Janet Martini — Profile

Janet Martini

In 1962, Janet was completing a Major in Drawing and Painting at San Diego State University and had to take a crafts class. Jack Hopkins was teaching; and, although she had never worked with clay and was a slow learner and terrible thrower, she loved working with clay. Clay has been a major interest since she first touched it. It is very responsive and can be shaped so many different ways. Janet’s philosophy, which applies to many things she does, is that a great deal of practice and/or production produces a quantity with a range of success; and in that number are some really good results.

After a slight delay, during which she got married and had two children, she returned to pottery classes in 1966. Janet became a member of the San Diego Potters’ Guild in 1968. Her studio is at home, where she has a large indoor studio with room for her gas kiln inside.

Janet makes functional ware: plates, bowls, mugs, and small slab plates with drawings on them. She also makes decorative ware: wall flasks, planters, and wall masks. She especially likes making pieces that are thrown and assembled, thrown and handbuilt combined, or thrown and altered. She is more interested in form and texture than in glaze or finish, so the non-functional pieces are often dipped in slip only. Most of her work is fired to Cone 10 reduction. More recently, she has been working on some sculptures depicting food.

In addition to clay, Janet likes to do art work on her computer. Another interest is playing in a band Los californios^®, a group that plays historical music of early California, mostly from 1772 — 1900. You can visit the website of this Band by clicking here.

San Diego Potter’s Guild | Members