What is your primary medium?
My primary medium is ceramics.
How did you get interested in working with ceramics?
I was first introduced to it in middle school. It was one of the required classes I had to take and I thought it was fun but I never did anything really serious after it until I went to Boise State University. I was in the art department and started taking painting and drawing classes and I had to take a three dimensional class. And I was like, “Oh, I really liked ceramics, I'll take that too.” And just totally fell in love with it. I didn't expect to, you know, I knew I enjoyed it, but I'd taken woodworking and some metals classes, and there’s just something about it, how meditative it is and how malleable the clay is. That was kind of what kept drawing me back to it. So that's where it came from.
What is your favorite component of pottery?
I think exploring different techniques and actually throwing on the wheel. It’s such a long process of what you go through from your ideas and inspiration to making and finishing. And I think probably just being on the wheel that’s my favorite part, actually being in the zone and not listening to the narrative in your head or what's going on in the world. And just kind of like, “I need to make a planter”, this is what I'm going to focus on now.”
Are you able to support yourself with art?
I am right now. I worked at a coffee shop all through college and never expected that I would be able to make a living off my art. But I've been really, really lucky and in 2019 I worked my ass off and went on sabbatical from my job. I was like, “Okay, it's October, I'm going to work my butt off through the winter, because that's the busiest season and see how it goes.” And then yes, I had three months of just working really hard doing markets, I did Wintry Market and then after that I had enough money saved up to pay my bills till maybe March. And then the pandemic hit. And I was like, “Well, I guess this is what I'm doing now.” So it worked out in a really great way for me. And yeah, I sell online and then usually through markets, but with the pandemic, it's just been online.
What gives you the drive to create?
I think it's just the way it makes me feel. It gives me purpose. You know, right now, I don't have a lot more than like, this is what I'm doing for my income, but it's also what I'm doing because I enjoy it. So it's partially that I have to be here to pay my bills, but then also it's just really grounding for me to be able to create. To have ideas and find inspiration and then make those into functional pieces that people will use in their everyday life. So, more of a selfish reason is just because I enjoy it, but I have the benefit that other people enjoy it as well. So it's worked out in that way and I think having this creative space has been a huge motivator to go to work and do the things.
How important is it for you to have a space?
So important. Before I had this space, I literally had my wheel in my large bathroom and was throwing in there and just kind of making it work. But it's already a very solitary medium anyway so it's been really great to have this space. Not only for the physical space and having room to store my pieces and have different work in progress. But a huge part of it has been the community aspect of having other artists around me to sort of bounce ideas off of, or motivate you, or just ask, you know, “Is this weird?”, “But is it like a cool, weird?” You know, it's really nice to have that sort of like minded group of people that I really missed when I was at Boise State. You have the people that you can talk about glaze recipes with and they don't pretend like they're really interested, but they're totally checking out. And I think, especially during the pandemic, this was the only place I would go and these were the only people I would see. So they've become like a family to me. I think it's really helped me personally, and it's helped my business. It's helped me feel like I'm on the right track, having a space that's dedicated to it. It's hard when you have it at your house because it's like, it's always there and it's kind of like, I could be working on this, but I also need to do laundry or whatever it is. So I think it's really important to be able to have a space where you come here to work, or you come here to just relax and think about what you want to do next. It's dedicated to your craft and yeah, it's been really great having it.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Mostly through nature. When I was younger, I would go hiking a lot and pick up rocks. I definitely have boxes of rocks at my house. But I would always find interest in the little things that are sort of overlooked and the small details. I mean we're in the gem state so it's perfect. When we're in the mountains I'm focusing on the quartz that's growing naturally and it has this lichen and moss on it. Or the high desert terrain, I really just find it from all around me and try to incorporate it into my work.
Do you do commissions or just original work?
Both. I do some commission work and I really enjoy that, especially if I know the person. It's really great because I can throw ideas off of them and really make it what they want based on what they know of my work. I also have dinnerware sets that are made to order; so it's like, this is what you're going to get. You order it, you know I need three to four weeks to make it and there's a balance between what I make that I know is gonna make money and what I make because it's fun and I want to explore. I prefer doing commissions or just making pieces and selling them wholesale to a store so people can choose what they like.
Why is art a worthwhile endeavor?
Art has been a worthwhile endeavor for me personally because it grounds me; it's almost like my therapy. It sort of gets me out of my head and centers me. It allows me to express myself in a way that I can't often do through words. Yeah, it's, it's been so important for me. Especially growing up, it was the only time that I felt like I was important or I mattered or like the things that I did mattered and I feel more myself when I'm creating. I think it's important because it's a way to communicate with people through different cultures and in different languages. You can see a piece of art and the artist might have had a different reason for making it or a different story but it communicates a message to whoever's looking at it and it becomes personal to them. So I think it's a way of connecting humanity and nature. And then for me, personally, it's been just really good to like, chill me out. I'm a very anxious person and it sort of grounds me and centers me in a way where I can deal with the world in my own way. I think I would be a very different person if I didn't have art in my life; I probably wouldn't be a very fun person.
Are there any Boise specific opportunities you’ve taken advantage of?
I’ve been a part of Boise Open Studios, BOSCO. We open up the studio and people can come and check out where we work and see what our spaces are, what our inspiration is and meet the people that make the things they like. That was a really good opportunity. So we signed up as a group and pretty much everyone in the warehouse here was signed up. So you went to one spot and you got to meet woodworkers, jewelers, ceramic artists, painters. That was a really great way to meet people and get them introduced to our work. I also received a grant from the Alexa Rose Foundation right before we moved in here and it basically made it so I could move into this space, which was awesome. I wrote about how I'm throwing pots in my bathroom and it'd be awesome if I had a real space because I was moving things from my house and then taking it to the pottery center, they would fire it, bring it back to my house, glaze it, then they would glaze it. Now I have everything in one spot. So yeah, having the Alexa rose grant was huge in allowing me to land this spot. I mean, there's so many different grants and different opportunities available and I'm excited this year to take advantage of more of them because getting that feedback from the foundation was like, “Okay, I think I'm good at this, but other people also appreciate it and want to see it grow.”
Is there anything I forgot to ask about?
Um, maybe my technique. I had mentioned that I was interested in rocks before and the landscape of Idaho. The technique I do is called agate-ware. You mix different colored clay bodies to create one piece. So traditionally, ceramics is one clay body and then you cover it with a glaze and add the colors after the fact. But with my work, I like to mix the different clay bodies together and that's what you see. I don't cover that with a glaze, it's exposed. It turns into really cool patterns and I can make the same form and use the same amount of clay body for each piece, but they're always going to be different. I think I like that part of it. That it truly is unique in that way, but it can be frustrating too, because it's like, I really like this pattern and I can try really hard to make that pattern happen again, but yeah. I'm drawn to mixing the clay bodies and exposing them once they're finished and then just putting a clear glaze over it rather than having a piece and glazing it after. I think that's because I was so bad at glazing at Boise State, which coincidentally, the glaze room at Boise State is named after me but I'm horrible with glazing! So I'm working on that part.
Do you think going to college helped you with your career?
I think it helped me figure out what I wanted to do because I started and I was like, “I'm interested in art.” And “I'm not really interested in a traditional nine to five career for myself.” I knew I wanted to do something I enjoyed NOW. I don't want to work my whole life and then reach retirement and hopefully have enough time left to really enjoy myself. I'm going to do it now. I think it introduced me to a lot of different mediums. I had great teachers. I had great cohorts. I think it was important in that way where I was able to sort of explore things in a safe environment and then after college, it's like, good luck.
Will you ever stop making art?
Never. It might not be in the capacity that I'm doing now, ceramics is really hard on your body so eventually my body is going to give out. But I think I'm always going to be creating. Whether that's just hand building things. Yeah, unless I don't have my hands anymore I don't think I could stop creating and I don't ever see that happening.