I had the privilege of viewing the pottery collection of Tina Granville. Part of her inspiration of working with her hands came from her father who was a skilled brick and stone mason and was often in his workshop fiddling with a project. What started out as hobby has turned into a teaching position. It all started in January, 2001 when she attended an art class at Sertoma Art Center with a friend. She has done a variety of crafts, but she found her niche in working with clay as a potter.
This is my sister Andrea with her teacher Tina Granville who has been a teacher at the Sertoma Art Center in Raleigh since 2005.
Tina sells her work at a couple different venues and has traveled to several “pottery camps” as she likes to call them. The places she recommends for courses besides the Seratoma Art Center is Penland School of Craft in Penland, NC and Haystack School on Deer Isle, Maine. The craft sales she has attended include the Oaks Pottery Fest in Wake Forest, NC which is on the second Saturday of September and the Holiday Home Show later in November/December. You can also purchase pieces from her on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/tlgpottery You can also e-mail her at tlgpottery@gmail.com. You can tell her that Elizabeth Mann of Elizabeth’s Secret Garden recommended her work!
Tina loves to make useful, simple, and beautiful pieces of pottery. Her favorite part is throwing pieces on the wheel. She loves how a ball of soft clay can turn into a master piece. It is all up to the potter to decide. So whatever you do get creative and don’t be afraid to express yourself! It may not always turn out exactly as you originally planned, buy hey that is the joy of it all. Some of the greatest inventions come from mistakes! Every baker learns that.
For the pet lovers…
All ready for Christmas!
Lastly, I asked Tina Granville what advice she would give to beginning potters and budding artists. She said, “To practice, practice, practice. Get into the studio as much as possible outside of class time.”
Special thanks to Tina Granville for letting me do an interview.
