Business Spotlight: Play with clay at Carson City Pottery

Playing with mud isn’t just for little kids. At Carson City Pottery, the fun of getting your hands dirty is for adults, too.

Robin McGregor, owner of Carson City Pottery with her husband, Rich, whimsically describes working with clay as feeling like a kid again.

“I love to feel the clay in my hands,” she said. “It gives me pleasure to throw.”

Just to be clear, “throwing” is the term used by pottery artists when shaping clay. It’s something Robin McGregor has been doing for 24 years since she first put clay in her hands.

The very first time she threw clay, “it came to life in my hands,” McGregor recalled.

She and Rich are both originally from the New York City area. Robin’s journey into pottery art essentially began in the Granite State, studying in studio as well as in the classroom at the New Hampshire Institute of Art.

The McGregors moved to Nevada in 2004, first living in Virginia City where Robin practiced her pottery art on the Comstock before moving to the state capital. Robin has also taught pottery art at the Brewery Arts Center, and through the Children’s Museum of Northern Nevada.

In fact, the McGregors were operating their studio space out of the Children’s Museum for about five years before moving to their current location at 248 E. Winnie Lane in February 2015.

The 1,100 square-feet of the current space is much bigger than what the McGregors had at the Children’s Museum, but space is already at a premium where they are at now, too.

“We outgrew it as soon as we moved in,” Robin said. “All of our classes are full right now, too.”

She attributes this to an ever-growing business, which she hopes will continue spreading the joy of pottery art around Carson City.

Robin said she likes to keep her classes small, because this allows her more one-on-one instruction with students.

Rich took up pottery art in 2013, specializing in the use of recycled clay. The draw for her husband, Robin said, was all of the different colors that come with recycled clay. The marbling alone has any number of possibilities for an artist to work with.

To sculpt his art, Rich uses small tools similar to those used in bakeries and by woodworkers, Robin said.

Robin enjoys both pottery’s art and its practicality, which is why she refers to many pieces produced by Carson City Pottery as functional art.

Besides her artistic pieces, Robin creates and sells functional pottery. These include bowls, salt and pepper shakers, pitchers, and vases, among other items. And yet, these pieces still represent art.

“Everything is one of a kind,” Robin said.

Functional art a segment of pottery art that is more than a specialty to Robin McGregor.

It is a passion manifest in her annual Empty Bowls Project, a charitable campaign to feed the area’s hungry around Christmas. But preparation for project is a year-round effort focused on fundraising.

The McGregors’ business also accepts donated bowls from the community, and encourages people to take classes in which their creations can also be donated to the Empty Bowls Project.

Carson City Pottery features a gallery and retail store, a studio, and a work space for producing and finishing the artwork.

Robin begins by throwing the clay to flatten it out. She then wedges the clay, which is similar to kneading dough, except the purpose is to get air out of the material. Once this is done, the clay is ready for the wheel, a tool used for shaping and smoothing. When a piece is finished on the wheel, designs can be added before being glazed and fired in the kiln.

“It’s only art when it’s done,” Robin said. “It used to be the clay told me what it wanted to be. But now, I tell the clay what I want.”

The steps involved in making a piece from scratch can seem like a lot of work, but Robin said there is nothing quite as relaxing for her as throwing clay.

“When I’m throwing and nobody’s around, I’m meditating,” she said. “You feel so close to Mother Earth.”

To learn more about classes or private instruction through Carson City Pottery, visit its web site at www.carsoncitypottery.com.