We are grateful for another successful year at sfclayworks. Four years have passed since we collectively decided that we needed to create a clay studio to continue our journey in the ceramic arts; it has been an experience that has gone by so quickly. As we head into our fifth year at sfclayworks, we have grown into an amazing collection of interesting members who all share a love for playing in the “mud”. We have become a blend of adopted, and new traditions that help bring our community together.
Besides the opportunity to share our love of clay through our classes and community studio access, we continue to look forward to our mid-year guest artist workshops, our student and community exhibitions, SF Open Studios, and our beloved end of the year Box Party celebration. The Box Party, a hold over from our previous studio, is a wonderful way for us to celebrate our incredible community of creative folks while enjoying delicious food.
They always say change is good, but at sfclayworks it comes with a mix of gratefulness and sadness. As we move ahead into the new year, we are sad to say that founding member Chris Lewis has decided to move on from the sfclayworks business. We are grateful for all his dedication to the studio, as we struggled through our formation, and we wish him well as he moves on into the future. sfclayworks also lost Derek Lin, one of our loved Hands-up members, but we are happy to report that his shoes have been well filled with our newest assistant, Ken Wallace. Saba, one of sfclayworks first hands-up workers, is also moving on. Saba has not been working in the studio recently, but as one of our first hands-up members, it feels like we are losing family. Saba believed in us when we started sfclayworks and she was vital to our early success. Saba also participated with us for many years during our annual SF Open Studios events selling her delicious preserves.
Thank you everyone for making sfclayworks such a great community and a great place to work! We look forward to many more years of adventures together…..
Since this blog was written, Chris has changed his mind and has decided to remain at sfcw as a studio member.
Images from the 2015 box party courtesy of our fabulous in house photographer Takashi Fukuda:
