Pottery Class at Conifer

Art is historically one of the most prominent ways to express both emotions and creativity. It’s an outlet for many people to show what they are feeling. The art classes offered at Conifer are no exception, the pottery course included. 

“Currently I’m making a coffee cup for my family since it’s my sister’s birthday soon,” sophomore Remy Page said.

This open-ended project allows students to express themselves however they want. Making pottery for family is only one example out of an endless amount of ideas.

“I really do like my project, since I’ve been trying to do it for the past three years,” junior Atlas Trefethen said.

Trefethen is recreating a pot from Pompei, resembling a flower pot. 

“Previously I’ve made lots of sets of dishes before. My most recent project was two miniature statues that took me almost an entire semester to do, where I spent a lot of both semesters working on it,” Trefethen said.

The statues are The Pillars of the King from Lord of the Rings. These are two giant statues that loosely resemble our Statue of Liberty. Pottery isn’t the limit on what can be made, however. Even though the class may seem like it’s just for fun or the art credit, many skills can be learned from taking it.

“I think it teaches them all kinds of things. There’s technique and skill, but it also teaches them about failure. They have to use their creative problem solving skills since I’m not exactly telling them what to make,” art teacher Laura Svigel said.

These are some tools to be used in day-to-day life, all learned from making art. The art class is about having fun but also learning, since one can make anything that they want, letting their imagination roam free.

“It calms my mind just being creative and not having to worry about any tests. I can just focus on what I’m making.” said Page.