Students in the Ceramics Club put their wares on display at their pottery sale from April 30 to May 1 in front of the War Memorial Student Union. The Ceramics Club holds sales on and off campus to promote the members’ craftsmanship and raise funds. Zachary Araki/The Lion’s Roar

Students improve and profit from their craftsmanship through the Ceramics Club on and off campus.

“Throughout college, they say you meet your best friends for life and whatever, and I didn’t join a sorority or do anything like that, but my ceramics friends for sure, they’re the best,” said junior art major and President of the Ceramics Club Olivia Goll. 

Goll discussed the benefits of being in the Ceramics Club.

“When you’re in the class, you make a lot of work, a really excessive amount of work, and there’s only so much you can put in your own house, and there’s only so much you can give to your family and friends,” said Goll. “So, after a while, you have way too much pottery, and you have to sell it. So, this is the best way of doing it. Once you start selling, then you start making more work and getting better. So, it’s kind of like a cycle.”

The Ceramics Club held a spring pottery sale from April 30 until May 1 in front of the War Memorial Student Union.

“We just try really hard to come out here and sell some of our work and what not,” said Goll. “It’s a lot of work that goes into it. So, we just want people to kind of consider that and appreciate it, but I think it’s going well.”

Club members have sold pottery on campus during their Christmas sale, and they have also sold their pottery at Nicholls State University. According to Goll, the club holds more sales during the fall semester than during the spring semester.

“I really look forward to it every semester,” said senior general studies major Jill Rocquin. “It goes really well, and I feel like I sell more and more each semester as I get better.”

Goll started in art education and got into ceramics when she had to decide on an art medium concentration. 

“I watched a couple of people on the wheel, and I had seen videos of it, and I really thought it was interesting,” said Goll. “So, I took the beginning class, and then I took the pottery class, and I just absolutely loved it. I don’t know anybody who’s ever done it and didn’t like it actually, so we all just get wrapped up in how good it feels.”

Rocquin shared how she got into making ceramics.

“I was always really, really interested in it, and growing up, I never really had a talent or anything I was really good at,” said Rocquin. “I realized we had a class for ceramics here. So, I decided to take it, and I was really good at it, and I just kept on taking it, kept on taking it. I’ve grown obsessed with it, and I love it.”

Rocquin explained the process that goes into making pottery from making the clay to the finished product.

“You have to go into a mixing room, and you have to scoop all your clay in there, scoop your dry products in,” said Rocquin. “Once you’ve made your clay, you weld your clay, and then you either hand build, or you throw it on a wheel, or you’re a sculptor, so you have to do that. Once your product is dry, you sand. Once it’s sanded, you bisque. Once it’s bisqued, you glaze, and then even once it’s glazed, sometimes you have to sand the bottom because the glaze may have dripped down.”