The first Dutch-language ceramics podcast has recently become a fact: “Je maakt er een potje van” (that’s Dutch for “You make a mess of it”). Merisa, the host of the podcast, has already conducted more than 20 interviews with Dutch and Belgian ceramists about their profession, vision and skills.
And I’m not the only fan of this ceramics podcast. Six months after the release of the first episode, the podcast has already passed the 15,000 download mark!
A great initiative and even more fun to be able to contribute to it….
This time Merisa and I have a great conversation about ceramics, teaching and much more. Curious? Watch our conversation on YouTube, follow the announcements on Insta and subscribe to the one and only podcast for the Dutch-speaking ceramics community.
How did I make a mess of it?
Ceramics Podcast
I’ve been following podcasts about art and ceramics for years (see this blog from 2020). In the U.S., podcasts are loved by many ceramists. The mother of all pottery podcasts is the Jonescast by Brian R. Jones . In 2010 he started a podcast about ceramics, after a mental implosion about his career as a ceramist, his life and the rest.
He pulled himself out of the swamp by starting a podcast about the only topic he had anything to say about: ceramics. He always began his episodes with his own reflections on life and the ceramics world in particular. From everyday things, how you run a household while you also want to make ceramics. To why his work didn’t sell at all at a certain show.
All very recognizable and shared sorrow is double fun. In short, I really enjoyed listening to this podcast. Later, many podcasts were added, such as The Potterscast, the Red Clay Rambler, etc. But to date, there was still no homegrown ceramics podcast….
Podcast: you make a mess of it
Until Merisa started one. One of my students at the NKO had heard about it and immediately told me (and the rest of the class).
Of course, I added this new source of ceramic information directly to gPodder, my favorite podcast client. Well, one of the advantages of living in a ceramics bubble is that you hear something :-).
So luckily, I wasn’t unfamiliar with the podcast when I received an invitation from Merisa for an interview. And refusing was not an option.
Promise makes debt
Why I couldn’t refuse? Because I already promised in my blog of 2020 that I would always be available for an interview to anyone who would start a new ceramics podcast.
Promise makes debt and I have repaid this debt with great pleasure. I thought it was a very nice conversation and I hope that the listeners of “Je maakt er een potje van” will listen to it with just as much pleasure.
Oh yes, I almost forgot to say how I made a mess of it. Well, like all the guests in the podcast, I also had to answer this question. And just like the guests before me, a long time ago when firing one of my first works, something had exploded in the kiln. The work was not completely dry before I fired it.
Unfortunately, I also had to confess that I very recently had a “pizza stone” jump in my kiln. Again because I was too impatient (well, craving pizza). I still have a lot to learn and with the help of this new podcast I will probably succeed.
Good luck!
Merisa , thank you for the conversation and I wish you and your podcast team a lot of fun in making more episodes of “Je maakt er een potje van“.
I’m definitely going to listen to them!
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