As the potter’s wheel turns

Rebekah Krieger is trying to live her dream, and it’s on the verge of coming true.

She finally got her own building for her pottery work, and she is almost ready to introduce others to what has become her infatuation through her business, Shanel Pottery.

“I just need more pottery wheels,” the Town of Saukville resident said.

She plans to teach beginner and intermediate wheel throwing classes in her 1,400-square-foot space next to her home.

“I was working in my basement for a while. I just convinced my husband to get an outbuilding to do it,” Krieger said.

Krieger became enamored of ceramic art when she took a wheel throwing class at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend in 2011. “I just became the apprentice of anybody who was willing to talk me through things,” she said. “I became hooked.”

Working on the pottery wheel is her happy place.

“I know it sounds really corny but it’s a really grounding, peaceful feeling when you center the clay on the wheel and pull up a wall,” she said. “Although there are some stressful parts about it – the unpredictability of the kiln – the making of it is relaxing. The surprise when you open the kiln may not always be.”

Krieger mostly makes functional pieces such as bowls, mugs and vases, and she has gotten into making clocks, chess pieces and sculptures. For her vases, she said she adds “a sculptural rococo inspired twist to what I do. When I have time to put into a piece, I like to make it more sculptural.”

As she works to perfect her craft, Krieger realizes some of her past work isn’t up to snuff. “I tend to smash a lot of my work after a few years because I don’t like it,” she said. “Every time you make a new batch you learn something else. Batches you made at one point don’t look as good because your eyes have matured.”

The old pieces are just fine for her relatives, though. Krieger said they dig through her scrap pile for items to display in their homes.

Her education, she said, may never end.

“I know people who have been making pottery since the 1960s and they insist that they’re still learning a lot,” Krieger said.

Krieger has done workshops on human figures by sculptor Phillipe Faraut, and she had a mentorship with potter Steven Hill and got one-on-one help from potter Tom Coleman.

Krieger admits she goes through her share of failed pieces because “you don’t see your own mistakes as you’re doing them. You remind yourself about the voice you heard at the workshop—‘you’re using too much water’ or ‘you’re spinning the wheel too fast.’”

A few of Krieger’s creations are spontaneous, but she generally has an idea of what she wants a piece to be. After warming up by making a couple of simple mugs or bowls, she advances to a clock or ornate vase.

Krieger makes her own glazes from powders, including silicon and kaolin, instead of buying them by the jar. That was another learning experience for Krieger.

“I was really bad at chemistry in school but then I found myself as an adult taking glazed chemistry classes online to get better at some of this stuff,” she said.

Krieger learned early on about the hazards of the pottery wheel. Her long skirt got caught and wrapped around her kick wheel. “That was more embarrassing than anything,” she said. “I was in my basement alone, thankfully.”

Much of Krieger’s work was done in her basement, until she got her outbuilding last fall. She had always wanted a dedicated space to work on her pottery, and she’s got a scenic spot.

“The windows were really important to me, having it bright and airy. There’s land here, I want to be here seeing nature when I’m working,” she said. Soon that space will be shared with aspiring potters as she starts offering pottery making lessons.

Krieger pursues her hobby around her day job as vice president of her husband’s gun barrel manufacturing company in Richfield.

Krieger sells her work at art and craft shows and at her home by appointment. She will be in the Covered Bridge Art Tour for the first time this fall, the MOWA’s chalk fest in August and will teach classes once she gets four more pottery wheels. She is a member of the Wisconsin Craft group and the Cedarburg Artists Guild, both supportive groups for potters.

“I’m in the early stages of having my dream become real,” she said.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/shanelspottery or on Instagram @shanel.pottery.