We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ben Mayer-Fried a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, thanks for joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

For me, I’d always been a teacher. Leading classes, private lessons, corporate events, etc…. My focus had always been on other people’s work and helping them get to where they wanted to be with their art. When Covid came, everything changed.
We had just had our son who was still a small baby when lockdown began and my wife and I were suddenly, and indefinitely unemployed. Our L.A. one bedroom apartment got real small real fast and we decided to relocate back to where we met in Rochester NY.
It was still the pandemic and it turns out it would be for another 18 months.

In order to keep my career on track, I pivoted, like so many did at that time.

Changing from a full time instructor to becoming a production potter and a small business owner was a real 180 for me.
I went from teaching around 70-80 students a week to 0.
I went from working in a large, well equipped pottery studio, to a 64 square foot treehouse.

For the first time, I was focusing on my own work instead of others and it really pushed me to find my own style. Being without space or facilities also had some pretty significant impact on my work too. In most pottery studios there’s separate spaces for separate parts of the process. My space was the size of a modest half bath so I needed to adjust.

I simply didn’t have the space for a glazing room or even a table top to do the work, and this led to my current body of work, Exploring colored clay.

I add the color to the clay before putting it on the wheel and this creates some really stunning designs in the finished product, with colors not often found in this type of functional ceramics.

Ben, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was always drawn to the arts. Ever since childhood I’ve had an interest in “ things” with a capitol T and making art objects seemed the next logical step.
What draws me to functional ceramics is a sense of grounding and purpose. Abstract sculptural form is cool but I never know where to start. In my practice, the form is always in harmony with function. Beautiful or no, a cup should “cup”. This is always the starting point for any of my work.
I want people to use the things I make, and get to enjoy them as a part of their every day. I want my work to feel good to your eyes, your hands and your soul. Art should make you feel good, incorporating art into functional objects makes the mundane, special.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Vote! We live in a country that doesn’t value the arts the way we should. Most artists need a second or third job to support what for too many becomes a “hobby” or a “side hustle”. There are places in the world where arts are subsidized by the govt the same way oil drilling and predatory banking practices are subsidized here. Arts make us better. Vote.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I kinda like NFTs. They’re like digital baseball cards, or any other collectors item. They’re worth what someone’s willing to pay. I don’t think I’ll be spending any money on them, but if it makes you happy, buy one.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bmfpottery.Etsy.com
• Instagram: Bmfpottery
• Facebook: Bmfpottery