There are many things you can do with a pile of clay. One thing is a pottery pig. Austin Thordson is the creator of the pottery pigs. Austin has made over 20 pottery pigs over the past three years. All different sizes and colors.

Starting back in 7th or 8th grade, Austin made his first three pottery pigs. He has always had a passion for hogs. Austin has grown up on a hog farm and his inspiration for pottery pigs started there. Austin really enjoys making the pottery pigs and his favorite part about it is painting them different colors.  He has made all his pottery pigs different sizes and colors. The sizes range from quarter size to baseball size. Some of the pigs also come with a background story like The Great Pig War Memorial, which honors the pig civil war and Sir. Bacon’s army who won the war. Austins friends’ have also started naming some of the pigs like, Cheeseburger pig and Camo pig.

Everyone is in agreement that pottery pigs are not a waste of clay, including Mr. Janke. When asked what he thought about pottery pigs Mr. Janke stated, “two years ago, when my room was first invaded by pottery pigs I was a bit skeptical of the artistic merit of these little creatures, but as the semester went on I saw how many awesome ways a pottery pig could be done”. When asked if he ever had other students make so many of the same project? He said, “No, Austin is a unique creature much like the pottery pigs he creates”.

Austin is planning on continuing to make more pottery pigs and is currently working on making a clay pig farm. Look for a pottery pig in the art display case.