"We got a lot of problems in America today and invading, occupying, and running Venezuela doesn't solve any of them."

Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.

Graded student projects nearly all day long, so I figured I earned a little studio time today. #wip #ceramics #ceramicart

Great final critiques today at IUS Ceramics! It’s such a gift working with these students 💙 #iusceramics

As a father of a five-year-old, I wish that every restaurant had a bag of frozen chicken nuggets in the freezer - then there could be a secret code word that all parents and servers know. The nuggets aren't on the menu, but they're always there to subvert a meltdown.

For some reason, this post from last week never posted the images. Anyway, I finally finished this new work. It's headed to the State of Clay in Indiana exhibition next week, so if you're headed to the Indiana Clay Conference, check out the exhibition! #ceramics #indianaclayconference #ceramicart

Tenured folks, you may not know how to catch up on preparing, so some starting points from someone who was once faculty & is now a higher ed labor organizer: -Join your campus AAUP chapter. -If you don't have one, start one—talk to another AAUP chapter in your city/state to make connections. /cont

Question for the academics out there. Have you ever heard of a program without a coordinator or chair? The admin at my university (IU Southeast) removed the coordinator role from all programs. Our Fine Art Program has 140 majors, 6 fulltime and 7 parttime faculty .. and nobody coordinating it.

I'm working on a paper for my nonprofit class based on a case study about when Komen tried to pull funding from Planned Parenthood years ago. An inspiring part of the story is the "Planned Parenthood Saved Me" Tumblr that @deanna.bsky.social made. I love amazing grassroots stories like this :)

My daughter made this card for her friend Rosalind. I love how she ran out of room for the words, "Happy Birthday", so she just continued it backwards so it looks like it's bouncing off the heart 😂

Looking for a place to put your thinking about craft and learning into writing? This could be the anthology. Proposals are due by August 15. Link to the Google form for submissions and call for proposals docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... You can help make the book you want to read.

I’m very proud of my student, Hailey Cruz Pereyra for a great BFA Thesis exhibition tonight. Her work is beautifully rendered, thoughtful, and poignant. It’s been very cool seeing her work build momentum throughout her undergraduate experience. Congratulations Hailey! #iusceramics

NCECA had many highlights, but this is one of my favorites. Seeing so many friends and peers come out to cheer me on when I received NCECA’s Outstanding Achievement Award was amazing. I’m honored and humbled you would come out and support me like this. Thank you!!! ❤️ #iusceramics #artaxis #nceca

My daughter drew this picture of me flying to SLC for the NCECA conference. Any of my Bluesky peeps headed there?! #nceca #nceca2025 #pottersofbluesky

My daughter (she’s 4) often makes drawings for the workers at coffee shops and restaurants when we are there. Today at a coffee shop, she made these two drawings and gave them to the two baristas. I always wonder where these end up. She does it often enough that I carry extra paper and pens with me.

So good to see Barack Obama on Bluesky! Let’s keep growing over here ❤️ #nomorecaesars

We need some help staffing the Artaxis table at NCECA! If you’re a member and headed to the conference, check your email and sign up for a spot or two. If you can’t find the email, reach out on email or DM and I’ll resend it. Join us in SLC - can’t wait to see you! #nceca #nceca2025

New work, headed to NCECA! If you're headed to SLC next week, don't miss the Northern Arizona University Ceramics exhibition at Urban Arts Gallery. Opening reception on Thursday, 5-7pm. Big thanks to Jason Hess and the crew at NAU for including me! #nceca #nceca2025 #ceramics #pottersofbluesky

If you're headed to NCECA and you're an Artaxis member, help me staff our Resource Hall table! #nceca #nceca2025

Love this work. Last chance to grab one from Artaxis!

I’m giving a “Pinnacle Presentation” lecture today on the IU Southeast campus. I’ll be talking about my path to being a full professor and the things that inspire me and fill me wonderment. There’s even a photo of me from my garbage man days! All are welcome!

A perfectly appropriate and time sensitive artwork the Founding Fathers would have appreciated. I want one!

I'm super excited to be included in the Skutt Kilns ceramic collection. Thanks for the support!

This beautiful catalog arrived today from Form & Space 2024: International Sculptural Juried Exhibition at the Museum of Art in DeLand, Florida. Very cool to see a full page image of my work in it. Such amazing artwork in this show by incredible artists. What an honor to be included! #ceramics #clay

One of my beginning students made this dinosaur watering pitcher as her first project. The neck is hollow so the water will pour out of the dino’s mouth. Amazing, right?!

One of my former students, Max Trumpower, surprised me with this great cup they made as a thank you for writing letters of recommendation for them. Teaching can be a grind, for sure, but the rewards are so sweet. I always cherish the honor of being a small part of my students' stories.

I made a starter pack over on Artaxis to start gathering Artaxis members who are on Bluesky. Check it out and give these fine folks and awesome artists a follow! #artaxis #ceramics #pottersofbluesky #contemporaryceramics

I love clay people AND Canada, and this list has both! Thanks @caroleepp.bsky.social !!

Morning coffee today in this great Marret Metzger mug. Marret was a post-baccalaureate student of mine after she got her BFA at Ball State with Ted Neal. She’s a super awesome potter and still actively making great work - check out her website at www.marretmetzgerstudio.com #pottery #clay #ceramics

This is definitely not the best form, but it was a quick demo in class on designing and 3D printing a throwing rib. The critical part is to iterate the design after using it with clay. This one needs much iteration 🤣 #clay #pottery #3dPrinting #ceramics

With all the new clay people, I'd love for you to check out Artaxis' Bluesky account at bsky.app/profile/arta.... We're an all-volunteer nonprofit working to support artists, enrich the field, and inspire the next generation of makers. We'd love to have you follow what we're up to! #artaxis

Lots of new clay people coming over to Bluesky lately, so I've added a much more to my clay starter pack. I know I'm missing a lot of people still, so add more in the comments if you see that I've missed some! go.bsky.app/F9B8tPp #clay #ceramics #clayartists

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Took my daughter to the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror room at the Speed Museum today. It did not disappoint and my daughter was enthralled with the mirror orbs, saying they looked like “pearls”. #yayoikusama #infinitymirror

Took a little break and walked around and looked at some trees today with my daughter. It’s amazing what even a short amount of time outside does for your soul.

The perfect holiday doesn't exi......

Unloaded our large gas kiln today and pulled out this collaboration with my 4 year old daughter. I threw the plate and she decorated it! #pottery #ceramics

One of my students, Kade, loading his sculpture into the soda kiln at school today. It looks like it was too big, but it fit with a 1/4 inch to spare! #ceramics #ceramicart #sculpture

My students unloading our wood firing kiln today at school and I had some cups in there that I made with a custom 3D printed throwing rib. I’m liking how this form interacts with the flame in a wood kiln! #woodfire #pottery #ceramics

Whoa 🤯 I'm in a starter pack! Ok, I made the starter pack, but still. It's a list of people I've found on Bluesky making things out of clay - hobbyists to professionals. I love clay and I can see these people do too! Let me know who I've missed! go.bsky.app/F9B8tPp #clay #ceramics #pottery

As things get challenging at school, I often think about my mentor, Don Bendel. Years ago, after his passing, I presented a Past Masters tribute to him at the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts conference. If you're interested, here's a recording: youtu.be/89R90BJYZXY?... #donbendel

I'm one of these people making the switch from Goodreads to Storygraph. The interface is much different (and cleaner) than Goodreads, and I'm finding the suggested books to be spot on. And I found out about Storygraph here on Bluesky! www.cbc.ca/news/world/g... #storygraph

My daughter was out of school today, but I wasn’t, so she worked alongside some of my students between classes today. It was awesome seeing my students helping to inspire my daughter to make things with her hands. It was a beautiful bright spot on a tough day. It takes a village! #parenting

Wow, the Florida legislature has voted to remove hundreds of courses from the gen ed list at FSU. Of course, some of the courses are about feminism, global studies, LGBTQ+ issues, african american studies, and more. I feel bad for the students and faculty at FSU. www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...

I had a great time lecturing and meeting with students at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio on Thursday. It’s always fun to feel the energy of other campuses and see the students’ artwork and studio spaces when I do these types of visits. It’s always an honor to be welcomed into those spaces.

I founded Artaxis nearly 20 years ago and it's been the honor of my life building it into a global resource for contemporary ceramics. It's still an all-volunteer group, including myself as the Executive Director. We'd love your support to continue our work supporting artists. Thank you! #artaxis

I’m shipping this artwork out to the Yellow Springs Ceramic National today. It was juried by Chris Staley, one of my art heros. Fingers crossed it arrives safely! #ceramics #ceramicart

I've been on Bluesky for over a year, and as an academic (and someone passionate about education), I've liked all the academic and educational news here. I look forward to digging into this starter pack and learning more about these accounts. go.bsky.app/UccLjhX

Found out my artwork is featured in the new ad in Ceramics Monthly for the upcoming NCECA conference in Salt Lake City!

Working on this project to support underrepresented voices in our field is one of the premier honors of my career. I love this program so much. #artaxis @artaxis.bsky.social