Made In Barnstable: Ceramics by Molly Driscoll

Ceramic artist, Molly Driscoll, studied many different artistic mediums while attending Barnstable High School and discovered clay her junior year.

But it was while attending the University of Vermont, where she “caught the clay bug,” and it was then that clay became her specialty.

After college, Driscoll moved to Portland, Oregon where she created her first pottery studio in her basement and began working with kids and clay.

She helped bring clay to elementary and middle school children with a program through a local Children’s Museum. She enjoyed doing this so much she decided to pursue a Masters in Education from Portland State University.

She returned to Cape Cod in 2007, and found a job teaching art at Eastham Elementary School, where she was been able to develop a fully functional clay program after organizing the donation of a kiln.

She also found herself taking advantage of an opportunity to open a studio in Hyannis.

Her studio is located at 46 Pearl Street and is part of the Town of Barnstable’s Hyannis Harbor Arts Center. The Center, which is a showcase for emerging and established local artists, has provided Driscoll with an affordable and flexible space where she can make and sell her work.

It also provides her with a supportive art community. Driscoll “like(s) the energy of the compound and the other artists,” and is “hopeful that it will continue to grow.”

Much of what she creates is functional art such as garden pots and dishware.

To craft these, she starts by hand throwing wet clay, which she sources from Western Massachusetts, on a potter’s wheel. The sculpted pieces dry for approximately one week until they are “bone dry.” Then they are put in a kiln to bisque fire the clay at 1800 degrees.

After the pieces are unloaded and cooled, Driscoll applies glaze using various colors and designs. The piece is then returned to the kiln and fired at 2300 degrees. After a day of cooling off, it is ready for use.

She has recently begun experimenting with clay tiles, creating triptychs--larger works made up of multiple clay panels. She uses photographs and images to create stencils that she uses to make impressions and textures on the clay, and incorporates different colors into the pieces to create a layering effect.

She is enjoying the challenge of doing something new, and is on the “cusp of figuring out how to get the process just right.”

According to Driscoll, working with clay is time and labor intensive, and there are many variables involved in the process. The final product can be “great or really disappointing,” Driscoll says. Still, “one of [her] favorite things is opening the kiln.”

The process offers a great lesson, she says, in dealing with not being attached to things or outcomes, and just letting things go.

Molly Driscoll’s studio is located at 46 Pearl Street in Hyannis, where her work is available for sale. She also teaches private lessons to people of all ages.