As a Craft/Material Studies major, senior Gretchen Mull was accustomed to a precise and systematic workflow. She understood the step-by-step processes of mixing glazes and clay, of loading and unloading kilns, and maintaining an orderly studio.
But in an advanced wheel-throwing class her sophomore year, Mull was pushed to try something new. A. Blair Clemo, assistant professor of clay, stopped the class one day, mid-project, with a challenge to his students. He asked them to spend the rest of the day working exclusively on a series of quick, timed exercises, each with the intention of getting them out of their comfort zones and regular rhythms of working.
“We started with a ‘three-minute teapot,’” she says, “where we had only three minutes to throw all the components of a teapot—body, lid, spout, and handle.”
With each exercise, Clemo shortened the time limit. By the end of class, they were making teapots in ten-seconds and working clay with their eyes closed.
“It was refreshing to work so quickly and not have to think about the end result,” she says.
As a VCUarts student pursuing a dual degree in Art Education, Mull has valued and sought out experiences that challenge her as an artist. She then applies that philosophy to her teaching, encouraging students to be unafraid of self-expression or trying new things.
“I like the idea of working for a purpose bigger than myself,” she says, “and that I get to teach young students how to be creative and view the world in new ways.“
To further broaden her own horizons, Mull took advantage of the study abroad opportunities at VCU. In the spring of her junior year, she spent a semester abroad in Perth, Australia, through VCU’s Partnership Exchange program with Curtin University. She was given the opportunity to take classes outside of art education and craft, live and learn with international students, and travel across Western Australia.
“It was challenging,” Mull says, “but also a wonderful change of pace. I got to experience working with artists who approach making from a very different world view. I highly recommend traveling and studying outside the United States to anyone who has the time and is willing to jump into the unfamiliar.”
Mull has also interned at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s clay studio. Currently, she’s working with Susan Gaible, owner of Shockoe Bottom Clay, on a commission for Sabra. Mull and Gaible are producing 500 hummus bowls for the company’s summer promotion series.
After graduating in May, Mull has her sights on securing a position teaching middle school art and setting up a ceramics studio in Richmond.
“Teaching is a wonderful intersection of working with children and making art,” she says. “I enjoy how imaginative and experimental children are willing to be and that every school day will offer something different.”
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