Holding the wild, so far

There’s been a slow, quiet hum in the studio these past weeks. Not loud. Not performative... just a steady undercurrent moving through hands and clay. Every second term at Clay Hands we invite our students to take on an optional studio challenge. This creates a shared thread that links individual practice with our whole community. And also incorporates some friendly competition!

Our term theme: Holding the Wild has arrived gently.

We’re excited about it! Holding the Wild is a sculpture journey for the start of a new year. An invitation to listen, notice, and let a wild form become a vessel for intention. The piece could venture to other forms of wildness - an expressive human face, the wild ocean or fantasy winged beings.

Our pin board has filled with inspiration for the theme...

Rather than bold declarations, we’ve seen subtle threads weaving themselves into pieces. A feather here. A fissure there. A shift in surface. The theme has not demanded spectacle. It has invited listening.

And our students have answered in beautifully different ways.

Some have leaned into the literal. Sculptural forms are emerging. Creatures and figures mid becoming. One student surprised herself by stepping away from her usual practice and trying hand building for the first time. Out of that experiment, a bird arose!

Others have taken the theme somewhere more abstract. Layering slips. Building up texture. Carving into surfaces. Holding the wild not as subject, but as energy. As tension. As something that lives beneath the glaze.

Across the studio, there is so much in motion:

• a bird bath slowly taking form

• a giant wheel thrown vessel being built in multiple parts, each section carefully joined

• murals stretching across clay surfaces

• sculptures finding their balance

• vases and lamp shades carrying light and story

It is extraordinary to witness how one theme can branch into so many expressions. Wildness looks different in every pair of hands.

We are especially excited for these final weeks of class. There is something electric about the closing stretch. Pieces begin to resolve. Surfaces get refined. Decisions are made. And sometimes, changed again.

Save the Date

We’ve officially locked in our annual student showcase:

11 April

196 Gallery

We will have a dedicated Holding the Wild section alongside a Wonder Walls section and maybe a teapot or two! More details to follow soon.

Other Dates to Diarise

If you are planning your clay calendar, here are a few important moments: Term 2 at Clay Hands kicks off on the 7th April and will run for 11 weeks

21 March – Potters Market in Rondebosch

A beautiful opportunity to support local makers and see what’s happening in the wider clay community. Some of our students will be selling again, watch this space :)

And for our members:

Ceramics Western Cape - Functional Forms Exhibition.

✨ Submissions close end of February ✨

Our students are welcome to enter under our studio CSA membership 👉 https://www.ceramicswc.co.za/

There is something powerful about seeing work leave the studio and step into the world. Whether it is a market stall, a members exhibition, or our own April showcase, these moments remind us why we gather around clay in the first place.