GTCC pottery classes, club opened new creative windows for Beitz and Shull

“People making pottery are happy. I want to spread that, spread joy,” said Shull (left).

The lure of pottery came to Linda Beitz and Beth Shull later in life. But once they discovered the artistic endeavor through a Guilford Technical Community College class, they haven’t been able to step away from it.

The allure goes beyond creating art; it’s the Zenlike quality that accompanies the creative process.

“I think when you do pottery, you can’t do anything else. You have to be in that moment of pottery and nothing else,” said Beitz. “When you are throwing, you are centered on that and nothing else. It is extremely fun. It makes me happy.”

Shull is a little more direct about the initial appeal of pottery to her.

“One cool thing about pottery class is you can’t have your phone out. Your hands are covered in clay. You have to talk to your classmates,” she said.

“It takes patience, time, and talent,” Shull says of pottery making. “I’m heavy on the patience. It’s more complicated than it seems; there’s a lot that goes into a piece. Sometimes you open the kiln and there’s a beautiful piece of pottery, and you think, ‘How did I do that’?”

Beitz, an associate professor for hospitality management at GTCC, has a creative streak. At the urging of GTCC associate professor of visual arts Patricia Drummond, Beitz decided to give pottery a whirl and signed up for classes. Along the way, she convinced long-time friend Shull to join her.

“When I retired, Linda said, ‘Why don’t you take this pottery class?’ I took Ceramics 1, liked it so much, I took Ceramics 2 and then joined the pottery club,” said Shull.

The GTCC pottery club was formed by students of the art program, a club that's open to any student.

Shull, a retired nurse with over 40 years on the job never had time for hobbies while she was working. The introduction to pottery quickly changed that.

“I’m surprised (at how I’ve enjoyed pottery). In my career, I worked very hard,” said Shull. “At the end, I was a career manager for a home health care agency. I had no time for enrichment in my life. When you reach retirement age, you are like, ‘What do I do now’?”

Fortuitously, at about the same time, Beitz was considering taking her first pottery class at GTCC.

“One of the benefits of being an instructor at GTCC, you get to take one class a semester for free. I’m good at taking anything that is free to me,” said Beitz. “I was talking to Patricia Drummond who is a fabulous instructor and she said for me to come over and take the night ceramics class. So, I asked my friend Beth to take it with me.”

Quickly, the first class became two classes. Potter’s wheels were gifted by their grown children. A small, used kiln was bought off of Facebook Marketplace to fire the pieces they created. It was soon followed by a much, much larger kiln which can accommodate many pieces at a time.

“My husband is a big woodworker, and he understands what we are doing. He said, 'If you are going to like this, you might as well go all-in,'” said Shull, adding that they donated their old kiln to GTCC.

“One of the ways Beth and I know each other is our kids grew up together,” said Beitz. “They saw how much we enjoyed this, and they got us a wheel. That’s just a fun way to say life has gone full circle.”

Along the way, they formed their own pottery company and occasionally sell pieces. They both joke about family and friends being inundated with pieces they have produced. “We’ve kind of saturated our family and friends with pottery,” said Shull.

The duo plan to take more pieces to shows to sell, but this will never be a huge money-maker for them. It's something much larger than that.

“People making pottery are happy. I want to spread that, spread joy,” said Shull.