BMP (Buffalo Music Players) Episode 31: AnnMarie Georgia

The first ceramicist on the BMP podcast, AnnMarie Georgia, was a great guest as she explained some of her craft, not to mention a few stories, to the lay art observers that are Ben and Max.

We all had a lot of fun talking to this college-educated artist who had a lot of insight into the Buffalo art scene and art scenes all around. If you've ever thought about going to school for art, or just pursuing the art game out-of-school, this is an episode you would be better off listening to for the facts of the matter.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

After a long day, it's hard to turn off. That's why I go to Mammoth Cannabis on 212 Ohio Street. Their stuff will have you laid out flatter than a mammoth foot. From flour to pre-roll, vaporizers to concentrate. You can rest assured that something big is waiting for you at Mammoth Dispensary. Just keep in mind, if you smell cereal from the General Mills factory nearby, they can't help you. It's a dispensary, not a eatery after all. It's the BMP park, guys. If you want to know that it is playable, you have to believe in Gee, and we are gonna eat it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

If you want to use my surface, you don't want to Instagram. Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

If you're fucking in the I sure can. I've never focused all so I got the upper hand. If you're rocking into it, I sure can. I've never focused all so I got the upper hand.

unknown 1:35

It's the BMP pocket. It's the B pocket. It's the B pocket.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Hello listeners. This is the Buffalo Music Pod Players Podcast. I'm your host, Benjamin Joe. And I am Max. And with us today is a very nice uh pottery. What do you call that? Ceramicist. Ceramic worker. Um artiste. Um her name is Amory Georgia, and she's coming all the way from uh South Buffalo. Yeah. And uh Amory, can you introduce yourself a little bit to the listeners?

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Hello, uh, I'm Amory Georgia. I am a local ceramicist or potter. Um I also do other mediums as well, but I do have a degree in ceramics from Buff State. Cool. Um Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Yeah, shout out Buff State, like shout out state. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

We've all graduated from Buff State in the room.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Three people in the room, all from Buff State. That's crazy. Um what did what did you learn there? Is that your first um introduction to pottery?

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Yeah, actually, the first time I ever touched clay, I was 22. Uh, it was 2021. I just re-enrolled into college because I took some time off because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Sure. I was a general fine arts major and I took one ceramics class and I was like, oh, I really like this. I really want to explore this because this I see a future in, and other things, although I loved it, I couldn't see a stable future in it.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

And now you um sell your things at through thin ice on Elmwood, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Absolutely. Um I actually just had a meeting with them yesterday. Um I now sell at thin ice, lumpy buttons, and put a plant on it.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

Oh wow. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Thank you. Um I love the fact that all three of them are like right next to each other, too.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

So they can't escape anybody who comes to that area that they can't escape your ceramics. That's cool. Yeah. What did you like about pottery? I mean, other than being like a stable job, I guess. And that's even interesting to me as well because I don't know if there's any stable job anywhere other than like say healthcare or something like that. I wouldn't call that stable now, dude. It's not stable? No.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Have you looked at the news, but nothing stable.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

No, it wasn't. Okay. I was paying attention to it. Back to pottery. Anyway, pottery.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Pottery. Um I don't know how to explain it. Um although there's no true stability or guarantee in anything in life. Being an artist, I think most artists understand this if they quote unquote have made it. You have to have a certain drive in you and a passion for it. And like when I touched the clay, like it sparked that passion in me. I've always been a very strong person physically, and uh I was able to use my strength in pottery, and it was an asset and not a detriment to myself, uh, how it is sometimes. Um they say, like in pottery, you need to be like a really strong man to throw on the wheel, throw really big, heavy things. Um, and I was like, Oh, I'm gonna prove people, you don't need to be a big strong man to do it. And I did it, yeah. Um like my biggest um accomplishment, I think, is being able to throw a vase that was like five foot three on the wheel.

SPEAKER_04 5:12

Oh, damn.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

And that takes a lot of manpower.

SPEAKER_04 5:14

So it's a table version.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yeah, yeah, it's tall as me. That was um the concept. I made something as tall as me, and I built shelves around the vase, and I put a hundred pieces on the shelf. They were all one pound each. It was to uh represent like my weight loss at the time because I lost 100 pounds. And sometimes when you lose weight, it feels like you do it for other people more than yourself sometimes. So I was like, take your pound of flesh, take your piece.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Oh, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

And I gave away all of them during my senior exhibition.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Wow. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

Oh, you said when you started pottery, you felt like a spark?

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Was that like the only time that you were like in pursuit of art that you felt that spark?

SPEAKER_00 6:00

No, absolutely not. Um, I knew I wanted to be an artist in the fifth grade. Oh. Oh. Yeah. Fun fact, I had the first ever piece of art I've ever had on display was on a billboard.

SPEAKER_03 6:13

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

You started off really high.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Oh, absolutely. Set the bar high for myself. Um there was a contest where they wanted elementary students to design a billboard for anti-texting and driving. And I, it just lit something in me. I'm like, I want to display this, I want to be seen, to be heard. And I think I submitted probably a hundred projects for that. Everybody else submitted like one or two.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Yeah, weren't there like 12?

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, and then like in the seventh grade, I won a contest the peace poster contest. Um and like doing all these things, like these were the first like time in my life that I felt like accomplishment and like really satisfaction and drive for something. So I knew I had to push into that direction. So I was painting for a long time. And then you know, we all get sick of things every now and then, and then I got sick of that, needed a break, touch pottery. This is something new to me. This is art, this is science. Um, it is functional, it's political, it's so many things. And I just love the fact that pottery, ceramics is like the first ever artifact ever found, too.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

My favorite like fun fact is like the first ever like art artifact is a fat lady statue. I loved it. That's my representation. Love it.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah, it's the fraternity um.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Yes, the mother uh figure, the mother statue. I'm forgetting the name, forgive me.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

But um fertility, not fraternity method.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Yeah, I thought you said fraternity. I was like fraternity. I was and I was fully willing to go with you on that. Like maybe a picture of a beer. Yeah, and it's that's really cool. That's really cool. So you you just continued with that as soon as you were there any bumps in the road? Like, how did you go from like being student to uh being like professional, so to speak? Master. Master.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Yeah, master potter. Um I'm very proud, and it's one of my proudest accomplishments to be considered a master potter. Um I still have like any artists, have ways I want to improve and grow.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

That's good though.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

But um I got that way just through dedication. Um I really like my last year of college, I was taking double credits in ceramics. So instead of taking like one class of ceramics, I was technically taking two. I had to make double the amount of work for like an entire year. That's a lot of work. And I think not that I was speeding through it, but having to make that much work over and over and over again in such a short period of time really sped up the process of me like really mastering my craft. And then after graduating, I took some time time off, didn't have access to the studio, and then I got the opportunity to teach, which was really great at Locus Street art. Um, I'm no longer there at the moment, but um I think that really helped my craft too, because instead of just understanding it for myself, I had to make other people understand it. And as I'm doing research of like different techniques, I'm like, oh well, I'm doing this, but this seems better. Let me like take this, apply it to my own work, show it to other people. And I think that really just improved me. And being around so many different other people too in the studio has definitely helped me just in general because I believe every single person that I've come across in the studio has said it's a touch into my pottery, you know?

SPEAKER_02 10:01

Yeah, yeah, it's a learning never stops, basically. Absolutely. Steel sharpened steel, really.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Absolutely. Um, I would love to get my master's so I can be a college professor, but um, I'm applying right now and I'm trying to figure out my next step, basically.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

What kind of obstacles did you face like doing this? Because we all have obstacles in our life, but were you able to just kind of try a law right into the role? Like, I don't think that happens with anybody. So I gotta wonder, like, were there any adversaries that you had to go and like you know, overcome? Adversity, that's what it's like. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Uh I guess poverty, mental illness, things like that.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Um the usual group.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um I think if anything comes super easy to you in your life, you're probably really privileged and someone has handed it to you or you can buy that. I didn't have that option as someone that grew up extremely like poor. I didn't have the extra money to buy the fancy tools and do X, Y, and Z how other people do. So, like when I graduated, I lost all access to ceramics because I could not afford to continue to do it. And being able to do it at um Loki Street art was really amazing because um I did it for free because I was teaching, and that gave me so many different opportunities and opened up so many doors and helped me open up more income income to myself, which I really appreciate that for them. Um and now I teach, I put a plant on it, and I fire in a studio in Canada at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

You fire in a studio in Canada?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Yeah, actually. Um weirdly enough, every studio that I contacted in Buffalo this month um to fire pieces for a class that I was teaching would not fire my pieces because I did not buy the clay from them because I would have thought that.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

David Buffalo? Come on now.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

It's so understandable because people buy the wrong thing all the time because we measure things in like cones, like temperature-wise. You can buy a clay that's completely the wrong temperature, it will melt in the kiln, and that could be thousands of dollars of damage in one go. So I understand that, but I found a really great place in Canada that would take outside clay, would take outside work, and um and I get to leave the country every now and then.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

So for legitimate purposes, that's taxable. Yeah, tax deductible. Yes. Is it tax deductible? Do you have your own LLC or anything?

SPEAKER_00 12:37

Not yet, not yet. Uh working on it, working on it.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Yeah, because that's really cool. There's so much to pottery that I don't know. Like there's a million questions it comes to like is it fire? I always say, okay, what is fire? Like, I know that's probably putting something in like a pizza oven. Yeah, kind of and hardening up and going.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

So um when you fire a piece, so what takes the longest part of like ceramics besides the drying and creating and all that? It takes about six days in total to fire a piece from start to finish on an average piece. Yeah. So when you are firing clay from, you know, um unbisque clay, so it's earthenware, when you fire it, you're putting it into a kiln, and you usually fire it anywhere from like cone 04 to cone 08. Um and that's like lower in the thousands range. And that um turns the clay basically to stone. It's it becomes a solid form. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Ceramic, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

And then you apply glaze to it if you want to. You don't need to do glaze. But um, and then you pop it back into the kiln, and then um I fire my PC to cone six, which is 2,232 degrees. Yeah, absolutely. Spicy. Um, it takes about a day to ramp up, it takes like and then another day to cool down, but I like a slower firing, so I add that extra day so it's slower.

SPEAKER_03 14:06

I was gonna ask you to talk more about like the science aspect of it, but you just explained it pretty much. I never thought of pottery as like uh any scientific aspects to it.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Oh absolutely. Um so fun fact, they changed STEM to STEAM. I think it was like 2012, maybe. So they're art, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Applied tech art, applied art or applied technology.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Yeah, something like that where they added the arts into like science uh and all of that and math. Because there is a lot of science that goes into art, not just ceramics, but paint too. Because you gotta think about all the chemicals that goes into the different things and preserving things and making cer sure that it's not harming anyone if you touch it, smell it in the same room, you know. And I really I'm really fascinated by that aspect because when I was in college, I got the privilege to feel like Walter White in a chemical lab and mix my own and make my own glazes, which was super fun. And I would love to be able to do that again when I get the income too, because you're buying all these different powder ingredients like Carolin and um ball clay and things like that. You're mixing it a little dash of this, a little bit dash of that, and then boom, I got red glaze.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Oh, yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Yeah, and I love like the science behind everything, and there's so many different types of glazes too. Like there's glitter glaze, there's glow in the dark glaze. Like, that's insane to me.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

That is really cool. I imagine like thousands of years from now, they'll be finding one of your pottery and it glows in the dark. Yeah, you know, I mean like um and I'm getting back to uh the Buffalo community aspect of the locus street. Like, did you how long uh you grew up in Buffalo?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

No, actually.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

Oh, you did not grow up in Buffalo.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Um I was born on Fort Drum. I am technically a military brat. Oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

How long have you been in Buffalo though?

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Since 2018.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Yes. So a while. A while. Um I really love the Buffalo community for art. I think it's amazing. Everyone's been so supportive. I don't think I've met a single like mean negative person in the scene yet. Truly. Um like I do a lot of events at Amy's place um with different people.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Shout out to Amy's. Oh, absolutely. Cave Amy's.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Um, like last month I did an event where Jacob ran where it was an open mic night. Shout out to Jacob. Absolutely. And like Tyleo runs events and things like that. Shout out to Jacob. Absolutely. Darwin too, he's ran events.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

Um, on the bot. Yeah, all those people you name are on the bot.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Oh, love that. Love that. Yeah, no, they're all amazing people who have helped me in my career and make me feel more secure as an artist. And I I'm trying to be a villager in the village, you know? Like I was helping screen print yesterday for We're Lucky Day. Um, yeah, which was really fun and great. And I loved it. And I love being a part of something bigger than me. You know?

SPEAKER_02 17:20

That's awesome. Do you uh get out a lot like in in the uh the scene, so to speak? I mean a lot of things is happening, especially you mentioned Tylia. She seems to have an event like every other day.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

I love that. I love how busy she is. Um, I love all the people running events in Buffalo. Unfortunately, last year I did not do my best of getting out as much as I would like to, but I told myself 2026, this is my year. I'm gonna do more, I'm gonna be more, I am more, you know? Heck yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Um just uh we usually ask our guests on the program if they have a favorite local artist or band that that that maybe we can play a clip of one of their one of their songs, if you know any.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Um I think it would be Bumble at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

It'd be Bumble. Yeah. Shout out Bumble.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

He really impressed me at the open mic night the other month. Uh like I voted for him to be the winner.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Oh, yeah? Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Everybody there was amazing though, so it was hard to pick.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Well, Bumble has been on our pod before, and I think we've written about him as well. Um, I know I wrote a piece for him at 1120Press.com. Uh shout out 1120. Yeah. Shout out Matt Smith there. But yeah, we can go and play a clip of one of his songs. Any song in particular?

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Uh all of them are great.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

All of them are great. We'll find one. All right. Here it is.

SPEAKER_03 18:48

Man, life just isn't letting up. I feel like the walls are closing in, and I don't have a way to stop it. I wish there was somewhere I could go. Some place where I could just get away from everything. And just be creative.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

There is the Buffalo Creative Workshop. Who said that? The spirit of creativity. I heard you play, and I felt a duty healthy. Okay, in the Great Arrow Building on Elmwood Avenue, use our space, our art supplies, and equipment to your heart's content. Let us help you beat back the stress and feel centered again.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

Wow, that sounds great. I'll check it out.

SPEAKER_04 19:31

Always remember, if the world has your creative spirits in a rut, come to the Buffalo Creative Workshop for a pick-me-up. More about Buffalo Creative Workshop can be found at Buffalo.creativeWorkshop on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

When that you come over and just lit up try to die.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

And can you just talk about like how it's important for you to just really not give up on that point?

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Absolutely. Um I think inaccessibility is one of the biggest names in ceramics. It is the most expensive art form that I know of. I mean, could be wrong. But um I'd say for anybody struggling to be able to create and make the way that they want to, find other people in your area who have the secrets. You know, because they're not really secrets, but you reach out and you ask, how do you do this? And then you might find an affordable resource, or you can go to places like Locus Street where they are a nonprofit, you can do it for free there. Um, like if there is a will, there's a way. Absolutely. Absolutely. Like my Biggest advice is if you can't if you can't travel to a studio and you are low on income, get a microwave. Get a microwave kiln box off of uh some website. They're they range anywhere from 20 bucks to whatever, like 40, I think, depending on size. You can microwave pottery pieces and fire them like that. Yeah, it's like a a r a raccoon style. Um make sure you don't do it in the microwave you actually eat out of. But uh you can make sculpture that way. You can't make anything that is functional, like you can like consume out of because it's not safe for you food-wise.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

But just the practice.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Just the practice, you know. Like I know a lot of people who do that, who make jewelry and like make other like random trinkets. Like it's on a smaller level. But on a smaller level, you can sell those things and then save up. Um like have a plan, find a way to execute that plan and reach out. Because like I've had people reach out to me. I don't know how to get into this, like, how do I do this? I'm like, oh come over to my house. I have X, Y, and Z. I'll show you how we do it, I'll take it, I'll fire it, I'll help you. Like if you uh closed mouth doesn't get back basically.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

Absolutely. Wow. Yeah. And gatekeeping doesn't get us anywhere either.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Absolutely. We're all better together. Truly.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

Absolutely. Um I'm sorry, what was the second question again?

SPEAKER_02 23:33

No, that was the question. Oh, cool, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

So uh what are your plans going forward?

SPEAKER_00 23:41

So my plans, plans going forward. I am opening up an online website. I already have that set up. I need to upload all of the products on there. I was holding off on that because I knew I was having a meeting with different stores about selling things, so I wasn't sure what I was gonna have. But I'm setting up an online store. I'm applying to master's programs. I've been thinking about a couple of them. There's one in California, one in Philly, and one in Chicago that I'm really interested in. And uh beyond the masters, I want to apply for grants uh to be able to do different things and explore outside of ceramics too. There is a mural grant that I want to apply for because I've done some murals this summer and I really like enjoyed revisiting painting. You know? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Um and then grants and then what else?

SPEAKER_02 24:40

I think of moving away from the Buffalo area.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Maybe. If I'm kind of taking where like wherever the wind takes me, that is where I'm going at the moment. I don't want to be stagnant and stay in a place out of comfort and out of love for the community because I can love them in a different place and do what's right for me. You know? Absolutely. Which I I nothing set in stone yet, but I kinda love that. Like I kind of like the fact that I don't know where I'm going, but I'm taking one step at a time and I'm enjoying the journey and process. I'm giving myself the grace to fail, get up, try again, try something new.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

That's awesome. That sounds wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Well, Emory, thanks for coming on the program today. I really appreciate you coming on and uh talking to us about the um the cone size, for instance, and the uh the key the kill and uh firing process as well as like all your wonderful um endeavors in the past and in the future in the present.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 25:43

All right, thank you. You opened up like a whole new world, really.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Thank you. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 25:48

I didn't realize, so I really appreciate you taking the time.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Thank you so much for inviting me.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

All right, all right, BMP listeners, this is it for the show. Have a good one, see you next week.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

May the sauce be with you guys. Coochie, the bringer of life, the bringer of unimaginable joy, the cause of catastrophic destruction. Knowing that you have something so powerful, wouldn't you want the best to take care of it? Pardon me for saying this, I am just a humble announcer. But if I had a coochie, I'd probably get it waxed at Cheyenne's waxing studio on 830 Elmwood Ave. You have power in between your legs, so why not have it taken care of by the best? If you are there's no meta discipline of you helped, we're leaving Gee, and we are gonna walk helping up uh we got a podcast. Everybody got to be quite never I'm too pretty fucking off the dump. I'm gonna make a kid if the rocking can do it. I sure can. I've never focused all so I got the upper hand. If the rooking can do it, I sure can. I've never focused all so I got the upper hand.

unknown 27:50

It's the BMP pocket. It's the BMP pocket.