We were lucky to catch up with Dana Cattani and Chris Smejkal recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dana and Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
We have both always been drawn to creative outlets and have incorporated aspects of creativity in our professional lives as much as possible. But it wasn’t until five years ago when we jumped into the world of ceramics. Dana had released her book, The Official Christmas Elves Handbook in 2018 and began doing local events to promote and sell her book and artwork. It was at one of these events that we met Marcella Cloud, one of the directors of The Macoupin Art Collective in Staunton, IL, and learned they had a pottery wheel course starting a few weeks later. We signed up and had so much fun! We loved the course and the people, so we signed up for the next 6-wk course, this time in hand-building, and that’s when we both knew we had found “it”. We loved the freedom of working from slabs and were drawn to the creative aspect of intentional imperfection. Working with clay quickly became a regular part of our lives, and the next holiday season, the “elves” of Santatown decided to sell some trinkets along side of Dana’s Christmas book. They flew off the shelf; we couldn’t keep up. Then Covid hit and we decided to turn part of our basement into a clay studio. Through those many days at home, we worked on our individual styles and new creations, and realized we had something unique we didn’t often see: two creative styles in one business and all hand-built ceramics, instead of mainly wheel-based pieces. So, we invested in a commercial tent and booth displays and grew from there. We haven’t looked back. There are definitely times when it is stressful and exhausting, but mostly, it’s been exciting, rewarding, and inspiring.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to share how you got started, the type of products you make, and what sets you apart/makes you unique to our readers?
In our home, there has always been a closet full of art and craft supplies we both like to dabble in: acrylics, watercolors, epoxy, rust art, charcoal, decoupage, ephemera, etc. Those things were mainly for the momentary bursts of creative energy that would hit us. That’s actually how ceramics started for us – a creative outlet to fill that need in both of us. From there, we kind of fell backwards into turning it from a passionate hobby into a business. We laugh often that it’s fortunate we did fall into the same thing since we live in a 100-yr old bungalow with very limited basement space. Both of us work primarily with a variety of grogged stoneware clay, so, it helps to be able to share workspaces, tools, and kiln loads.
We want people to know these three main facets of our business we think makes us unique:
1. Every single piece we create is slab-built or sculpted. Not one item is created using a pottery wheel, like the majority of ceramic artists. We have immense respect and admiration for creating art on the wheel, it just wasn’t for us.
2. We have two very different aesthetics in one business. Chris is drawn to more natural finishes, using things found in gardens, fields, and woods. He also loves to play with humor and irreverent sayings to create a variety of fun usable art. Dana is drawn to color and texture, using found objects, kitchen items, and whatever else catches her eye. She doesn’t love monotony, so she’s always coming up with new lines to add to our collection. While our styles and pieces are very different from each other, we think they mix well to create a wonderfully eclectic space filled with art that embraces intentional irregularity.
3. We aim to keep our focus on gift items that are accessibly priced. While we do feature more artistic creations that take many hours and many steps to finish, thus the higher price tag, the vast majority of our pieces are $5 to $45, with a large variety for all ages and identities. We love that someone can walk into our space and buy a $6 magnet or a $15 leaf tray or a $35 mug. Most people are excited to walk away with a hand-made creation that called to them, so we want options for every price range in a wide variety of pieces from functional kitchen items to wall art. We’ve even added journals and stickers and our daughter’s crystal jewelry to many events, so, customers definitely have a vast selection to find a treasure for themselves or a gift.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Let us first say that the St Louis and Metro East areas are amazing in how incredibly supportive they are when it comes to the arts. This area offers countless art fairs, artisan markets, and a large variety of other opportunities where creatives can showcase their work, and, consistently, people turn out in large numbers to buy hand-made art and other creations. It’s amazing to witness and be part of.
On a macro level, we need to encourage more arts and hands-on programming for all ages in our schools, regardless of whether that is a large urban school or a small rural school district. And cities of all sizes across the country should encourage and create more opportunities for artists, artisans, crafters, and other creative small business owners to thrive, from festivals and galleries, to murals and markets, etc etc. Engaging communities and making art more accessible is a win-win for all.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Whether it’s a purchase for themselves, or the perfect gift was found with us, it’s a wonderful feeling that someone thought our pieces were special enough to find a place in their home or the home of a loved one. And it’s amazing to think we brought a smile to someone’s face, or shared in a moment of peace during their morning coffee, or created a piece of art that could be enjoyed for years to come.
We also are passionate about charity and giving back, so, we choose 2-3 charities to hold fundraisers for every year. In the past 5 years, we have raised and/or donated over 200 of our books, more than $1500, and dozens of ceramic pieces for charity fundraisers; and we still get the warm-fuzzies when we write a check or mail/deliver a box of books or ceramics. It’s important to us to encourage charitable acts, so, it will always be a feature in our business model.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.santatownpress.com
- Instagram: ParkBenchCreations
- Facebook: Park Bench Creations