During our last Clay Camp, we ran a little experiment. Alongside the usual live workshops, we gave everyone two project options: a solo brief and a collaboration brief. The idea was to give people a taste of the www.CRMX.ac program – where projects like this are the heartbeat of the experience.

Inside www.CRMX.ac, every quarter artists dive into a themed project. Sometimes it’s solo, sometimes it’s collaborative. The point isn’t just the finished piece – it’s the growth that happens when you try something new, stretch beyond your comfort zone, and connect with other makers around the world.

What you’ll see below are some of the results from that Clay Camp project mashup. Sculptures that never would’ve existed without the challenge. Friendships that grew from random meet-ups. And breakthroughs that only happen when you commit to the process…

Ysella Lobb, Steve Rhoads, Dorothee Telson

“We all met during clay camp last April when we got introduced by chance during a meet up session. The goal was to exchange ideas and see if we want to collaborate on a project.

We pretty much immediately hit it off on some common ground being interested in sculpture and garden pieces. So we got to work, met once a week and came up with this process we are sharing here. Based on a game we all know, called cadavre exquis, we each made a drawing of a garden totem with a bird bath and randomly cut each in the three sections to throw them back together as one.

This was an incredible experience, the three of us set out on an adventure not sure where it was going to lead us. we had different intentions and ideas but that never prohibited us from pursuing this collaboration. The process was the goal, the finished piece is icing on the cake, something we would never have tackled if it hadnt been for this project.

It was fascinating to meet up once a week online from different parts of the world and exchange ideas about something that is otherwise such a solitary experience. Its totally hands on yet we used this tool to collaborate and we got to know each other a little bit along the way. Our biggest struggle was with the presentation, but even that turned out in a way we all could agree on.”

https://www.instagram.com/steve.rhoads.pottery

https://www.instagram.com/fraudorothee

https://www.instagram.com/kilnspawn

Thomasina

“This project was intended to be a collaboration project where I met a really wonderful member. We talked about our interests and how we could combine them. I was really inspired by her interest in fantasy and dragons. I couldn’t help but picture an eccentric dragon egg collector that worked with local metalsmith to turn rare dragon eggs into jardiniere planters. Although we were unable to collaborate due to personal reasons, a really great friendship came out of it and I wanted to see the project through. This combination of 19th century French Jardinieres and fantasy was wheel thrown in 2 pieces then altered.

“I have the tendency to overthink, often paired with paralyzing choice anxiety. This project was a great way to make an off-the-riff idea reality without sketching or planning. Just really going for it. I was under a time crunch due to a major surgery and decided whatever I attempted would have to be good enough as I was looking at a long recovery time. If I had more time I would have loved to make a collection from the idea, but that’s still a possibility.”

https://www.instagram.com/tahlavstudio

Nia

“In this project I choose to combine wheel throwing, slab-building and carving going much bigger than I normally would. The base – cylinder was wheel thrown, then the top was closed with a slab, and the mouth opening and handles were also build from slabs. All the carving is done free-hand, fired and colored using white engobe and low and mid range glazes. I went bigger and combined multiple techniques. I loved using low-fire glaze on this piece and get the metallic sheen effect in the carvings. Some of the engobe burned off under clear glaze in the glaze firing, so I had to refire it, applying stoke and coat white glaze over it an re-fire it.”

https://serpentstoneceramics.com

Cherie Prins

“It was a great experience and not just the clay part. But connecting with other artists on a personal level, sharing their frustration, wins and losses. I think many potters feel isolated or alone to some extent, be it by choice or just a lack of community perhaps. This was a great way to connect across borders. We all have one thing in common and thats the love of clay.

I think my biggest breakthrough was to let go a bit. To treat the clay like a dream instead of a reality. If that makes sense. My times was very limited and it felt rushed, unfortunately it did crack in the end, but Im still happy with the outcome. I think I would have made thr physical item bigger if I had more time and tested a few glaze options prior. I think this project just confirmed that I should be focusing more on things I love doing in clay and the rest will come naturally.”

https://www.instagram.com/cherieprinsceramics

Donnalee Blankenship

“I worked with Ysella, Barbara and Cherie. We chose the theme of EXPLORE, as we looked at each other’s work and began exploring what we each make and how we make it. We were exploring new friendships and ideas. We chose white clay, nature themes, and incorporated parts of all of our work into our designs. Ysella with her fantasy creatures, Barbara with her feminine themes and Cherie with nature and trees and myself with the ocean. My own pottery leans towards exploring techniques and adding sculptural elements to pottery. I stretched myself by going all out sculptural on this piece. It’s still a work in progress. Can’t wait to see how it finishes.

We found each other during the last clay camp. Barbara in Austria, Cherie in South Africa, Ysella in France, and myself in USA. We began a group chat and got to work! Love what Joshua is doing with the Ceramic School and Clay Camps. It’s such a great resource for connecting more with clay education and the broader artist community. The biggest challenge on my first collaboration project was time management. Life happened and I had trouble meeting the deadline. Moving forward I would put hard deadlines on my calendar and try to meet them along the way. This project is helping me see other’s work on a deeper level and challenges me to continue my sculptural practices.”

https://www.instagram.com/bfarmspottery

Ysella Lobb – Solo Project

“For this project, I made a series of ten ceramic tiles as a way to bring my mural and illustration background into my current ceramic practice. I’ve been looking for ways to connect my past work with what I’m doing now, and tiles felt like the right format and is full of potential for storytelling.

I used pre-made blank tiles and decorated them with “Stroke & Coat” underglazes, underglaze crayons, and airbrushed backgrounds. The layering of textures and colours worked like expected, really well. One thing I didn’t enjoy was cutting paper stencils by hand — it was fussy and frustrating — so I’m planning to invest in a vinyl cutter for next time to make things smoother and more precise. This was a test after all.

This tile project is part of a bigger direction I’m exploring in my practice: I’m currently working on a “ceramic parade” — a playful, character-based series that mixes sculpture, tile work, and mural elements. These tiles helped me experiment with how to bring drawing and narrative into ceramics in a way that feels natural to me. It was exciting to see how my illustration style could live on clay, and it’s opened up a lot of ideas for future pieces.

Overall, this was a fun and useful project that helped me connect different parts of my creative identity and think about where I want to go next with my work.

I multiplied both the number of tiles I made and the amount of surface design I brought into my ceramics — it felt like I really leveled up. I loved the process and it sparked tons of new ideas for future pieces. Next time, I’m planning to take it further by making the tiles myself from scratch.”

https://www.instagram.com/kilnspawn

Ysella Lobb – Collab Project

“For this collaborative project, four of us exchanged drawings in a kind of creative chain — each person added to the drawing they received, and we kept passing them along until they came full circle. Once we had the final versions, I chose one and reinterpreted it in clay, keeping the influence of each collaborator in mind throughout the process.

At the same time, I noticed my garden starting to sneak into my work — little insects, plants, and organic patterns showed up almost without me planning it. It all came together in a vase that turned into a decorative, character-like piece full of texture and life.

I used slab-building with paper clay, layered underglazes and oxides for colour and depth, added texture with stamps, and included small elements made from coloured clay. The process was playful and intuitive, shaped both by collaboration and my everyday surroundings.

The collaboration was definitely a bit chaotic — like herding cats! It was tricky to get everyone on the same page, but that unpredictability also made it interesting.

What really worked was how it pushed me to try new things. It gave me the chance to explore bas-relief and experiment with different approaches to surface design, which ties back into my broader practice of blending illustration with ceramics. It opened up some fresh ideas for how I can build up surfaces in a more dimensional, playful way.”

https://www.instagram.com/kilnspawn

Barbara Stelzer

“This collaboration was all about „Exploration“ of the unknown- getting out of our comfort zones. We used impulses from each other the sketches and fantastical figures of Ysella, the underwater textures, mixed media details of Donnalee, and Cherie’s fantastic use of color and florals, to combine a theme of natural exploration into techniques we have yet to master.

I used this collaboration to fuse these impulses with my own growth process of trying to recycle and use as many materials I already have without buying anything new. As well as, reducing my carbon footprint which caused me to add solar energy and a goal of a single firing method.  I constructed a new paper clay flax recipe to utilize all of my recycled clay masses from the last 10 years. I wanted to see how big, thin, cut out and detailed I could get without risk breakage and cracks.

Also, I haven’t really been having as much fun with ceramics in the last years and feel my time at the art university and a strong inner critic limits my enjoyment in my process. I remember the most fun I had when the element of play was involved, like the design your own kiln god game I did with the Clay Camp last year. I guess this “Kiln God” theme was in my subconscious mind as I intuitively created a piece with 4 women Archtypes moving in different directions but still combined and holding a room. Originally using the cookie jar form from Cherie Prins, I designed my lantern to hold light instead of cookies. The top is removable to light candles or change lighting.  After the successful bisque fire, I decided it was so strong and stable that I could save energy by painting with my mineral pigments and using gold leaf instead of 2 more firings.  This was my first time really using so much color in my naturally monochrome ceramics work, also combining my colorful painting style with my otherwise colorless ceramic work.”

https://www.instagram.com/barbara_lapoint_stelzer

This was incredible to see artists around the world collaborating with each other. What stands out from these projects isn’t just the clay – it’s the connections, the experiments, and the risks people took together. For many, it was their first time collaborating with other ceramicists online. For others, it was about working bigger, faster, or looser than they normally would. In every case, the project created momentum they can carry into their practice.

That’s exactly why projects sit at the core of CRMX. They give structure, accountability, and a reason to push yourself further than you’d ever go alone. And because you’re doing them alongside a global community of artists, you’re never isolated – you’re supported, challenged, and inspired at every step.

If this blog post sparks something in you – if you’re craving more collaboration, more growth, and more projects that actually move your ceramics forward – then CRMX might be the next step for you.

👉 Learn more and join the next quarterly project at www.CRMX.ac