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

Christine, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

So the first time I ever started doing ceramics i learned it in high school as one of my extracurricular classes. I stayed after school and I even became part of a ceramics club and I really became immersed in the craft. Then I started taking pottery classes in the summer of 2021 and that’s when I learned how to throw on a wheel rather than hand building. And again, my passion was just reignited. There’s something so satisfying about getting your hands dirty and making something so pretty out of it. At the time I had a really inspiring teacher and she was passionate about me learning and was really excited about all of the pieces that I made which I think really helped me.

I actually learned the process really fast but I think it’s because I’m also a cake decorator so I’m used to spending things on a wheel just the same way I would ice a cake with buttercream. When I was unable to join a pottery class during the holidays, I became really obsessed with watching a lot of YouTube videos that would teach me how to do certain things that I wasn’t getting taught in pottery classes. Then I believe that Christmas I was gifted a ceramic wheel which was small and cheap enough for me to practice on and get started on and it actually lasted me a couple years and I only recently got a new wheel because I started producing larger items.

Ceramics in itself is a time consuming process and it cannot be rushed. You really have to be patient and understand the clay.

I would say the skills that are most essential are learning how to center and proper form. This is important because if you don’t have proper form you can get a lot of back pain (and trust me, I learned this the hard way. I have been going to the chiropractor for years because of this).

I would say the only obstacle of me not learning more is probably just time. And now that I’ve been doing this for at least 3 years now, I’m still learning every day. There’s always something new to learn or try. It’s an endless passion and hobby. I think normal life obstacles would end up getting in the way for me haha.

Christine, 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?

Hi there, my name is Christine and I am the owner of TeeniePots. My background is in Baking and Pastry arts as well as Culinary Science and I worked at a corporate pastry company, but I needed a creative outlet. Also during that time I was heavily obsessed with plants and I felt it would be super fun to create my own planters.I was in a bunch of Facebook groups where people were posting all their plants for sale as well as their art for sale and I thought what a great and exciting thing for me to do would be to show off these planters that I’ve made with my plants. Then that quickly turned into people including family members asking me if I was selling these planters and if I would be making other items like mugs. And I really thought you know, wow I could take this somewhere and I can have fun doing it so why wouldn’t I roll with it?

Still to this day I like to rotate and create new items every time I’m back on the wheel. So on average, I’m making planters, mugs, watering bells, cuppies that are used for anything from rings, jewelry, to soy sauce. People also use them as shot glasses! I also make tiny hand-built mushrooms that I’ve seen people use them in their fairy gardens as well as decoration for the tops of their planters.

I think what sets me apart from other potters is that I don’t really have a lot of repetition in my work. When it comes to what nature can provide for us, especially clay and the raw materials that are made in glaze, the options are limitless and I take full advantage of that. Just how each person is different, each of my items is different and I feel that each piece is made for a specific person, not the general masses. I really think a lot about each piece and who it would be made for so I have a lot of intention when it comes to my work and I think that’s why I find it so meditative to be in the studio and on the wheel.

I really like my go-getter attitude when it comes to trying something new. I get a lot of pride in doing something that people say is difficult and I just go ahead and try it. It’s almost like a challenge for me, as if it’s something that I now need to do. I think it also gives me opportunity to tell other people of that experience and show people that you know, it’s not as difficult as you think and it might give other people inspiration to try something they think that’s difficult for them. I always say I wouldn’t be a great teacher but sometimes trying something new makes me realize how eager I am to tell people about that experience and tips and tricks to prevent them from maybe making the same mistakes I did.

Within my brand I focus a lot on mindfulness and intention and enjoying the little moments and the little things in life. Certain things that I make like mugs or even stands for crystal spheres, I like to think that people are taking the time to think about their lives and how beautiful it is, that we can embellish our lives with pretty little things and other people might even enjoy them too. And to be able to have a conversation about it like “Yeah, there’s a person who makes these locally”, I think that’s so special.

I hope through owning or seeing my work, you can give yourself the pause to take a deep breath and focus on yourself, have pride in your uniqueness, and feel a bit more connected to yourself, your environment, and what means most to you.

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

I think society needs to view artists with a higher respect than what I’ve seen today. I think in today’s society we tend to admire people with mathematic smarts and using that left side of your brain more than using your right side of the brain, which is your creative side. And don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t function well in a math forward career or something like that but when someone says “I’m a scientist” versus “I’m an artist”, I wish they can both be seen as justified career paths. Artists and creatives are literally CREATING new ideas and art can evoke emotions, it gets people to feel. I think we need more of that and have it become part of the norm.

I wish there was more funding for artists and realizing that when we price our work, it’s not because we’re money hungry- it’s funding our passion. It allows us to keep doing what we want to do, and I wish there was more of an allotment for that in today’s society.

With understanding that not everyone can support artists financially, there are plenty of things you can do through social media, word of mouth, even recommending your friends to shop with small businesses. Liking, commenting, sharing small businesses on social media does so much more than you realize.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It’s definitely the reaction of people who find my work, gasp, and say “Oh I need that!” Or “this is so me!”

I would also say that it’s the action of actually making the pieces. It’s a way of expressing emotions- the same way that music and paintings do. So not only do I get to slap around some clay and play with water as a therapeutic release, but I can turn it into something beautiful and functional and share it with people who also see themselves in my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.teeniepots.com
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