Made With A Bailey Interview with Mike Griffin

Website: mikegriffinceramics.weebly.com/#/

Instagram: @mike_griffin_ceramics

Podcast: Between Two Ewers

Tell us about yourself, how did you get started working in clay?

I used to live in the Alfred area in my twenties and ended up attending Alfred in my early 30's. Oddly enough I didn't go for ceramics, I attended the liberal arts school and focused on theater. It was a lot of fun and the community of Alfred will always be special to me.

While I was there I met and became friends with students in the ceramics program, and as an older student doing plays I also became friends with a lot of the instructors. After my time at Alfred, I was managing a coffee house in the area that was also a creative arts center. One day on a break I wandered into the ceramics studio while a class was going. It looked fun so I asked the instructor if I could give it a go, here we are 20+ years later still learning every day.

Tell us about your making process. Do you have a favorite stage?

My making process varies per the project or the pieces I am making. Most of the time it is a combination of handbuilding and wheel thrown. If I am making a large jar I will usually coil build from a flat base or a bisque mold that I throw on the wheel. It's hard to pick a favorite stage of clay for me, I love the making process so much that it's all fun. If i had to choose i'd say "cheese hard" where it's carvable and bendable at the same time.

Where do you find inspiration for your imagery, color palette, and overall surface design style?

I find so much inspiration from all my ceramic friends. Sometimes if I get stuck trying to get started I will look through one of my 500 books. There are so many great inspirational pieces in those that it just gets the creative juices flowing. Early on in my career I was inspired by the matte colorful surfaces of Mark Arnold and Sunshine Cobb. I really resonate with bright colored but matte pastels. I started painting flowers on mugs a few years ago just to test a few colors I had and it's slowly become one of my most selling decorations.

Can you tell us about your Bailey equipment and how it helps you create your work?

The first wheel I ever bought (back in 2008) was the Bailey ST wheel. I didn't know too much about them back then so I did some research and asked some potter friends what to buy. Bailey was highly reccomended and the price was good! I literally have NEVER had to do anything to it since then. It's amazing. I have cracked my splash pan from over use but the wheel still works llike a champ.

Also back during the pandemic I bought a 60 inch DRD slab roller. Same as the wheel, it just works amazing. I use them both almost every day.

We're looking forward to having you join us in our booth at NCECA this year! Can you tell us what attendees can expect to see during your demo?

Oh NCECA is going to be fun. I just love making pots and chatting with people at the same time, it combines the two things I love the most I think. That's why I really enjoy in person workshops, sometimes you make lifelong friends at them!

At NCECA I will use the slab roller to roll some pretty thick slab then cut them into strips and handbuild with them, I will bring a few bisque mold also to make a base and a lid for a large jar. We will see how big I can make it in two hours, usually you have to wait a bit in between sections but we're going to torch it and force it to our will!!!

What are you most excited to work on or develop next in your practice?

This last question is a great question, actually thank you for asking it. This is something I've been pondering lately. My work focuses mostly on functional pieces and I love making things people will use and I wont ever get away from that. Mostly because people buy more functional stuff and clay costs money. Ha! But recently I've been thinking of doing a few long term residencies. As the kids are getting to be in their teens and graduating high school I have more time to be away. I'd like to dive deeper into make larger more sculptural pieces and see what comes out. I'd love to have six months of nothing but studio time to go to and unlimited clay to use and see where it goes. Sounds great doesn't it!

Do you use Bailey equipment to create your work? When posting your work on social media, remember to tag your post with #madewithabailey so we can continue to grow our Bailey clay community!

March 3, 2026 | View: 311 | Categories: #MadewithaBailey | By: <a class="mp-info" href="https://www.baileypottery.com/blog/author/bailey-pottery.html">Bailey Pottery</a>