I recently signed up for a six-month studio membership. It's going to be an investment, both in the financial and time sense. It will also require a lot of self-disciple.
Unlike a class where you know that you have to show up each week and there's an instructor to guide you through what to do at each step, you're on your own with a membership. It'll be quite easy to skip a week, just because. Also, I'll need to ensure that I keep on top of the work I do because timing of clay work is essential. There are certain points when clay is too wet or too dry to work on, so I need to pay attention. Lastly, I need to stay motivated with projects and learn through watching videos.
I know this will be commitment, but I feel like it's the best thing for me right now in terms of my creative outlet. Classes have their benefits of course, but their rushed 6 week nature often takes the fun out of the process. Classes are about 2.5 hours and I spend 1/2 hour at clean up before having to move to another space to work, so it was inefficient. As I member of the ceramics studio, I have dedicated shelf space to store my works in progress and there's dedicated space for me, so I can work at my own pace. Also, I feel like at this point, I mainly need to practice and see what works for me. I've seen lots of techniques and now I need to find out what works for me.
Pictured above are works from my first day as member. It's been about three months since I last worked on the wheel. I admit, it took me a little bit of time to remember steps, but I was pretty happy I got to make these two pieces which are much thinner than what I made this past summer. I hope I continue to make progress through out my time at the studio.