About Dry Lake Studios
Josh Yim
Dry Lake Studios is a passion project of Josh Yim—a chemist who dabbles in ceramics at night and on the weekends. He picked up ceramics in the summer of 2016 and has been throwing clay in a campus studio located next to Lake Lagunita, a dried out lake.
Josh is originally from Queens, NY and studied Chemistry at Cornell. After graduating, he spent a year studying the biochemistry of tiny worms in beautiful Tubingen, Germany before making the trek out west to start his graduate studies at Stanford.
The Studio
The studio is housed in the Elliot Program Center at Stanford University. The studio has 13 potter wheels, a wedging table, an electric and raku kiln, as well as multiple glazes for dipping and painting. Our studio is completely run by the Stanford Ceramics Club and is home to roughly 40 members. Additionally, classes are taught throughout the year by students and local potters who come and use the studio.
Depending on the weather, one can hear coyotes howling in the dried up lake or hear frogs croaking when the lake fills with enough water to become a marsh. Snakes and owls occasionally make their appearance as they hunt for dinner at night.
THe Process
The process of creating a ceramic piece of work can be boiled down to three steps:
Throw and shape the clay
Trim and bisque-fire the piece
Glaze and fire the piece