Learn Ceramics At The Temple Of Mediclaytion

As I've set out to tell stories about awesome classes you can take in Venice, I realized that it's more than  all of us learning new things ... it's also about keeping these teachers and artists in Venice by paying them for classes as they face ridiculous rising rents and the threat of a homogenized Venice. Then it creates even MORE artists and people that know how to do cool things, and Venice remains cool. Everybody wins. So today let's talk about ceramics and how you can learn to throw down at the Temple Of Mediclaytion with your teacher, Patrick Johnston. 

Johnston grew up in Newport Beach, and at the age of 6 in Kindergarten, he had a lightning flash after asking for all the scraps from the old clay hand project that kids do. At recess that day, he realize that ceramics was going to be his thing. He would beg, borrow, and steal to be able to keep working with clay, fighting to do it because his parents didn't see a big future in it for him. When you have to fight to do something, you tend to do it as much as you can, and Johnston would bury himself in a clay studio for 18 hours a day if he could, especially once he was exposed to the wheel at the age of 11.

College took Johnston 14 years to complete, with the first 11 bouncing around to different schools, skipping classes to be in the studio and surf (he definitely comes off more as more of a burly surfer than sensitive clay Zen master, which makes it all the more a testimonial to the calming effect the art has on someone). Once he realized that he should be majoring in ceramics, he got into the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, and it was all straight A's, graduating top of his class from there.

After a stint teaching and running the clay studio at Santa Barbara City College (where he could also surf), Johnston came to Venice kind of by accident. He came down to take care of his ailing father, and a friend offered him studio space in Venice, where he built up an entire community of avid clay artists before settling into the current space for the Temple Of Mediclaytion on 4th Street in the Art Block District in February of last year.

"It's therapeutic to throw clay," explains Johnston. "You're touching a grounding material of Earth ... you have to be in the moment, or it will break. There are four stages, with so much that can go wrong, and disaster around every corner, so you learn to be unattached. When you look at the throw lines, you can see where exactly someone's thoughts dropped off. You have to be super focused and present, or it will come back to haunt you ... You have to train your thoughts to not bring in your own b.s. with you, and leave it at the door." Hence - The Temple Of Mediclaytion. Complete with its own altar, featuring both Zen totems and Dirty Harry.

Johnston's girlfriend, Sam Savoia, runs the business side of things, and got the classes going, with Johnston gratefully acknowledging, "If it was up to me, I'd just buy all surfboards. If she dumped me, the walls of this place would fall in." (It's always refreshing when a man gives the props to his woman that she deserves, which Savoia clearly does, because classes are super popular and the kilns are being kept lit, whatever else might be going on around Venice.)

Classes are offered Monday through Thursday evenings, with your group meeting once a week for six weeks. You'll sit and make something pretty, created with your own hands (after wheel/making something, drying, firing, glazing, decorating, and cooling), sure, but you'll also experience a welcoming community of loving and fun people on your same page.

You'll sit and work surrounded by all the works in progress, and walls adorned by fellow Venice students/artists like Priscilla Witte, Diana Garcia, and Isabelle Alfred Lago.

One of Johnston's students/"Family members", Kat Carter, was there working on a project while we were talking, and she chimed in, "It attracts good vibes here."

I asked my friend, Saori Wall, what she liked about clay class, and she got back to me with this lovely testimonial:

"Temple of Mediclaytion feels like a second home for me & that is because of the love that Patrick, Sam and the rest of the team pour into the space. My first class was with Andy and she completely blew me away with her grace on the wheel. Clay is enigmatic to me, it can take a punch and is the most delicate thing at the same time. It's a meditation on patience for me & I've taken away more gratifying insight about myself from a lopsided bowl or a wonky mug in my hands than any self help or creative endeavor. It's inspiring to see what other students are working on, see their work progress on the shelves. A friend of mine there, way more advanced than I, once took a piece I discarded out of the trash and said, "Don't throw this away..." "It's got a lot of imperfections", I said. His response was, "that's exactly why it's a beautiful piece. You should glaze it and put it in the kiln." I looked at it again with a different set of eyes & am taking this lesson with me outside of those beloved walls."

Everyone can use more good vibes, right? Throw a new skill in for good measure, and you're way ahead of the game. Johnston told me that the symbol for the Temple Of Mediclaytion is an hourglass with no sand in it, because when you're here, you're not really aware of time - like it is whenever you're having the best time.

Johnston loves Venice, changes and all. He has created the dishes for places like Gjelina and The (new) Rose Café, and is kept busy with commissions and gallery shows.

This is all in response to the moment that ceramics is having now, but also, as he put it, "Creatives in Venice need to hustle now to stay in Venice. It's fun, there are a lot of movers and shakers - because they have to be." Johnston had a drawing teacher named Ted Villa that was fond of saying, "Good, better, best, never let it rest, 'til the good gets better, and the better best." Good advice, and good inspiration, as we all go about learning new things, getting better at them, and preserving the artistic integrity of this wonderful, creative vortex we call home.

Take a clay class!
Templeofmediclaytion.com

*Class photos courtesy Saori Wall.

Take A Class In Glass - With John Mooney

When I decided I wanted to tell stories about learning new things and cool classes you can take in and around Venice, one class led to another. When I spoke to Pamela Weir-Quiton about woodshop class, she connected me with John Mooney, who teaches classes in glass blowing right around the corner. And everyone needs to know how to blow glass, so off I went to meet with Mr. Mooney.

Mooney's "Hot Shop" (there is a lot of lingo in glass work),  "Cold Shop", Showroom, chill space, and your classroom are located all under one roof on Hampton Avenue, next to a body shop in a cool and still industrial feeling part of Venice. He's a groovy guy, with a surfer/scientist vibe, and a clear enthusiasm for working with glass that is infectious.

Mooney was born in California, and raised in Colorado until he went off to college at Pomona. He was always into art, but had a specific curiosity about glass blowing, and was on a wait list all four years of college to get into the glass blowing class offered at Pitzer College, where he finally got in, and was immediately addicted. Mooney figured he'd go to Seattle and get in with the glass studio movement up there, where Dale Chilhuly was blowing up the scene and taking it into their own studios versus working for a big glass place like Corning. It was art. "Glass is not a dying art, it's an exploding art, and it's pretty damn growing," explained Mooney when teaching me about this ancient ("They were blowing glass before Jesus!") art form.

After Seattle and a stint working as a fisherman in Alaska, Mooney came down to Venice where glass artist Richard Silver needed an assistant in his studio. Mooney jumped at that, and learned and worked for Silver for the next ten years, honing his craft. "You learn to blow glass by doing it. It's a skill. The more you blow, the better," says Mooney ... and better he became, until it was time for him to open his own studio. In Venice. Where he continues to create beautiful glass pieces for galleries and for commissions, and had now opened his doors to share his craft.

Mooney found his current space on Hampton in 1996, but it took him until 1999 to get the blazing furnace on, as there is much to build to have a glass studio, I soon learned. The furnace is on 24/7, and has currently been burning non-stop for four years! This is because is takes an entire week to heat up to the 2,100 or so degrees it needs to be to hold molten glass, and a full ten days to cool off. And time is money. This furnace is meant to last a lifetime ... or as long as Mooney can maintain having his cool studio in Venice before he too gets booted out for big, stupid condos (my speculation, not his), but so far, so good.

When faced with increasing rents, like all Venice artists, Mooney started thinking about how he could keep his furnace burning in Venice, and came up with classes. "Moonlight Glass" classes started in Mooney's studio in 2009, and he's been teaching them seven days a week ever since. Classes can be private for one or two people, you can come with small groups of four or five (any more and it gets tight in there, and this all takes time) for a birthday party or something, and have the best time, and also emerge with a new skill that you can use for a lifetime! Cool.

But it is not at all cool in the room where the furnace is, and where I learned about the "Glory Hole" (a place where the item you made goes in to begin being tempered. I think.) and the "Crucible" (the cauldron where the molten glass is kept), and where all the magic happens.

In your first class, "You're gonna learn the basics, and you're gonna go home with something cool," says Mooney, which means you're gonna make a bubble like paperweight and a glass to drink out of. How cool to make something glass for someone you love and tell them you blew it from sand lava into the glass they're drinking out of! Real cool. "It's kind of like a meditation too when you're blowing glass. You have to be absolutely present and have your mind on only this," explained Mooney while showing me his technique, and we can all use more of that.

It's obvious that you need to be fully engaged, as you're working with actual lava, basically, and also whatever you're making can break in a second if you're not paying attention. As intense as that is, it's also really fun. "I've gotta have fun when I'm teaching you," Mooney laughed, "so it's fun."

We talked about our Venice, and the changes taking place, as you have to. "It's sad that tech companies are making it unaffordable to live at the beach ... when they wake up and realize what they moved to Venice for is gone, then they'll regret it. Art studios aren't meant be replaced with overpriced restaurants, but I have some optimism that they're trying to embrace the locals," said Mooney about what all has been going on. We're both hoping for this particular glass bubble to burst. "There's nothing high tech here," cracked Mooney as we looked around at the same tools that have been used in this craft since pretty much time began.

"I love what Venice has to offer ... the beach, the free nature of the People that have always lived here, meeting people living here at the edge of a Metropolis, the colors, the variety ... I love everything about Venice," Mooney said with a smile that you can only have if you live here. And know.

Carrying on about Venice, Mooney pointed out this source of pride: "Abbot Kinney loved Venice, Italy, and that's the best glass blowing in the world. I'm here in Venice, California doing this 100 years later. I get to share and learn now from my students, and we all improve each others' skills." I think Mr. Kinney would fully dig that. Keeping his dream alive!

"It's an intimate experience blowing glass with people ... it takes all of your attention, you have to be fully committed and focused, so it's pretty Zen," Mooney told me about the classes, comparing it to yoga, meditation, or a really good lunch. "You're working with your hands, making something out of nothing but sand and heat (and tongs and pigment and all that, but you get it)."

What a cool afternoon, and what a cool opportunity for everyone to learn something brand new. You can get or give the gift of glass! (Yes, gift certificates are available). I'm excited for you.

Moonlight Glass
#310-399-0999
Johnmooneyglass.com

The Weir-Quitons and Their ArtiStore

It's a drag to be sick when you live in Venice because you know so much is going on outside without you. Last weekend found me almost all better, and that meant hitting the ground running to catch up on the multitude of stories that await being told in our new year, 2016! I have tons of story ideas, but when a new year begins, I think a lot of people are thinking about things to change, things to accomplish, and new things to learn. It's a nice mile marker in the calendar to see what all you soaked up in a year's time, so I got to thinking about classes and lessons of cool things and now they just keep springing up.

Because it's Venice, I decided to start with art. ART! That alone is so wide open, so there really is something for everyone. I heard they opened up an ArtiStore over on Sunset Avenue, in the Pamela Weir-Quiton gallery space, and that they were also offering all kinds of classes. I headed over there as soon as I was back to normal, and I'm so glad I did. What a wonderful, Venice-full spot!

I was welcomed in by store manager, Yas Niktash, who told me that the store had been open about six months. With artist neighbors all around being forced out by greedy landlords (my take, not theirs, but it's true), the Weir-Quitons had to do something to keep the roof they've worked under since the 1970's over their head. They thought, "Open the doors." The galleries have been open during the wonderful ArtBlocks, but there had never been a retail space for their work to be featured in ... so now there is.

The store space is full of ArtBlock artists' wares, from the wonderful painted pieces and books by Rohitash Rao to the vibrant photography of Eric Schwabel, and so many in between that there is a phone book size catalog to browse.

We sat chatting among all the great works of art for sale (and what better gift with a sense of place than a piece of art from a local artist? None.), as people strolling by from Gjusta or out walking their dogs and strollers would pop in and find out that this treasure was here ... because most didn't already know.

While answering questions about the art and galleries, Niktash also offered up to everyone that there were also classes available - and every single person seemed generally interested. I think most people have a soft soft in them for their art classes growing up (when schools still had them - ugh), and would for sure still get a kick out of it today.

So you can take live drawing and illustration workshops (and Parent-Child classes!) from Pamela's husband, Gregroy Weir-Quiton (they hyphened both their last names), a charming guy who you can see is crazy about his wife of many decades (and vice-versa), ever since they met at the old Bullock's department store.

Both were highly interested in fashion, and working as an illustrator and in administration, respectively. Pamela was fresh from the Barbizon Hotel in New York, with her early Vidal Sassoon five point haircut, and turned Gregory's head permanently. They are so darling, and so supportive, it actually restores one's hope in true love. For real. *Interesting trivia: Gregory did the Dreamworks logo with the boy fishing off the moon. Which I love.

You may also take woodshop from Pamela, which I also heard is no longer offered in schools. What in the world are they still teaching kids?! I digress ... back to how much I want to take one of Pamela's classes! There's one coming up where she'll teach students how to cut out a beautiful wooden heart for Valentine's Day ... or just because they're beautiful.

We sat in her wood shop (called the Heart Center), and she told me all about her love for woodworking, and her enthusiasm was both palpable and contagious. While her military family was living in Alaska, Pamela became interested in working with wood, and ultimately received her degree in Woodshop from Cal State - Northridge. She got a bunch of press for a wooden doll she made, which led to design shows, which led to national press, which led to her being this famous 21 year old functional wood sculpture artist gaining commissions for bank lobbies and things. Because she was doing what she loved. And still is.


Teaching classes has been eye-opening and given the Weir-Quitons new inspiration by seeing their students so inspired. Their own love of what they do is inspiring others, and that's about the best life you can live, in my book.

Pamela wasn't allowed to take woodshop class as a young girl - because she was a girl - so she is entirely making up for it now. Wandering through her vast studio/gallery/workspace is like being in a toy factory of the finest kind. Menageries of animals surround you, gorgeous rocking horses, and serious works of art doll sculptures. "It's a creative Disneyland," she explained truthfully.

The wonderful space was 15 cents a foot back in 1973 when the Weir-Quitons moved in, $150 a month. 43 years later, that is no longer the case, but they're hanging in there, doing things like opening The ArtiStore because they love this building to the point where Pamela said it would be hard for her to choose between dying there or in her home. That's love, and you can feel it in every nook and cranny.

After hearing all about the history and inspiration, we lost time just talking about art and life and all good things ... like how when you get so excited and inspired by something you're doing that you practically levitate - "Trust that feeling." Like when she told me, "I'm in touch with being a spark ... I just want to be creative, and to inspire others to be so too." I loved that. She showed me some black star  wooden wands she had made right before David Bowie died, another soul in touch with being a spark.

"My whole thing is about pLAy," says Pamela (who also loves words like me, and likes to point out the LA in them), which is evident, because you can't help but have fun around her, even while just talking - to the point that we didn't even realize that it was closing time.

To wrap up and let her get out of there, I asked Pamela her feelings about Venice. She gazed ahead thoughtfully for a moment before sagely responding, "In a word, it's ENERGY." That is so often the answer when I pose that question, so you know there's something to it. She told me about how she feels differently about the Venice art community since the ArtBlocks began, because she used to just focus on her work in the studio, and then go home. Once the artists of the ArtBlock came together (and formed pretty much the whole thing in one night's meeting!), she feels so much more a part of a community, one that is special and sacred. "I want to live in a creative Venice. The energy in Venice is in flux right now, but it's alive. It's palpable. There's a fire underneath it. Look, you couldn't make this happen in Benedict Canyon." And she's completely right.

"I'm opening up my workspace to inspire people to make their own art," explains Pamela, and that's a great way of keeping Venice about the art, and about the fun. The more artists, the better! The more fun the better! Right? Right. (Some might think the classes are kind of expensive, but I look at it like it's a lifetime skill, and a lifetime of enjoyment, and way better than stuff. Thus, way worth it.)

My wonderful new friend Pamela had this to say in closing, and I can't say it any better ... "Come to PameLA's PLAground (see, LA in both!)! Have fun! Be inspired! Never get old! Make things!"

And off you go ...

The ArtiStore
360 Sunset Avenue
Venice

Classes by appointment:
http://www.pamelaweir-quiton.com