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The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Ceramics Monthly: What inspires your work in clay?
Grace Potter: My work in clay is inspired by ecology, culture, and historical context. I live in Mendocino, California, in a small cabin built atop an old-growth redwood stump, surrounded by forest and roughly five miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, close enough to hear the occasional foghorn. Beneath the cabin lies a deposit of iron-rich clay that I harvest thoughtfully and with reverence, for use as surface slips and within clay bodies.
It is important to me that the work responds directly to where and when it is made, in material, form, and content. I see my work as inextricably linked to the greater web of life: tangibly, through using the clay beneath my feet, and more abstractly through concepts like time, both on a human and geologic scale. I am fascinated by the historical use of clay and what it reveals about the human experience. From a deep-time perspective, clay helps me contemplate larger scales of time and their connection to the present, including human influence on the global climate.
CM: What strategies have you developed to handle challenges you face, including setbacks in the studio or difficulties along the path to becoming an artist?
GP: My best strategy for facing challenges as an artist is maintaining a strong network of other artists to commiserate with. Being an artist can feel isolating, especially without a communal studio. In my experience, spending long hours alone, fixating on your work and how hard it is to be an artist, creates an unhealthy echo chamber. Reaching out to others facing similar challenges helps me feel less alone and zoom out from my own perspective to see the bigger picture.
Sometimes, though, the best thing you can do is simply step away. Go for a walk, take a deep breath, touch grass. And honestly, sometimes I just crash out. I think giving yourself the grace to fall apart is okay, too.
Learn more at emeliegracepotter.com or follow on Instagram @emeliegracepotter.
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