SEPTEMBER
2026
CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH CERAMICS STUDIO NEWSLETTER
Play with clay!
MB LIVE OAK CERAMICS STUDIO STUDIO HAPPENINGS FOR: SEPTEMBER 2026 1901 VALLEY DRIVE MANHATTAN BEACH, CA 90266 (ADJACENT TO THE TENNIS COURTS)
ANNUAL COMMUNITY EXHIBITION JULY 24 - OCTOBER 5, 2026 Manhattan Beach Art Center
1560 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 This event is free and open to the public.
STUDIO NEWS New Tool! Thank you Norm for making a new amazing glaze tool for us! What is it?
This is a sleeve that fits a regular #2 pencil and allows you to set the pencil at either ¼ inch or ½ inch off the table.
Why?
To mark exactly how high to wipe off the glaze from the bottom of the piece.
Step One
Select the side you need, whatever number is on top, is how high the pencil will mark the line. Use 1/4" for stable glazes applied thin. Use 1/2" line if using more than one glaze, thick or runny glaze.
Step Two
Lay the pencil on a flat table and set your piece next to it. Make sure the red sleeve is flat to the table to assure accuracy.
Step Three
Gently rotate the piece to trace a line all the way around. Wipe the glaze up to this line. Done!
SCIENCE CORNER Firing Tips Here are a few tips that may make the difference between a good piece, and a great piece:
As Is
We fire all pieces as they appear on the shelf. However your piece goes on the shelf, that’s how it is loaded into the kilns. We have no way of knowing if the artist wanted to have the lid fired together or separately (btw, firing lids together with pieces is always best), so we will load it exactly how you place it on the shelf.
Planning For Glazing
All cone 10 ceramics must be dry footed. If you plan to not have glaze on the bottom ½ inch of your pot as you are making it, it will not come as a surprize in the glaze room and you can make it part of the design. Fired to maturity, cone 10 clays are water tight and food safe with or without glaze, so take advantage of the rainbow of possible clay body colors and show them off on those unglazed feet!
CLASS SHOWCASE Advanced Projects Tired of the same ol’?
Join Advanced Projects! This is a 5-week intensive targeting intermediate-advanced students looking to expand their knowledge of ceramic techniques. Each 5-week seminar will focus on one technique and provide students with instruction and materials to learn the technique and apply it to their work.
Mondays 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Nerikomi with Chie Fujii. Visiting instructor Chie will help you develop your very own pattern using colored clay. Students will learn how to stain the clay, make intricate patterns, and construct colorful objects where the pattern is not just on the surface of the clay, it IS the clay!
Thursdays 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Image transfer and surface decoration with Eilen Stewart. Learn and try out a variety of techniques for transfering images onto clay in varying states of completion. We will take a look at simple silk screening, paper to wet clay transfer, and explore the wide world of decals. Students will spend the class time practicing the demonstrated techniques and applying them to new or existing work.
GLAZE OF THE WEEK Who needs a glaze when you can just swirl colorful clay?! Brian H has been perfecting the art of staining clay as well as using ready-made clay colors to swirl together galaxies of color. By throwing multiple colored clays together and then trimming away the outer layer, intricate designs come to life. No wheel? No problem! Otis G shows us how it’s done with this whimsical pinch pot mug. We’re pretty sure the glaze is Peter’s Chun, with Green to Black on top. Oxidation, although Reduction would be similar. Not sure on the artist, but this is a lovely example of Temmoku over the whole piece, with Hidden Valley Ranch over just the ray. Fired in Oxidation, though a similar effect would be achieved in Reduction.
GLAZE OF THE WEEK Hmmm... This one’s a bit of a puzzler, hopefully the artist, ST, will reach out and tell us what the glazes are. Best guess is this is Peter’s Chun with either underglazes or a black (maybe Pier’s?). Whatever it is, we love it! Is it a lizard? Is it dry earth? Hard to say, but what an exciting texture! Best guess is this is underglaze with either Green Colemanite or Patsy’s Green. No name or signature. We’d love to hear from the artist on how they achieved this effect.
Personally, I’m too lazy to spray glaze on, but I’m sure glad artist DB went to the trouble to do so. What a wonderful subtle effect! Fired in reduction, although a similar effect could be achieved in Oxidation.
FALL 2026 SCHEDULE Sunday
Monday
Open Lab 9:00 - 1:00
Open Lab 9:00 - 1:00
Open Lab 1:00 - 5:00 Ceramics Class (Noah) 5:30 - 8:30
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Advanced Wheel (Lowell) 10:00 - 1:00
Ceramics Class (Joe) 10:00 - 1:00
Open Lab 10:00 - 2:00
Ceramics Class (EM) 10:00 - 1:00
Ceramics Class (Kathyn) 10:00 - 1:00
Advanced Projects (Chie) 1:30 - 4:30
Hand building (Lowell) 1:15 - 4:15
Ceramics Class (Joe) 1:00 - 4:00
Open Lab 2:00 - 6:00
Ceramics Class (EM) 1:00 - 4:00
Ceramics Class (Kathryn) 1:00 - 4:00
Teens Class (Alan) 4:30-6:00
Teens Class (Kate) 4:30-6:00
Kids Class (Kate) 4:30-6:00
Ceramics Class (Chris) 6:30 - 9:30
Ceramics Class (Alan) 6:30 - 9:30
Ceramics Class (Alan) 6:30 - 9:30
Advanced Projects (Eilen) 6:30 - 9:30
Kids Class (Kate) 4:30-6:00
CLAY LIST AND CHARACTERISTICS