Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Boggs.
Hi Chase, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been making ceramics for over three years and love everything about it! I started pottery with the inspiration of hand sculpting a clay animal in high school, and since then I’ve been hooked! I started my home studio with the intention to make it my hobby, not realizing it would become much more than that so quickly!
Over the last few years, I’ve spent tons of time making and perfecting my dream studios that I get to happily work in now. Just starting out, having no experience with equipment like a kiln and pottery wheel was such an excitingly scary experience, however, I loved the challenge and was able to learn very quickly!
I now spend my time fulfilling orders on Etsy and throwing pots on the pottery wheel to attend craft shows in my free time. Ceramics gives me so much enjoyment and I’m glad to be able to share it with my customers.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. Ceramics takes a great amount of patience and has a lot of learning involved, especially being self-taught in everything. One of my very first struggles was learning how to throw! I began throwing for the first time on a kick wheel I bought.
After about a month of using it, I had enough experience to learn that I loved it and then bought an electric wheel to further teach myself on. Another struggle was learning how to use a kiln, while I caught on very quickly I was lost at first so Google and Youtube became my best friends! I eventually learned how to operate a kiln with enough research and personal learning and even upgraded my kilns with digital touchscreen controllers to make everything easier and more accurate!
I also learned how to pour plaster slip casting molds that I love to cast! There have been a lot more struggles along the way however, my latest one that’s still ongoing is getting my new studios up and running again after a move across the state! I do enjoy the struggles as it betters me and it allows me to learn!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a 20-year-old self-taught ceramic artist!
While there are many ceramic artists out there, there are not many that are this young that have their very own pottery studios that I’ve built myself. I first started off in early 2020 with a dream and an old shed that I completely renovated to fit my pottery needs. I started off sculpting and throwing some not so great pots on the wheel. As I progressed and learned more I became better and really got my love for pottery. Around this time, I also began to start pouring my slip casting molds which turned out becoming a larger part of my ceramics than I originally anticipated.
I quickly ran out of room in my first studio especially after buying out storage units filled with plaster molds. I then made another studio specifically for slip casting my molds which included items like vintage Christmas trees, large mythical dragons and castles, as well as other holiday related molds. I then began to sell my products once I was sure I was making quality ceramics, I started off on Etsy and didn’t realize how quickly it would take off! I had consistent orders so I stayed working in the studios and was able to rack up over 300 sales in a little over a year! I also began to sell my hand thrown stoneware in person and was blown away by how many people loved my items! I even had to build a third studio specifically for packaging orders.
I am a perfectionist in all of the work I create to ensure that I’m 100% happy with the products I offer to my customers and I am very honored and thankful that people love my items!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
During my initial dream of wanting to start ceramics, I began to watch a lot of YouTube videos of ceramic creators that gave me tons of ideas and inspiration, my favorite creators being @JonThePotter and CaldersCeramics.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/thatpotterchase
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatpotterchase/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThatPotterChase/
