The Studio
Where Making a Mess is Fabulous!
Where Making a Mess is Fabulous!
Marvelous Mud Pottery Studio
is a delightful place where you can express yourself, learn techniques, and grow through your creations. It's a place where you can release the stress of the day with a big squishy piece of clay in your hands, You can transform mud into anything and it's fun...and a bit addictive!
The key to growing a thriving business is making more people happy and inviting them to play in mud! And we are definitely growing!
Marvelous Mud Pottery Studio
4035 South Florida Ave
Lakeland, FL 33813
Marvelous Mud Pottery Studio Provides Space
for Making a Marvelous Mess!
We have a 1200 square foot studio in the heart of South Lakeland! Located at 4035 South Florida Avenue, Lakeland, Florida, our studio is in a freshly renovated commercial space. We designed the build-out to house our pottery wheels, handbuilding and teaching areas, tools, equipment fixtures, and member works-in-progress shelves for easy accessibility as well as invite community sharing and inspiration.
In the Marvelous Mud Studio...
Nine Pottery Wheels = More Practice & More Pots
We believe our social mission is providing wheel access to all students in the class. Practice empowers you to find your inner potter! Our member classes are limited to 8 students so that each person has a wheel at their disposal and Rachelle, our instructor extraordinaire, has hers from which to teach and model.
A 30" Slab Roller = Quick & Easy Precise Slabs
We all love to think that handrolling slabs is a type of exercise that keeps our arms toned but really it's more an exercise in frustration. Turning the wheel on a slab roller is much more fun while being productive. Slab rollers also greatly reduce warping when slabs are fired and we are excited to offer one for our students to give a whirl!
Open Studio Hours = More Time to Hone Skills
Time shared in Open Studio creates a vibration of joy in every student through inspiring art and encouraging the emerging potter to learn creative studio skill while refining individual creativity. Monthly members have the perk of getting three Open Studio hours each month with the option to purchase more. We offer a minimum of 20 hours of Open Studio each week. That's a lot of mud time!
Two Commercial Sized Kilns
With two kilns we can fire up a load in one kiln while a load is cooling in the other. In this studio, we have an insulated kiln room, vented to outside, and we fire during business hours. Periodically we give "Kiln Talks" to our members so they can see and learn what goes on during firing, the integral part of taking clay to the fired ceramic form.
Two Extendable Classroom Tables
With two big tables set up for instruction, our students have ample room for creating. These tables expand as needed for large pieces in progress, but also for our special project classes that have a little bit bigger student capacity.
A Third Extendable Table
This third expandable table is nestled in the Pottery Wheel area of the studio for students to put their thrown pieces to dry while they throw more and doubles as a handbuilding table for Open Studio if a special project class is simultaneously going on at the classroom tables.
Member Works-In-Progress Shelves
Marvelous Mud Pottery Studio is primarily a member-based operation. We strive in making an environment conducive for continual learning and growth for each student. Members have their own designated shelves that house their works-in-progressive along with any tools, their towels for throwing, and personal items they want to leave. This simple addition of a personal shelf makes a big difference in each member's journey in clay giving them a visual of their pieces in progress and helps them decide what to work on during Open Studio.
Two Heavy Duty Clay Storage Shelves
Clay storage often presents quite the conundrum. 25 pound bags can shake a fixture when being taken off or set back after use. Our dedicated heavy duty shelves eliminate the worry of pottery pieces being broken when moving bags of clay. Each member has their own spots on our two big shelving units where they can house their clay, whether they stick with one kind or like to have a variety to choose from for different projects.
Two Big Tub Sinks
Clean up is a fun chore with our two big tub sinks! If you know, you know! Whether our members are cleaning their drip pans from a wheel throwing session or any student is cleaning up after working on a handbuilding project, two big sinks makes the job easier and done in less time when there is a crowd.
Each sink has a clay trap on it that catches the clay and glaze sediments before waste water hits the sewer. The clay traps get changed out frequently so we can ensure efficiency.
Dedicated Fixtures for Glazes, Tools, & Small Equipment
We may be messy potters, but we enjoy our organization! Fixtures are placed in various parts of the studio to house underglazes, glazes, and oxides, as well as brushes, tools, textures, and press molds. They are each labeled to be easy to find and easy to return. It's a win-win in a space where a lot of fun "toys" are ready for action!
A Photo Spot
Obviously we have to show off our work! A dedicate "Photo Spot" is just the place for taking pictures of finished pieces for personal record keeping as well as social media posts. With professional style lighting, an electric turntable, and a tripod for holding your phone, quality photos and videos are a cinch to take and share!
A Candle Making Station
Tucked into a separate room and decked out with a professional wax melter and an assortment of clean fragrances, our candle making station invites students in our membership to mix up fabulous soy candles in pots they have made. (Additional fees apply.)
Break Area and Comfy Spot
It may not be huge, but we do have a comfy spot for taking breaks. Whether members are waiting for glaze to dry before the next coat or just need to ponder their next masterpiece, we have a little area where taking a break is comfy and conversations are encouraged. We even have a water kettle and French Press for making coffee, a microwave for warming up some yummies, and a full size refrigerator with an ice maker. How's that for a creative space that not only nurtures your soul but also your quenches your need for recharging your body!
A Splatter Painted Floor
Why is the floor worth mentioning? The splatter-painted floor is much more than a design element of the studio, although it is a pretty fantastic one! Over decades of teaching have taught us that a floor that is a bit crazy and splattered is one that invites more ease in the creative process for students. With traditional ceramic tile, wood flooring, or really any nice floor, students are a bit hesitant to make a mess. They tend to feel guilty for getting something on the floor like clay or spilled glaze. Well, we take that worry away and invite the mess! Truly!
We want our students to not worry when a wheel drip pan over flows or when clay flies off of trimming tools. We want our students to put pieces on the floor and splatter them with glaze. We want everyone to feel comfortable creating. It all cleans up easily and pieces are created without those concerns.
Rachelle, our owner and lead facilitator, is passionate about each student exploring their creative expression through clay leading to individual growth, confidence building, and wellness.
Chloe, our studio assistant, runs Open Studio times and plays a vital role in studio operations as well as teach 2-part classes featuring special projects.
Diana serves up fabulous classes in her twice monthly Clay Club and weekly Handbuilding Fundamentals! She teaches Dig Deep, our 4-week class offered every other month. Diana is also one of our studio assistants manning Open Studio times.
Blue Sky Porcelain Collection
Click here for the story and to go straight to the limited edition collection!
Upon retirement I was looking forward to renewing my interest in art classes, especially hand-building in clay, which I loved in college and never had time for during my career. I had no idea how lucky I’d be to find Rachelle’s pottery workshops. She is the best instructor I’ve ever worked with. She’s inspiring, talented, knowledgeable and fun. I look forward to each class and the projects we make or the excellent advice she gives me when I fall down a rabbit hole and strike out on one of my own wonky projects. She’s kind, encouraging, creative and a true artist and lovely person. I love our class time. Thanks, Boss.
-Debra Coker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I can’t say enough good things about Rachelle Eason and her pottery classes. I would not have ever considered myself as an artsy person. But I have been a student of Rachelle’s for many years now. Artsy or not, it is such fun! It is great for stress management as well. You owe it to yourself to try a class or two. It will definitely get your creative juices flowing! It is self-care that goes above and beyond.💜
-Karen Chappell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Fabulously Functional Pottery by Rachelle Eason is released.
Thank you!
About Rachelle Eason
Rachelle Eason has been an artist all her life. She is the owner of Marvelous Mud Pottery Studio in Lakeland, FL where she focuses on teaching adults in a progressive learning adventure in clay. She also produces own line of fabulously functional pottery.
Rachelle Eason is also the creator of Plant-Stained Paper... artistically designed with fresh flowers and leaves then boiled together for one-of-a kind designs.
Copyright 2023- Rachelle L. Eason, LLC | All rights reserved
