Hi I'm Lynn and today I'm here with Dan.

Dan, can you tell us where we are and what you do?

Hey.

Yeah, we're in Wheelhouse Studio.

That's in Reo Town, That's a part of Lansing Michigan, where my wife and I teach pottery.

Whether that's hand building or on the wheel, whether that's date nights, private lessons, or seven week classes, there's a bunch of different things that we offer here.

We've been gradually building communit and it's a very rewarding place to be.

fun plac to learn how to play with mud.

So what is pottery?

Pottery is a lot of different things, but when we do it on the wheel, it's when you try to make a cylinder stand up, anything you make on the wheel, sort of a cylinder.

And it doesn't look the way it feels.

Which is probably why people have to come in here to do it in person, as opposed to seeing it on YouTube and being like, got it.

That sounds so cool.

Can I try?

Of Of course, thought youd never ask.

What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

When I was first starting ou as somebody who does things on a a pottery wheel, I wish I knew that my greatest asset as a teacher would be my complete lack of skill, learning it in the first place.

Find the pedal, you can kind of, like, use your toe to make it go and your heel to stop it.

All advice is autobiographical.

I am very well suited to understand what it is to try the wheel and feel like it's completely alien to everythin that you've tried to do before.

So now you got a sponge.

Sponge.

There you go.

Dunk it in water.

Dunking.

What you're going to do now is with this thing spinning, you're going to drizzle water onto the high point of that donut.

Get it started spin it a little with your foot.

Yup.

That's great.

I think that if I could go back, I would tell myself that you're going to be a pretty mediocre teache at everything that comes easily, and the fact that you're struggling now means that you're going to help other people succeed later.

Your sponge had is going to squish in.

Okay.

And your inside hand is not moving at all.

It's like a backstop okay.

Was there a specific moment that you realized you could turn pottery into a career?

I would say there was a moment my mom figured it out.

She flipped out a little, like ad for a pottery instructor, and then I gave it a shot.

I tried teaching it.

It worked really wel and I was really rewarded by it.

That's perfect.

Easing up easing up Just a little bit as we go.

I wasn't sure it could be a career.

But it's funny if you fit with a job, it doesn't feel like one, so you keep trying.

Keep letting go.

Keep letting go.

Keep letting go.

Get out of Dodge before it comes apart.

Like that?

Yeah, you did great.

Hey I did it.

Very good.

Yay.

What's one piece of advice you would give someone if they wanted to go into a field like yours?

Two things.

One have fait that whatever you're working on over the years, even if the job doesn't seem like it's relevant to your creativity, might end up serving you well.

Since having a creative career, ended up having a lot more aspects to it than I anticipated.

And the other thing is, do little things to keep the pilot light lit on your creativity.

I would say, like, startin anywhere that you're at is fine.

I think that stopping is the problem.

I think that people's drawings look like the age at which they get comfortable saying they don't draw.

And I'm sure it's like this for everything, you know.

Don't feel weird about being bad at something.

That probably means you're growing.

And if you get started early, it' hard to say how far you can get Why are you so passionate about your career?

I'd say that I'm passionate about my career because gradually my medium has shifted from being clay to people.

I get these moments o revelation where I see someone go from being really frustrated to getting it, and that's very rewarding for both of them and me.

I feel like relief is the lightest form of happiness and being privy to that in others is a privilege that I have.

I had a “wheel” good time with Dan giving pottery a spin.

Explore your possibilities.