We recently connected with Cammie Meerdink and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cammie, thanks for joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

There are many doubts I have as a creative person trying to earn a living (in this economy!) that range from how sustainable my practice is to whether my body can keep up with the physical demands of this work. One of the hardest for me to handle is whether or not it would be easier to have a “regular job.” I love making pottery, and I find the ability to create beautiful objects to be deeply fulfilling. However, it’s not all pretty pots and self-scheduled work hours, as any self-employed person knows. The sales tax, the marketing, the shipping and customer service – it can wear a woman down. Fortunately, I worked in a wild range of such jobs after earning a prestigious sounding but less than practical Bachelor of the Arts degree in Biology and English Literature, I have truly tried so many different ways to get health insurance without selling my soul! I’ve been a movie rental store assistant manager – which isn’t even a job anymore! I was purchaser for a company that built lab equipment, then a disaster coordinator for fire/water/mold remediation company. I worked part-time at night in a small town grocery store. I went back to school and got a 2-year degree in nursing, thinking maybe that would at least be more financially rewarding. And it was, definitely! The paychecks were great, the hours were horrible, and the stories I was a part of were heart-breaking. In 2022, I moved into full-time creative work. It felt like I had given day jobs all the chances to be enough, and they simply were not what I needed to feel like I was doing what I needed to be doing. Even with years of experience in the more traditional work force, even knowing how much less fulfilling I found the many different jobs I had, there are still days that I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to go back. It’s especially tempting when the rest of life gets overwhelming, and I still have to keep a small business running while creating its entire inventory by hand. There are days I just want an assignment from a boss, even a meaningless one! They are not terribly frequent, and I do recognize that age old human tendency to covet the grass on the other side of the fence, no matter which side of the fence I am on. I know deep down that they are few and far between compared to the lack of purpose and fulfillment I battled daily in my old life of collecting regular paychecks. This creative life I have built leaves time for what I need in most moments. I can walk the dogs on our rural property and revel in the brief beauty of the spring wildflowers. My gardens are filled with food and native plants. When my kids are home from school, I am almost always home, too. There will always be days where I wish someone else could take the reins, but my creative life is worth pushing through those times and bringing more beauty into this wild world we all share.

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.

I have always been an artist, and more importantly, I have always felt most rewarded by artistic pursuits. I can still remember my third grade teacher praising one of my art projects and the balloon of joy that filled me up. No A+ on a math test ever did that for me! I found pottery in high school in the classroom of Chris Dokolasa, who remains a talented ceramic artist today. Throwing at the wheel felt like coming home, and it still does today, over 25 years later. I dabble in other creative areas, like sewing, quilting, crochet, and water color, and I would always rather bake my own bread, too! Making things makes me feel whole and fully alive. My favorite thing about pottery is that it can be fully functional or wildly creative. I make a lot of tiny things – birds, fairy houses, teeny tiny planters – and I also make the staple mugs and vases. Ceramics offers such a range of outlets for creative expression. I am always trying new things out, and I love hearing from that my diverse pottery offerings are something my customers enjoy, too!

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

Being an artist is amazing and awfully hard all at the same time. People often assume it’s a carefree life, and yes of course there are much cheaper mugs at Target! It would be a much better world if more of us could be the creative people we want to be. I try to balance working on causes to make both my local community and beyond a more fair and equitable environment with making pretty pottery. A more fair and just world will naturally support the creative side of things.

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

For me personally, the most rewarding part of my creative life is being my own boss. It can be hard sometimes, and there are days where I wish someone else could do the website updates, but overall, I feel so much more fulfilled than I ever did working for someone else. It’s one thing to do inane tasks for a big corporation and quite another to do them for my own business. I make my own schedule and only have to deal with my own inability to plan well. I was often frustrated when I worked a traditional job and someone else’s lack of planning meant extra work for me. Now it’s all my fault! And honestly, I am pretty good at learning from my mistakes and finding creative solutions to my problems, so even when a box of pottery falls over and breaks (like it did today), it’s only a moment of stress and heartbreak. I pick up the pieces and move on to the next part of my day. I have so much less resentment and get to do so much more of what I love.

Contact Info:

• Website: Piperpottery.com
• Instagram: @piperpottery
• Facebook: Facebook.com/piperpottery
• Twitter: @piperpottery

Image Credits
I took all the product photos and my daughter took the portrait.