More than 1,000 pieces of colorful ceramics, made by dozens of former and current Pierce College students, were displayed for sale at the Winter Arts Festival Friday.
Student artisans have been working all semester long on vases, plates, bowls, cups and more to be sold at this event. They attempted to get the best results they could, which portray their personality as artists.
“This event takes a lot of preparation,” said Ricky Melena, 39-year-old ceramics student. “We all produce a lot of pieces and hope to get the best output before this sale at the end of the semester.”
Once Melena began dabbling with Ceramics at the age of 15, he fell in love with it, he said.
“A lot of people think ceramics is like pottery barn, but we all take a lot of time and effort to do this.”
Artisans receive 75 percent of their item’s profits, while the Ceramics program receives the rest.
“With our 25 percent, we buy special equipment for our studio and hire a famous artist to give workshops to our students,” said Melody Cooper, ceramics professor.
The sale is an opportunity for students to receive live feedback on their work from the public.
“This place is the first place some students here sell something,” said Cooper.
Sarah Wedman, a former Pierce College student, sold many of her pieces at the show. She spoke of the importance the perfection of her pieces hold in her eyes.
“I spent about two months in my own studio making bowls for sale,” said Wedman.
After learning ceramics techniques at Pierce, Wedman now teaches ceramics at ClayWorks pottery studio in Sherman Oaks. The laborious process of creating ceramics is fulfilling to her, she said.
“At the end of the day, it’s fun to get to do what you love and have such a great turnout.”
