence & Nasrin Noori and see what amazing work they'll have. These folks are really kind, amazing, and beautiful people so I hope you'll swing by!
  • Our very own amazing instructors, Caryn van Wagtendonk and Kyle Jones (along with several other talented artists) will have their first annual holiday sale on December 6 and 7 from 10am to 5pm at 162 Milledge Heights Athens 30606. If you're coming to the studio crawl, we'll visit the sale after Nancy Green's studio sale in Watkinsville!
  • Mathew Meunier (another one of our ultra talented instructors) is ALSO having his studio sale on December 6 and 7 from 10am to 5pm at 440 Laurel Avenue Comer 30629.

If you're in a sale/market/festival this month (or any month) let me know and I'll add it to the page! Just text me at 770 375 6909.

January Early Registration (active link on 12/14 at 1pm)

  • Make sure that you can find your "Booking Confirmed" email after you register - it will have your member page link for January in it.
  • Registration will go live for everyone else on December 15th at 7am. Once that happens, you don't need this link, but you can use it if it's easier. If you want a Beginner Class, go ahead and snag it now - they usually fill up on the 15th.
  • For some reason, the link is being wonky so I'm going to put the full thing below instead for you. If it's still being a pest, just copy and paste it. Sorry. Zero idea what's going wrong. https://www.gooddirt.net/early-registration-january

December Class & Workshop Schedule (a.k.a. when to come & practice, and when to avoid)

NOTE: this will be updated as we get bookings for parties, etc, so please check before you come into the studio to practice! You can just find the day you're thinking of practicing below and see if there are any class conflicts.

December is great because it's WIDE OPEN for practice! Just be sure to check our workshops/events since we get quite a few and they get added all the time throughout the month.

Sunday Classes:

  • Try Clay Handbuilding from 2-4pm (Every Sunday)- No space in the handbuilding room for practice from about 1:30pm to 4:30pm to allow for set up & clean up for class.

Friday Classes:

  • Try Clay on the Wheel from 7-9pm (Every Friday)- No free wheels for practice from about 6:00pm to 9:30pm to allow for set up & clean up for class.

Workshops & Parties booked (so far...this is updated frequently, so please check often)**

Even though workshops don't generally use all the equipment, it's SUPER distracting to the folks in the workshop for others to be using wheels/table space at the same time. Also, allow a bit of extra time on either side of the time slot for set up & clean up

  • Thursday, December 4th, 1-4pm Handbuilding Party - no free table space
  • Sunday, December 7th, 7-9pm Wheel Party - no free wheels
  • Saturday, December 13th, 2-4pm Handbuilding Party -no free table space

Studio Rules to know (a must-read for newbies and not wrong for everyone to review!)

  • The studio is open 24/7 for practice, BUT, please don't come to practice on the wheel during a wheel class, or come to use the handbuilding room during a handbuilding class. (There is a whole dropdown/teal heading above with the class schedule so you know when to come in). Even if space is available during that time, it's so distracting to the folks in the class trying to learn, hear their instructor and concentrate. There's plenty of time to practice aside from our scheduled classes.

  • Please be sure to clean up thoroughly when you leave - Leave it better than you found it. We've been having some issues in this department, so remember that anything you use (wedging tables, sink, tools, sponges) needs to be cleaned up- please don't pig up a communal space. Wet clay is perfectly safe, but dry clay dust can harm our lungs, so please be sure to contribute to a clean and healthy environment for all of us.

  • Check the bisque and glaze shelves every single time you come in so your work doesn't get thrown away We'll be doing monthly culls and if you don't want your stuff recycled, please keep an eye out for it. We don't have the room for stuff to just sit there and gather dust.

  • We're a teaching studio, not a place for folks to run a business out of. We're perfect for anyone who wants to learn, be in a shared creative space, and make work for themselves/friends/family, but we don't have the kiln capacity to support a store/loads of markets etc. If that's what you need, we can help you either set up a home studio (we get 30% discount off of kiln retail) or point you in the direction of a studio that can fire a high volume of work. We don't price per shelf fired or put exact limits on what you can make and we're not interested in micromanaging or nickel and diming you. The last time we changed our prices was a 11 years ago, and we want to keep that price low and accessible to everyone. That works as long as everyone is considerate and doesn't take advantage.

  • We do not allow outside clay. Often the clays that folks want to bring in are dark/black clays which often bloat or even liquify, or speckled clays, which use manganese, which is a pretty dang unsafe material. Clays fire to specific temperature ranges, and clays with certain materials mixed in can be harmful to general studio health, can ruin an entire container of reclaim, can destroy the kiln and other work in it. If you would like to bring in outside clay, 1) we have to vet it first to make sure it will work and 2) it costs $22/bag to fire that clay at the studio, in order to cover the glazing materials and labor costs that everyone else is already paying when they buy clay from us.

  • We DO allow commercial glazes, but you have to run them by us first! Send us a link to what you want to buy so we can make sure it works with our firing schedule. If you don't and you ruin a shelf in the kiln, the replacement cost per half shelf is now $400 plus shipping & tax. So, just check with us first.

  • The greenware shelf is only for bone dry or mostly bone dry pieces, and not wet work. If you have to move a piece to fit yours on the shelf, be EXTREMELY gentle. Greenware is super fragile and bumping, stacking, picking up by a handle (gasp -NO!) are all no-nos.

  • The white "overflow" shelving in the wheel room is a place you can put larger work temporarily (ie a week or less) as you work through the steps - trimming, handles, etc. It's not meant to be additional storage.

  • All glazed pieces need the bottom wiped off (even if you used wax! Wax doesn't make glaze disappear in the kiln) and wiped back (this means don't glaze all the way to the bottom, "cut" it back.

  • Wet clay is safe...dry clay dust is not. Remember to clean up the sink area, around the glazing buckets, at the wedging table and around your wheel, all the handbuilding tools...everything you use. And, please don't just let trimmings/clay sit on top of the relcaim screen. You have to push it through when it's wet.

  • Registration opens on the 15th at 7am. Beginning Wheel Classes & Workshops tend to fill up by 8 or 9am the same day. There will be both a QR code at the studio as well as a link on this member page when early registration opens just for our students & members on the 14th each month, around midday/early afternoon

  • We're a community. This means we need to be kind to one another, help one another and take care of each other - including our shared space. Be respectful of each other and the equipment and studio that we all use. Anyone being punky first gets a good old fashioned Come-To-Jesus, and then...well, I don't know. We've never gotten that far. Let's keep it all lovey-dovey.

Glazing Guide (if you're feeling lost about how to do it)

  • HERE is a link to our to-the-point glazing guide, which should be good support for you and help jog your memory. It is NOT meant to be a stand-in for learning how to glaze. If you are unsure, please reach out and/or book a private lesson. Incorrent glazing can literally destroy shleves full of other's work and damage the kiln.

Buy Additional Clay

  • Online:

You can just use the button below and a bag of clay will be added to your cart for checkout.

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  • At the studio:

You can purchase more clay at the studio 2 ways: by scanning one of the QR codes above the clay boxes or leaving us a check/cash in the office. If you are paying in cash/check, since we aren’t charged any processing fees, we’re happy to just eat the sales tax cost ourselves and a bag of clay purchased this way is only $40.

Social Links (IG, FB, YT, Private Facebook Group & Dates We'll be going live on IG)

I've been silent on social for a good while - depression meant that I had to ditch it to start to heal and become sane again. Hopefully, I'll feel up to start posting again soon.

  • A Private Facebook Group for Members: HERE. This is a place to connect with each other, share your work, ask each other questions and cheer one another on.

Private Lesson Scheduling & Payment Link

  • If you'd like to schedule a one-on-one private lesson with Rob to sort out issues, learn a new form, or just troubleshoot your technique, email us and we can set up a time to work with you.
  • If you need to pay for a private lesson, just click on the button below to add a 1-hr lesson to your cart and checkout.