Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Davis.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Back in 2005, I was looking for a building with studio space for myself and a friend to set up our studios in. We stumbled across a building that was larger than we needed, and my friend volunteered to teach wheel-throwing classes. Another friend agreed to do organizational stuff in exchange for space.
During the 2008 recession, the apartment building next door to the studio went vacant (and then dangerous), so we scraped together funds to buy it but didn’t have enough to repair it, so we started trading space to artist friends who could help us with labor, and that’s how our artist in residence program began.
We slowly built up to a point where the original building could no longer hold us, and just before the pandemic, we found this new location in Norwood.
During the pandemic, we finalized our purchase and moved while everyone else was home safe. We now have four times the amount of studio space and more than 100 studio members and students. We expanded our firing capabilities and our classroom offerings, and it has been an absolutely delightful change.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, it’s never a smooth road.
The old location was in a neighborhood that was hard to convince customers that it was safe to be in.
My dad, who was always my sounding board and advisor died of cancer in 2015, leaving me rudderless.
Moving during the pandemic was overwhelming. Several team members had contracted covid when the shutdown started, so we all were quarantining dutifully for the first two weeks, and then the go-ahead came from Norwood to move in, and we just had to go. Our full-time manager decided that she didn’t want to work with clay anymore and never came back in so it was full organizational chaos. Then the friend who founded the business with me passed away unexpectedly a year ago, not getting to see how really great the new location has been. It has felt like two years of running from a tsunami and not looking back to see if it’s still behind us.
Finally, in the last year, we finally looked around and started to rebuild our foundations.
Now that we have come upon a relatively normal time, we are looking around and realizing it’s gonna be ok, and in fact, it might just be great…
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Personally, I have an artistic split personality.
On the one hand, I really love to make wheel-thrown work that is probably inspired by growing up in the same town as Rookwood. I like juicy flowing glazes and carved lines that are inspired by stained glass and the arts and crafts movement.
On the other hand, I burn out on that stuff occasionally and make weird hand-built work covered in texture and snarky words. I tried writing sweet things on my pots, but they don’t sell as quickly as work covered in f-bombs. It’s a living, I guess? The colors on this work are more black and white, less juicy glaze oriented.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I am fully in love with growth.
It makes me happy to see an idea develop from an impossible concept in my head to a real-life version of it. I love to watch humans become better people, kinder, and more aware of how they can help other people. I love watching my studio members develop their ideas and thoughts.
Learning a new concept is my happy place.
Oh, and puns. They may be the lowest form of humor, but I love them so so so much. Puns are my love language.
Pricing:
- Beginner Classes, $145 to $240 all included
- Date night, two people for $145
- Studio rent, starts at $80 a month
- Kiln openings, free!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/coreclay
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coreclay/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoreClayStudios
Image Credits
Core Clay
