The Year of Muddy Hands
A little throwback to a different kind of creative project.
2022 was the year I played with clay.
Although we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the pandemic was still looming large and I had reached peak screen fatigue. Stepping away from the blue light and using my hands to play in literal earth was grounding. Like a sort of active meditation.
It all started with a kit of air-dry clay from Sculpd. I bought it early January, like it was a New Year’s resolution (and who knows, maybe it was). It came with a bunch of tutorial cards and online links, explaining how to create various pots. But ultimately, I decided to do something different. Be original.
So I made very basic candle holders… They’re not ugly, they’re just not original.
The next time I took the kit out, I did something arguably as unoriginal, but at least it was fun to create; I made a tiger. Tigers were already ubiquitous back then and most people were getting tired of them. Not me!
(Play the above video for tiger process. Annoyingly, gifs don’t seem to work here anymore!)
The third time I put my hands in the mud was at a two-hour pottery class. On a wheel!
“It’s very hard” is a sentence that often features in the stories of people recounting their first experience using the potter’s wheel. I wholeheartedly agree with this conventional wisdom.
Those who have been reading me for a while will know that I don’t like to be bad at something. I’m not sure I’ve ever expressed it that way, but that’s basically what perfectionism is. However, we also remember that I’m constantly trying to rid myself of the P word… But I failed during that class. The pressure of performing well overcame me. Instead of embracing the inevitable failures, accepting them as necessary to learn and improve, I became obsessed with making something ‘good’ (spoiler: none of my pots were).
Only towards the end did I start letting go and engaging in play. I can thank the act of throwing for that. It takes so much concentration to model the clay that it ended up clearing my mind of any other thoughts. It felt good to just be in the act of doing. I left wanting to do it again. Now I just need to find cheaper classes! 😬
The pottery lesson was also one in humility. My partner, who technically should have struggled more than me because he’s usually not very good at doing practical things, was much better! Maybe he’s a natural at throwing. Or maybe he understood from the beginning that he should just enjoy the process and it made him improve quickly because he learnt from his previous mistakes.
I’ve not used clay often enough to be able to transfer my visual language onto my creations yet, so far I’ve just been doing random things. I keep meaning to play with it more, but time is a limited resource. Maybe it should be on my New Year’s resolutions list for 2025.
Judith xx
Monthly inspiration
There are some very inspiring people out there who CAN convey their visual language through clay. People whose work is instantly recognisable. Here are a few of them.
1. Not Work Related is ran by Sarah Hussaini. Her background as an architect shows in the very graphic patterns she develops, and the attention to detail she puts in her work. I love watching her process on Instagram. She’s also very open about how hard it is to make a living as a potter. Honesty is something I think should be more widespread among independent makers.
2. Everything made by Laurence Leenaert, the founder of LRNCE, is both fun and elegant. The patterns she adorns her work with are somewhere between abstract and naïve, and always beautiful.
3. Identical twins Liv and Dom are behind their eponymous brand. Their pieces emerge from their interest in antiques, traditional craft, folk art, and their life in (semi) rural Sussex. They often depict the nude form in a fun and celebratory way.
4. I first came across Yasmin Falahat’s work through her fig and pomegranate ceramics—inspired by her mixed heritage. Such lovely plates! Her work revolves mainly around food and how it relates to culture.
You can follow my illustration and graphic design work here.