Charan Sachar (05-25-2020): Creative with clay & much more

This last Monday (05/25/2020) my guest was Charan Sachar from Creative with Clay. Charan joined me from his home studio in Federal Way, Washington.

If you’ve been to a #STITCHESWest in the past couple of years, you might have met him and seen his wonderful work first hand.

This show lasted just about and hour and a half. Charan is true artist when it comes to pottery. But he also knits, spins, weaves, and does hand-dying. He can't keep away from techniques and color.

We talked about the influence his mother's dress making and embroider show (in India) had on his work. He admitted that a lot of the motifs and colors continue to influence his work.

Charan was a computer engineer. When he came to the United States he continued his education and got a Masters in computer science. Education was always important in his family.

​Around 2000 he took his first pottery class. It changed him forever. He did Fine Art Shows for 15 years. In his 7th year of doing those shows, he quit his full time job and worked in his studio full time.

The reason that I know Charan is that in 2018 he did his first #STITCHESWest. His work, with knit textures as part of his pottery, was received with a lot of enthusiasm almost immediately.

We talked about his process and his love for color. We talked about his inspirations. And we talked about his experiences in the fiber arts industry.

He was a delight to talk with. I hope you'll listen to the show and check it out for yourself.​

Charan Sachar's Biography: Charan Sachar (from Creative with Clay) lived in India for a significant part of his life where his mother ran a boutique, designing clothes for brides and bridesmaids. The designs, colors, fabrics and embroidery he came across then have a strong impact on his work now. 

In 2014, Charan took up knitting as a hobby and very soon the knit patterns started making an appearance into his work. Very soon, he purchased a floor loom and a spinning wheel. Now he obsesses over dyeing fiber and is fascinated about color mixing and different spinning techniques which change the appearance of the final yarn. The transformation of fiber to yarn and yarn to fabric inspires him further regarding the textures and colors in his pottery. 

He uses a combination of techniques such as wheel throwing, extrusions, slab constructions, and alterations to create his forms. Each piece is then further decorated with textures he creates to give it the feel of embroidered and knitted fabric. These are further enhanced with underglazes, slip, and glazes that he formulates to add beauty and functionality to the pieces.

In 2011, Charan quit his full-time job of 12 years as a software engineer to pursue his passion in clay. Pottery has given him the much-needed respite from the monotony of everyday life. 

His story and work have been featured in the New York Times, HGTV, several knitting magazines such as Vogue, Noro, Tiny Fiber studio. His goal is to continue to work with this medium to create artwork which can be cherished for life.

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During the show we talked about a lot of things. Here are the resource links to some of those things...​

• Creative with Clay Website:
  http://www.creativewithclay.com 

 

• Charan's Patreon Site:
  https://www.patreon.com/creativewithclay

 

• Charan's Social Media Links: 
  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativewithClay
  YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Creativeclay
  Instagram: https://instagram.com/Charansachar

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