We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wheelhouse Pottery a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Wheelhouse, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have parents/family that support our creative ambitions. In fact, both of us were raised in family owned businesses and can accredit a lot of those ambitions to our parents. While perusing the arts is a little different than what either of our families do (Jacob’s parents owning a landscaping company, and Madison’s family owning a beauty supply company) they have taught us each so much. They have shown us the dedication and sacrifice required to start and manage a successful business, as well as the joy and pride that come from bringing something to life.

While we value the lessons learned through our family’s ventures, we also have to recognize the encouragement we have received while navigating our own. We have family and friends visit us at almost every market we attend. They are the ones we can’t wait to share our newest ideas and creations with, to celebrate new opportunities with, because they are always are biggest cheerleaders.

With their help, we’ve been equipped with the tools and knowledge necessary to turn this passion into a full time endeavor, and we believe we are on the brink of achieving that. We cannot thank our families enough for their unwavering support. We hope that other aspiring artists are just as lucky.

Wheelhouse, 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?

We are Jacob Tonkin and Madison Stein, and we are small batch potters based out of Woodstock, IL. We do a majority of our selling at our town’s farmers market.

We each started our journey with ceramics like most, as our favorite elective in high school. Jacob continued taking classes all throughout college and beyond. He would stay late and end up finding himself throwing past dinnertime. Campus security trusted him to lock up because they knew he would be there after hours.

On the day we met this was one of the topics that let us to talk for hours. So much so that we agreed our second date needed to be spent glazing mugs. And now almost seven years later, we are converting a garage once utilized as a wood shop, into our dream home studio.

As a couple we combine our complimentary skills and shared love for handmade pottery to create pieces that are not only functional but personal, expressive, and designed to last. We spend most nights after work, after dinner, continuing Jacob’s old habits from college, in the studio. Talking, laughing, brainstorming, creating, and enjoying each other’s company, with the hopes of making your new favorite mug along the way.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

We believe that the most helpful thing society can do to support artists and creatives, as well as a thriving eco system, is to create an environment where they are not only encouraged, but deemed necessary. When people decide to buy local, handmade goods over something that is mass-produced, they are directly impacting their local economies and allowing artists opportunities to succeed.

It is now easier than ever to hop online or visit a shop and find items that look handmade but come without the high price tag. However, these pieces often lack something important. When you purchase from an artist, you are getting something truly unique, special, one of a kind. You are getting something that has been crafted with intention and care, one that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly than factory made. You are getting something that uses timeless techniques that connect you to history – techniques that are learned, practiced and refined over years. When society recognizes the value in that, they are creating an environment where artists are celebrated but also ensures that they are compensated fairly – giving them the resources needed to continue their work.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For us, the most rewarding aspect of being artists is the community we have built around us. Through our work we have developed countless connections in our town and surrounding areas. Like most creatives, we tend to lean on the introverted side, and the thought of setting up a booth to have floods of people come talk to you can be a bit overwhelming. However, we’ve discovered that these interactions aren’t draining, but quite the opposite. There are times when our customers turned friends, stop at our booth and chat to us, chat to each other, and fill up our space with their energy, and how happy are we to have created a welcoming environment out of a booth in the middle of a farmers market, for friends to gather.

We take pride in the relationships we’ve built with our customers and followers, many of whom return time and time again. We have customers who have our work displayed all throughout their homes; who any time they need a gift they grab one of our mugs; who thoughtfully pick up every cup on our table to find the one that will perfectly compliment their morning ritual. And that means more to us than we will ever be able to put into words. When someone buys one of our pieces, it is an exchange of energy. They are not just taking home a mug or a bowl – they’re taking a part of our creative journey home with them. How special is that?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wheelhousepoco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wheelhouse.poco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092978905550