Dogs and cats in space with Ian Buchbinder | And Their Craft Episode 2

Ian Buchbinder doesn't take himself too seriously. He calls himself a potter, but you'd be remiss to assume that's all he does. Between teaching, running a business, and fixing kilns he finds the time to make teapots, mugs, and bowls. Ian takes a lot of pride in his work. There are no stamps or stencils to be found in his workshop, everything is drawn by hand, on every piece, every time. And while went to art school, there’s no pretension here: take one look at his work and you get it. It’s accessible. It’s affordable. It’s the mug you’ll always keep clean because you want to use it every day. As he says “The ultimate goal is to make objects that bring a little joy to your day.” Watch as Ian let’s us into his studio and shares his craft with us.

I’ve been looking forward to making another one of these for a very long while. I discovered Ian’s work at the RISD Craft 2021, and knew I had to reach out. We got together on a balmy November day (which featured a tornado warning), and spent about 8 hours walking through his process. The shoot yielded nearly 5 hours of footage. It was tough to cut it down to a concise and entertaining half an hour, but I got there after 13 drafts.

Know a craftsperson who we should profile next? Let us know!

Here’s the timeline for the final edit in Premiere Pro

And Their Craft Episode 1

A long time ago I had an idea for a documentary series about craftspeople that focused on why they do what they do. This is the pilot episode of that series.

Shot in February 2017 at the North Bennet Street School this video has been a long time in the making — moving on and off the back-burner too many times to count.

I’ve known Sarah since middle school and she was kind enough to let me stick a camera in her face for a day while she made a book. She’s also been extremely patient while I put this together.

Recent photo of the notebook Sarah made. It almost feels wasteful to put my silly ideas into it.

I worked on a project with Rick Broussard and Courtney Hoppe called “Stuff Made Here” that is a spiritual ancestor to this series.

I’m always looking for more craftspeople to meet. So, if you know someone, or are someone, who makes stuff, please reach out to me on my contact form or via twitter.