Pretentious Drama Llama Emotions

Remember that it’s been said that there is nothing new under the Sun. Let’s have a meeting of the minds and hearts instead when it comes to inspiring creativity and see the wonders we can build. For example, it’s not an unreasonable expectation that some members will create works that they will sell to others.

Our studio is a teaching studio, so if your work happens to inspire others to create similar works that they might even eventually sell, rejoice in your skill set! You’ve leveled up!

Be proud that you’ve inspired someone!

However, if you assert that they are stealing your design and you bad mouth them and trash them in the studio or online you will be invited to an instant membership termination. No Exceptions. And on that same token, if you’re inspired to create some work similar to someone else’s work, please let them know! Positive communication is the key to a great community.

Production Drama Llama Emotions

If you have a small show to do or a small order to fill that’s great! Glad TheClayLife.com can help make that happen for you. We’re rooting for your success always. Plan your work well ahead of time and scheduled deadlines. Sometimes exceptions can be made as long as you’ve communicated your needs in advance and the schedule permits. Please don’t insist that your work be given priority over others or be upset that your work isn’t being turned around fast enough to meet unreasonable deadlines or that you’re not pretty enough or treated special enough like. all. the. other. members.

Here in TheClayLife.com we don’t care what you look like, where you come from, or your experience, or your religious affiliation, or your gender, or your age, or orientation for that matter, we care about you as a person, but being cruel to the help isn’t going to win you any points and you’ll be invited to leave. Kilns are loaded for efficiency and schedules – never based on favoritism – end of story.

Please keep in mind that the volume of your work will impact others getting their work processed. As long as it is in your allotted volume it is okay, but expect to be patient. Inquiring and checking in about where in the production flow status your work is okay. Complaining about your work taking too long is not. Check the MEDIC! shelf if there’s an issue with your work that might cause problems in the kiln. Items of unusual size might have to wait for similar items to complete an effective kiln load or for scheduled class related work to move through.

Please don’t fault a studio’s firing schedule or assume unreasonably that your work is being held back because there can be several hundreds of items that the kiln tech is working to process. As they say, make your xmas sales work over several months, not in the last week of November.

There’s etiquette to follow in the glaze room, which is to say don’t glaze a mass of items at once leaving little to no room for others to glaze their work.

Not The Results I Wanted Or Expected Drama Llama Emotions

There are times when mishaps happen, things get accidentally broken, things get lost or misplaced or mistakenly assumed to be theirs. Glazes don’t come out the way you expected, glaze runs, clay cracks or dries too fast, you lose your handle on things. Congratulations! You’ve leveled up and have achieved imperfection. Pivot. Improvise and use the scientific process to validate the theory of seeing if you can repeat the process by changing the variables. Ask questions, have patience for the answers.

Clay is a malleable property to a point, so damage at some point in the process is inevitable. Though clay has memory, it teaches you patience as well. That said, caution should be applied in regards to other people’s work. The staff has been trained in the process of handling other people’s work in all stages of the journey, so know that if you handle someone else’s work without permission and it becomes damaged as a result, it harms the reputation of the studio and staff. So, if you accidentally damage someone’s work please own up to it.

Another thing to consider is an unforeseen kiln disaster. It’s rare but it can happen. It isn’t the kiln tech’s direct responsibility if an item explodes in the kiln if it was placed on the wrong shelf or is too thick. These types of accidents can ruin other people’s work and can even damage a kiln. When in doubt, ask.

Among the problems common to community clay studios is lost tools and lost work. Label your tools and notify staff or owner if they are missing to check in lost and found. Sometimes tools end up in the clay recycling. As for lost work, if practical, develop a habit of documenting your work to aid in their recovery and always clearly sign your work. Aside from the Medic! Shelf, the Abandoned Work Shelves for Bisque & Glaze will be purged (thrown away) on a quarterly basis – only the maker of an item can claim an abandoned item.

Ted Talky Drama Llama Emotions

Some people can really project their voices or opinion and can be heard all over a studio. They might not even realize how far their voice projects.

Please don’t disrupt the zen of others enjoying the clay life. If a class is going on, summon the inner librarian. Take phone calls outside and the house music rules over any other form of amplified music that others can hear.

Sharing information is so important, but please remember it is a teaching studio so be careful of offering unsolicited opinions. There are many ways people learn, your method might not work for them. There are many reasons why people are drawn to the clay life, sometimes that reason is quiet solace in the company of other like minded individuals. That said, it wouldn’t be the clay life without times for good conversations, opportunities for learning and community spirit in TheClayLife.com

“That Isn’t How That Body Part Looks In Real Life, You Should Change It” Drama Llama Emotions

It’s art. Back off. If it isn’t your creation, get over it. Visit Florence or your local art museums and galleries, come back and then make yours exactly like how you want. Going a step further, negatively complaining about art made in the studio that resembles various aspects of the human anatomy is not allowed.

We are body positive here but there is a thin line. Shaming someone for referencing the human form as an art reference in relation to clay is grounds for membership termination.

Episode 1, Season 1 of the Great Pottery Throw Down speaks of the sensuality of clay and how various stages of the clay process can mimic parts of the human form. That is okay. It’s an art reference.

Crude references or jokes to/about someone pulling a handle is not.

Someone making a sculpture of the human form and you don’t like the way they made the body so you antagonize, ridicule and guilt them into changing it to suit your comfort zone? Unacceptable. That drama llama is never welcome here. Ever.

Horny Drama Llama Emotions

Just. Don’t. Go. There. It isn’t a bar. It’s a lonely world if you’re starved for affection and attention.

These days, even jokes poking risque-debasing humor at one’s own self-worth has the potential to be misconstrued even though you may mean well and never ever cause someone harm.

In today’s world, devastated by a deadly pandemic, we are all trying to reconnect and interface anew with our fellow travelers in an environment trying to redefine our humanity as best we can. It’s our community clay family. Ask for permission to hug. A tap on a shoulder or an elbow with a fingertip if you’re trying to pass through an area if there isn’t room.

Respect people’s space and check the risque humor at the door and let’s be adults about boundaries.

Messy Drama Llama Emotions

Everyone must help keep the studio clean. Regardless of your skill level or how experienced you are, reminders will be given when needed. Don’t stew over rule violations.

To say that some people never clean up after themselves would be wrong but there are times when we do need to be aware that trimmings left behind on the floor, glaze drips on the floor, bats left dirty, oblivious to the splatter of clay everywhere makes for a messy environment. Please leave the wheel as clean as you would like to see it when you arrive. Be proactive and keep all areas clean and notify staff if someone had left an area messy. Remember to wipe back the glaze on the bottom of your work and leave a little room for the glaze to move. Pick up your finished bisque and/or glaze work. Don’t sand off dry clay or glaze work in the studio. Never stir dust. A clean studio is a healthy studio.

Staffy Drama Llama Emotions

We can become a better world if we first speak with kindness, respect and patience. Though many decisions are placed in the discretion of the studio manager, the owner is the sole arbiter in all matters of dispute and all parties must feel heard with kindness, respect and patience.

Full or part-time staff are working in exchange for monetary compensation. Some members are working in-trade in exchange for part of or for the full value of their membership. Whether it’s watching the studio or teaching a class or another studio related task you are the sum of what makes the clay life TheClayLife.com.

Members are not there to be abused or used or shamed in any way shape or form either privately or publicly. Realize that everyone is imperfect.

Stewy Drama Llama Emotions

This is the worst Drama Llama emotion of all. Don’t sit silently brooding over things. Speak up with the owner or studio manager if you feel your clay life needs aren’t being met, or if you think you’re being treated unfairly, but always speak with kindness. Always.

I guarantee you, being heard is sometimes the only thing that matters in life and in the clay life.

But we can’t always anticipate or understand the perspectives of others without honest dialogue that branches from the understanding that we’re all born imperfectly bisqued humans applied with the glazes of our own life experiences.