Ceramics group… pottery list… clay community… ceramic forum… Whatever you call them, you can find some really great sites that allow potters and ceramic artists to communicate with each other. Some are large and cover a variety of topics, some are small and specific. But many artists or potters benefit from becoming part of an online community. Whether it’s to seek advice with a certain project, share inspiration, extend their network, or just to connect with someone else that works with clay, a good community can be very valuable. Here you will find some online communities that are related to pottery and ceramics.
Clay Art
http://lsv.ceramics.org/scripts/wa.exe?HOME
At first, Clay Art might seem a little mysterious, especially if you’ve never been part of an email discussion group. You sign up at the LISTSERV page which will let you receive and send messages to the group. It has about 4000 subscribers and plenty of wide-ranging discussion. Messages are archived at potters.org and the yahoo group will also let you view messages but not post messages to the group. There are many clay experts that peruse the list and offer excellent insights.
- Topic Range: Extensive
- Amount of Discussion: High
- Organization: Low
- Aesthetics and Features: Low/Depends on your email system
Ceramic Arts Daily – Forum
http://ceramicartsdaily.org/community/index.php?/index
Ceramic Arts Daily is a great site for potters and ceramic artists. There are plenty of great resources and they recently added a discussion forum. It is well moderated, organized, and visually pleasing. There are close to 2000 members with many well known potters and ceramic artists.
- Topic Range: Broad
- Amount of Discussion: Medium
- Organization: High
- Aesthetics and Features: Very High
Pottery.About.com – Forum
http://forums.about.com/ab-pottery/start/?lgnF=y
About.com has a whole subdomain about pottery and ceramic art. The forums are well organized and you can upload files as attachment and post a message as a guest.
- Topic Range: Broad
- Amount of Discussion: Medium
- Organization: High
- Aesthetics and Features: Medium
Claystation Forum
http://www.claystation.com/forum/forum.php
Claystation offers a lot of great features and gives community members many options to interact with each other.
- Topic Range: Broad
- Amount of Discussion: Low
- Organization: High
- Aesthetics and Features: Very High
Dave’s Garden
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/allfiredup/all/
Dave’s Garden is actually a gardening site which has a number of discussion forums, one being for Pottery, Clay and Ceramics.
- Topic Range: Broad
- Amount of Discussion: Medium
- Organization: Medium
- Aesthetics and Features: Medium
Yahoo Groups
Full list of groups in the Ceramics category: http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Entertainment___Arts/Fine_Arts/Visual_Arts/Ceramics
Pottery Basics
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/potterybasics/
Pottery Basics is a Yahoo Group with over 1900 members. Membership Required (You have to be a member of the group to see the messages, attachments, and other features.)
PotterBarter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/potterbarter/
Potter Barter is a Yahoo Group with over 2700 members that focuses on buying and selling pottery equipment. Membership Required.
Ceramics3
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ceramics3/
About 1500 members. Membership Required.
Slip Dipper Ceramics
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slipdippersceramics/
About 1300 members. Public – you don’t have to be a member to view messages.
NakedRaku
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nakedraku/
Over 1000 members. Membership Required.
Google Groups
Clay Craft
http://groups.google.com/group/claycraft
WoodKiln
http://groups.google.com/group/woodkiln
Social Media
Ceramics (Entertainment and Arts)
Ceramics (Business)
Pottery (Entertainment and Arts)
Pottery Critiques (Common Interest)
Listorious (Twitter Lists)
Smaller Pottery and Clay Communities
Crystalline Glaze Forum
http://s3.excoboard.com/crystal
UK Potters Forum
http://www.ukpotters.co.uk/forum/
Pottery Chat
CraftBanter – Pottery
http://www.craftbanter.com/forumdisplay.php?s=8f342457656b0abdca1c78ce1b7bb325&f=12
CraftsForum – Pottery
http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?45-Pottery-ceramics
Craftster – Pottery, Ceramics, Polymer Clay
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?board=359.0
CeramicsArtists.com Forum
http://www.ceramicsartists.com/Forums_Main.asp
Statuary Place
http://www.statuaryplace.com/dicussion_frame.html
WetCanvas – Clay
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=342
Clay Arts Utah
http://clayarts.websitetoolbox.com/
Deviant Art – Ceramic Maniacs
http://ceramic-maniacs.deviantart.com/
Deviant Art – Ceramic Art
http://ceramic-art.deviantart.com/
Conclusion
There are many great communities for potters and clay artists. A lot can be learned by asking questions to people that actually work with clay and it can also be very rewarding to help those in need. This is a pretty good sampling but there are probably more clay communities out there on the web. If you know of another great group leave a comment and let us know!
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