Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tara Kothari. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Pursuing a creative path professionally, happened by accident.
Since I was young, I loved working with my hands and creating. As a child you would often find me making crafts. As an adult, that creativity continued whenever I had some down time, on weekends and vacation. On an everyday basis, my creativity was satisfied by baking cakes and cooking food from around the world. I never imagined that’s what I’d get to be in a creative profession.

After I gave up my full time teaching job, I wrote a food blog with staged photos of creations from my kitchen. I constantly was in search of tableware to plate my food in. The figured the next logical step, was to make my own pieces; and I figured taking a pottery class was a good way to be a part of a community, I signed up for a handbuilding class at a studio in Manhattan.

While I made plain work to plate food in, I also began experimenting with discarded flowers from the stores and pressing them in clay. La Mano Pottery, the community studio was near New York City’s Flower Market and I had access to seasonal flowers.
Being from the tropics, this was my first step to accepting seasons and learning from them.

As every other person who has touched clay, I was addicted to it. At La Mano Pottery, I found friends and a purpose. I understood surface design and texture were what I craved in my clay work. I began creating more than simple pottery used to plate food. I began developing a voice and style in my pieces which people seemed to connect with. Today, I have a signature style that people recognize as mine. That’s when I knew this creative journey was’t just a hobby- It was the beginning of a new profession.

Tara, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Tara Kothari, known for my rustic botanical ceramics with a contemporary flair. My work is created by pressing real leaves and flowers in clay to create functional pottery and sculptural work. I moved from India in 2011, to teach at a Montessori School in New Jersey. In the last decade, somewhere along the way, I started feeling unsettled and was filled with a need be creative. I gave up my full time job. and over a course of joyful accidents, I started selling botanical pottery.

I started with knowing nothing about clay. Several years, mistakes, ruined pieces and glaze errors later, today, my business has grown into what it is, I rent my own studio in an art facility in Jersey City, where I work with a few part time studio assistants. I feel grateful to be partnering with dozens of amazing stores and galleries across the country.

Creating with flowers has helped me understand the seasons and has connected me with like minded people; people who are fond of botanicals. Working with galleries and stores has helped me feel connections to local communities.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Being an immigrant, I strive for a connection to USA, the land I live in.
I have no roots here, so I am looking for some way to ground myself.
In working with seasonal flowers, I get to understand the Earth where I live.
In working with clay, I get to fulfill my creativity.
And finally in making custom work for stores and individual clients, within my wheel house ofcourse, I get to connect with people and build relationships, thereby connecting with local communities.
So really this little creative endeavor is not just my way to make a living, it is a way to feel at home on this land, with my self expression.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

We live busy, overhwhelming lives and I feel fortunate that I get to slow down and “play” with clay.
I am also happy that my pieces, allow me to connect with people emotionally,
There has been no job where I have been as happy as I am with working with clay and flowers.
Besides, when I run my own studio, design and create my work there are no boundaries and no one tells me that i can and cannot do something.
Of course there are things that are stressful about the process- trying to figure out the glaze chemistry, understanding what makes a clay and glaze match and some aspects of the business side of the work. But at the end of the day, everything about being creative and running my business is an extremely rewarding experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www,TaraKothari.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarakotharistudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaraKotharistudio/
• Linkedin:
• Twitter:
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Tarakothari
• Yelp:
• Soundcloud:

Image Credits

Tara Kothari