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Potter Nick Wenning, left, speaks with a fellow art enthusiast at Pennyjane Art Co. in Coldwater during a "meet the artist" event Wednesday evening.
COLDWATER - For a retired Coldwater art teacher, pottery has become both an art form and an outlet for creativity energy.
Nick Wenning, who taught at the district for 39 years, showcased his work Wednesday night at Pennyjane Art Co., located at 2018 W. Main St., Coldwater, as part of a "meet the artist" series.
During the event, locals perused Wenning's holiday batch designs, including 70 Christmas-themed mugs and 50 porcelain and stoneware trees. Art aficionados were also able to enjoy artwork from local artists whose media ranged from drawings and paintings to clay and sculptures to stained glass and jewelry.
When he retired from teaching, he wanted to busy himself with the things he taught. He was familiar with pottery and ceramics after taking classes at the University of Dayton and Wright State University. He majored in art education from the latter and received a master's degree in counseling.
Fifty Christmas trees made by Nick Wenning were on display at Pennyjane Art Co. in Coldwater during a "meet the artist" event Wednesday evening.
"Once you start working in clay, throwing pottery, it just becomes a constant that you really want to do," he said. "It's fun to do, it's a lot of work. The fun part is throwing. The work part is adding the handles, making the lid, mixing the glazes and remixing the clay."
Wenning's brand, Nick Wenning Designs, primarily works with ceramics, specializing in functional art - pieces that have an intended purpose, like a vase, but can also be displayed as a work of art.
A variety of mugs and vases thrown by Nick Wenning sit on display at Pennyjane Art Co. in Coldwater during a "meet the artist" event Wednesday evening.
When he throws a piece, or molds a piece of clay into a specific shape, he is aware of the moving parts - a lid that is functional to cap the vase, but also looks cohesive with the vessel.
"Each piece I try to make as unique as I can," he said. "That's my goal - trying to take that form of clay and really enhance it, whether it's with a chattering or design work or the handle or the lid, or the glazing. Each one, I feel, is unique in and of itself. It's almost like you're creating a little part of you.
A ceramic mug made by Nick Wenning sits on display at Pennyjane Art Co. in Coldwater during a "meet the artist" event Wednesday evening.
Pottery is a time-consuming process because of the different stages of drying and firing the clay. For example, Wenning said each mug on display Wednesday took three hours over the course of a month.
The process, for Wenning, includes throwing the mug, letting it dry before cutting it off the wheel and trimming the bottom, forming and attaching a handle, adding a thumb rest, letting it dry again, carving a design, sanding the mug, bisque firing it in the kiln, painting the designs and adding a wax on top to protect it from the glaze and then adding the glaze before the second firing.
There are uncertainties in pottery - including how the clay operates, how the glaze reacts with itself and the clay, and the unpredictable nature of firing. He added that glaze is the hardest part because it can damage the piece based on how it reacts. Because of the instability, he said it's important to be flexible while also maintaining aesthetic standards.
"When you open up that kiln, you don't know what it's going to look like," Wenning said. "You have an idea what you have in mind, but you're working with chemistry there. You're layering different clays over top of each other and how they react with each other."
Wenning said he enjoys contrast, pitting glazed surfaces against non-glazed ones and textured areas to smoother ones.
"I'll work with those designs and other line designs to enhance a certain area of the piece so that you're contrasting smooth against that rough area," he said. "(I) create a visual texture and an actual texture. I work with glossy glazes. I mix my own glazes and I spray those on rather than dipping, so I'm spraying and variegating my colors to create the movement of the piece."
He said he contrasts light to dark, "chatter" to smooth and glossy to matte.
Chattering is when a pottery trimming tools skips or bounces over the surface, causing small, intricate patterns cut into the clay.
Seventy Christmas-themed mugs made by Nick Wenning were on display at Pennyjane Art Co. in Coldwater during a "meet the artist" event Wednesday evening.
When shaping a mug, Wenning said he finds his work technical and more precise. To add fluidity, he says he loosens his grip with the handles - adding loops and a thumb rest.
"People know my mugs by the look, the feel," he said. "That's the one thing I am known for - is the quality of the mug itself, how it feels in your hand. I tell people when they come, 'Don't just pick out a mug - feel, hold it. Make sure it fits you.' That's why I put so much effort into it because I want them to be special."
For Wenning, making art isn't about financial gain, but it's about the artistic process. Creating art matters to him because without it, he feels edgy.
"Artists are creative people, but they are hardworking people," he said. "It doesn't come easy. It's constant work. It's a challenge, but it's a rewarding challenge to produce."
Wenning is also a freelance photographer for The Daily Standard.
He said Pennyjane is a great opportunity for artists to showcase their work and for consumers to interact with local vendors.
Pennyjane co-owner Jane Dippold said this is the third installment in the "meet the artist series." The gallery hosted Hannah Thees in July, Ralph Stachler in October and Wenning in November. It will host Mary Boettger in December.
Wenning's work can be found at Pennyjane. For more information, email nickwenningdesigns@gmail.com.
Pennyjane Art Co. in Coldwater held a "meet the artist" event Wednesday evening for Coldwater resident Nick Wenning.
