While other kids were playing in the dirt, Ben Rigney was playing in the clay.
As a young boy, he often visited his aunt in the Bay Area, deriving joy from spinning her pottery wheel to turn out ceramic creations.
“She was a potter who threw sculptural forms on the wheel as well as making raku pots,” he said, referring to a type of Japanese pottery.
Rigney’s long and circuitous path through the world of ceramic art has led him to Clubhouse 4 in Laguna Woods, where he is the “kiln man” for the pottery studio, tasked with firing the gas kilns and mixing the glazes.
“Mixing glazes is like following a recipe,” he said.
As a teenager, Rigney pursued his fascination with ceramics at Villa Park High School, then went on to study the art form in college. Along the way, he also learned the medium of blowing glass.
Moving to Las Vegas, he found work as a painter and faux finisher, applying raised designs to make objects, walls and surroundings look old. Learning about patterns and textures would serve him well in his later ceramic career.
“We were doing jobs as large as themed interiors for casinos,” he said. An overlay of a steel wall, for example, could be made to resemble natural wood.
After the 2008 recession took its toll on the economy, Rigney returned to his first love, ceramics.
“I got into building wood-fired kilns that could hold hundreds of pieces for a pottery studio,” he said. “But potters are artists, who are not always great with business, and that studio closed.”
Moving back to Southern California, he went to work for a ceramicist aptly named Clay Wood, who owned Clay on First, a studio in Long Beach. Subsequent jobs led Rigney to Muddy’s in Santa Ana and the renowned AMOCA (American Museum of Ceramic Art) in Pomona. There he served as a resident artist in a 12,000-square-foot studio space from 2017 to 2020, when the pandemic brought everything to a halt.
During his time there, Rigney was able to create his own work to sell on a consignment basis through the museum.
Through his years of working with stoneware and porcelain, he developed his signature style of applying slip, or liquid clay, to the outside of his pots to build up patterns and textures with tools such as ribs and trowels.
“I spent the three years as a resident artist at AMOCA perfecting the formula, which allows me to cut so deeply through the porcelain without it cracking or falling off the surface of that or the other clays that I use,” he said
“I like to make large work,” he added. “A height of 24 inches is normal for me.” Often he will create the largest pot that is possible to throw on the wheel.
Lately, Rigney has specialized in pots that can be used for plants, especially succulents. He belongs to the Long Beach Cactus and Succulent Club of America, creating planters to their specifications, including unglazed interiors and holes for drainage.
He moved to Laguna Woods two and a half years ago, and last December went to work at the ceramics studio in Clubhouse 4.
Still passionate about ceramics after more than 50 years, Rigney said, “I love creating textures and colors.”
Besides throwing on the wheel, he also enjoys hand building and sculptural work. Fantastic creatures, including gargoyles, are part of his body of work.
Rigney can be found manning the ceramic kilns at Clubhouse 4 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“He has been very helpful and willing to share if you have questions,” said Robyn Howland, a member of the Potters and Sculptors Club who does her own work in the studio.
“He loves to teach and has been incredibly helpful,” said Pat Bettendorf, one of the ceramics studio’s supervisors, referring to Rigney’s many duties at the studio. “He’s very knowledgeable about glazes and everything to do with ceramics.
“He’s fantastic and the best tech we’ve had in years.”
