SCOUT COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS - Kate from Okay Clay

At Scout, we’re all about our community and we love to share the stories of inspiring people around us who have something to express, who like to create small or big things, or turn their passion into small businesses.

Here is a short interview that we did with Kate, one of our Scout students but also a ceramicist who founded her own small business Okay Clay, while also teaching pottery classes at Clay Sydney.

Hi Kate, can you share a little bit of your background and what brought you to this passion for ceramics and pottery?

Absolutely! My name is Kate and I am a ceramicist & graphic designer working out of my studio in Marrickville. I have been pursuing my love of pottery for 10 years, most recently exploring graphic forms through my new creations under my brand Okay Clay whilst also teaching pottery at Clay Sydney. I also work commercially as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator as well as doing the marketing and graphics for Clay Sydney.

I have always been passionate about making but I think my practice really became my own when I found the ceramic medium. I credit a lot of my skills with my time studying ceramics in Montreal and working at a small studio in London. Having been fortunate enough to work abroad in these studios and continuously be surrounded by incredible artists continues to inspire me every day.

What does your typical weekday look like?

I usually start my mornings early in the studio to get a few hours in on my pieces before work starts. It's my favourite time to be at the studio before everyone gets in so you have the space all to yourself. Especially working on my larger sculptural pieces, it’s good to get a jump start first thing in the morning to allow them to slowly dry through the day as the drying process is very important to their success.

I then move into the marketing and design portion of my day which I do for all the Clay Sydney studios. Recently I've been working on organising markets, new workshops and developing some fresh branding for the company. I wrap up around 4 and if I still have some energy ill finish up what I started in the morning. Fridays are my big studio day so I tend to get most of my things finished off then, it’s a great way to wind down my week before the weekend starts.

What do you most love about your job / clay-making?

I love that I have been able to make a living out of my art. I think we are told that things like your hobbies can only exist in a separate space to your working life. I am lucky enough that I have found a company where all my experience and passions feed into one where I can work in a studio that supports my ceramic practice and I can work with other creative people that really value the arts like I do.

Where does the inspiration to start your own ceramics business Okay Clay come from? Can you tell us a little bit more what Okay Clay is all about?

Okay Clay was born out of my desire to fill my own home with beautiful things. Okay Clay for me is about creating objects and sculptures for the home that invite a curiosity and a response. Bright colourful forms and graphic shapes are the go for me. Typically I tend to start my sculptures within a movement or transformation. I explore the shape with a smaller maquette of the bigger stuff. For my design objects I predominately work with graphic shapes utilising a limited colour palette reminiscent of a 70s era

What ceramic piece are you most proud of ?

Probably the most recent sculpture ‘Awake’ which I completed a few weeks ago.

What qualities are required when working with clay?

You’ve really got to be willing to learn from your mistakes. There's always a different method or alternative approach to making a piece. Harnessing the creative abilities of your community & constantly being willing to learn and research. I am sure it’s the same with your teacher's movement practice. It's a lifelong journey and it’s because of that that it is so rewarding.

What goal do you hope to achieve by the end of this year?

I would love to have a show with my larger sculptures at the end of the year. It's nice to see it starting to come together and would love to curate a full show. Working with local spaces to create from artwork would also be a great achievement.

When you’re not making ceramics, how do you like to spend your free time?

I try to stay active as it's super important for my mental health. I always love coming for my yoga classes with Camille at Scout, it helped me so much through a really hard time in my life and for that I will always be so grateful. I have recently started Jiu-jitsu and am really enjoying that as well as hula-hooping in my spare time. This study of movement has really helped me in my design, particularly with my sculpture work. I'm always trying to incorporate the human form and different shapes that you get to see through movement.

What best advice would you give to someone who wants to start clay making/pottery? Where should they start?

A lot of people try to go straight into wheel throwing, which is an incredible practice, but I always encourage people to start with a foundation in hand building, from there you will pick up the intricacies and the limitations of clay much quicker which you can then apply to wheel throwing when you’re ready for that next step. Clay Sydney has some great short hand-building workshops that I would really recommend to build up those basic techniques before diving into the wheel.

Where can we find you (clay classes) and your beautiful ceramics pieces?

I post all my work and show a few of the techniques I’m working with on my Instagram @_okayclay, and there's also a link on there to my website www.okayclay.com.au that shows my pieces for sale. At the moment my teaching days are Monday and Tuesday nights, where I’m doing a 6-week hand-building course at Clay Sydney in Enmore.