We were lucky to catch up with Delani Taylor recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Delani thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I have always loved to work with my hands. As a kid in elementary school, I wanted to be a professional cake baker. Then for a brief moment, I knew pottery was the ideal job. Had I ever worked with clay before? No, I had not, but it was the ultimate way of working with your hands, and you can make so many practical things! I eventually changed my views and cycled through a litany of possible career choices. I ended up being a cook, which I loved…except for all the bad parts, of which there are many. I tried my hand at woodworking but it was too structured. Too much math and too many mistakes.
In the back of my mind, I always knew I would end up making pottery. It felt like my safety net. I still had never worked with clay, but I just knew in my bones that it was what I should be doing.
One day in 2017, I finally decided to take a pottery class at a local nonprofit. I wish I could say that I never looked back from there and that I fell deeply into the world of clay and kilns, but unfortunately, life had other plans.
I was hooked, but for several years I was unable to pursue it.
Finally, in 2021, I was able to get connected to the local clay community and get access to wheels, kilns, glazes, and knowledge and I can finally say I am deep in it and happily covered in mud.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
The basis of my business is that I just love playing with clay and working with my hands. I love the act of creating something useful from a block of mud.
I find that I seldom have a concept when I begin working. I let the clay tell me what it wants to be that day. Sometimes, it wants to be a moonjar, or a urn, or a large plate, or a mixing bowl, and other times it just wants to keep being a ball of clay. On those days, I spend my time glazing and finishing up the other pieces that are drying
This means that I do not make production pottery. Every piece is one of a kind.
I can make nearly identical plates and mugs, but I have more fun just following the clay’s direction.
I do enjoy working with people’s ideas to create work specifically for them, I’ve made tiny shot glasses, vases shaped like breasts, pie dishes, donut vases, bowl sets, serving bowls, and espresso cups with saucers; all as bespoke items for clients.
These pieces hold a special place in my heart because they’re symbols of community and collaboration.
Community is the best thing that I have created since starting this business.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I went to school for sustainable ecology so I think a lot about the long-lasting effects that making pottery has on the earth. Once the clay is fired, it undergoes a chemical change and is vitrified; or hardens to the point where it can’t be recycled back into mud. Once vitrified, it can take millions of years to break back down into clay.
Every firing of a kiln, whether electric, gas, or wood, adds pollution to the world. Glazes contain chemicals that can vaporize during firing and get releases into the atmosphere.
So every piece I make has to be worth it. It has to be worth the environmental impact it creates.
This drives me to get better and to restart when it is not working out.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The simple act of creation itself.
The way plans change.
The expectations versus results.
The manual labor.
The muscle memory.
I find it all rewarding because it’s all the result of me. The planning, practice, research, execution, and maintenance; are all coming from my head and hands.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ceramicsbydelani.wordpress.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delani.studio
Image Credits
Delani Taylor