Following Inspiration With Josh Herman
At any given moment, the students and teachers at Tao of Clay are balancing multiple creative conversations at once. At our San Diego ceramics studio we explore through the medium of clay, surface techniques - and in life, even outside the studio to help inspire our practice.
For Josh, those conversations are currently taking shape through sculpture commissions, simple pottery forms, and an increasingly painterly approach to glaze. "I've always thought of my glazes as paint because of the vibrancy of the colors," he says.
That idea has become a central theme in his recent work and his ever evolving ceramic practice.
A Different Way of Working With Clay
One of Josh's primary projects right now is a sculpture commission. Before Josh founded Tao of Clay he was a full time artist. Continuing his independent work is crucial to evolving inspiration for classes, techniques and teaching modalities at our studio.
Unlike exploratory studio work, commissions require a different relationship with the creative process.
"Commissions are a different format than just making things out of the air, so to speak," Josh explains. "It's a different way of working. It's nice, but you have to have an idea of what you're doing ahead of time, and there's a different dynamic involved in working that way."
That balance between planning and discovery has influenced much of what he's been making lately, both in sculpture and pottery. At the studio with our members and students we like to encourage this same way of thinking to help our community explore directions and purpose within their own work.
Finding The Joy of Making Simple Forms
While large scale sculpture occupies one side of his practice, Josh has simultaneously been returning to simple pottery forms.
"Lately, I've been making simple pottery with simple forms and simple glaze applications using my volcanic glazes."
Smaller bowls, functional vessels, and teapots have become an important part of his studio rhythm. Many of these forms are thrown off the hump, allowing him to focus less on complexity and more on proportion, repetition, and refinement.
"I love tea, and I think teapots are a great way to practice form and fine tune your eye," he says. "They're really an exercise in proportion."
Explore Making Tea-ware At A Guest Artist Workshops
For Josh, there is something refreshing about keeping things simple. "I've been keeping things fairly simple on the pottery front lately. I find there's something very elegant and clean about that."
Learning How To Glaze, Over and Over Again
Perhaps the biggest shift in Josh's recent work has been his approach to glazing. After years of production pottery, where spraying glazes was often necessary for efficiency, he's found himself returning to brushes. "I really enjoy working with a brush because of its tactile quality," he says. The difference isn't merely technical. "When I was doing production work, I had to spray my glazes, and I found it a little disconnected because you're just holding a spray gun and moving it back and forth. With a brush, you can really work with it and feel it in your hand."
That direct relationship with the surface has opened new possibilities. "I've been applying glazes with a brush more intentionally," he says. "I've been enjoying glazing with a brush a lot more, and I'm hopeful to continue exploring that direction."
Using Ceramics as a Three-Dimensional Canvas
The shift toward brushwork has also changed how Josh thinks about glaze itself. Rather than treating glaze as a finishing layer, he's increasingly approaching it as a creative medium. "I've been experimenting with using my volcanic glazes more like paint and using the pots as a canvas."
His current process involves brushing, pouring, layering, and splattering glazes in ways that feel more expressive and less controlled. "I'm trying to loosen up and use ceramics as a three-dimensional canvas for the glaze." The result is work that sits somewhere between pottery, sculpture, and painting. "It's been a lot of fun, and I've really been enjoying working that way."
Movement, Space, and Sculpture at Tao of Clay
This painterly approach extends beyond pottery and into Josh's sculptural work as well.
"Regarding sculpture, I've been making forms that are more fluid in nature, with movement and negative space, while trying to integrate the painterly approach I spoke about earlier into the surfaces."
These explorations continue both in his personal work and through the sculpture courses he teaches at Tao of Clay. Be it in our Clay and Organicity Course or through Developing Glazes through testing allowing yourself to let the inspiration and curiosity flow is crucial not only to encouraging work to evolve but enjoying the practice along the way.
"I also make a sculpture alongside my Coiling Sculpture and Organicity class, so that keeps me active on the sculpture front."
The dialogue between teaching and making has become an important part of how his ideas continue to evolve.
The Importance of Being a Beginner In Ceramics
Outside the studio, Josh has found inspiration in an unexpected place: the piano. "I've taken up piano in the last year, and I really enjoy it." What began as a creative outlet has become a valuable counterbalance to his ceramic practice.
"I love the sound of the piano and the creative process of trying to understand pattern recognition and translate that through the fingers into sound." More importantly, it has allowed him to experience something many experienced artists rarely encounter. "I also enjoy being a beginner."
After decades working with clay, returning to the role of student has been deeply rewarding.
"It's nice to be a learner, a student, and a beginner again."
That mindset has reinforced something Josh has always valued about creative practice: growth never really ends. "I've found that piano has created a lot of balance for me in relation to my work in the studio."
Whether he's building sculpture, refining a teapot, or exploring new ways of applying volcanic glazes, that spirit of curiosity continues to guide the work.
And perhaps that's what keeps the practice alive after all these years.
Join Josh and our other members in the Studio