We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Harleen Johar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Harleen below.

Alright, Harleen 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.

As a child, I spent hours alone in my room with pencils, markers, scraps of paper, and whatever materials I could get my hands on. Formal art classes were expensive and considered extracurricular. This was long before the internet made learning accessible. My creative world was small and self-contained. Eventually, as life demanded practical choices, I drifted away from that part of myself. I poured all of my focus into becoming a Software Engineer.

That creative spark stayed dormant until 2023, when I experienced the devastating loss of my pup. In my grief, I turned to art. I began following artists, observing their work through social media, and slowly rebuilding a relationship with creating. This time, it felt more intimate, more therapeutic. My resolve was now supported with intent. In September 2024, I decided to take the next step and enrolled in my first wheel-throwing class. I wanted to experience making something three-dimensional with my hands. I had been quietly inspired by the 30-second pottery reels on Instagram. The reality, however, was humbling. My first attempt at a bowl collapsed into a tiny trinket dish. It was messy, frustrating and imperfect, but something about it lit a fire in me. That was the moment I knew I wanted to learn all I could about clay..

I returned to the studio, first learning hand-building before transitioning to the wheel. That sequencing was intentional. Hand-building gave me confidence to work directly with clay straight out of the bag. It equipped me with techniques that I used to build anthropomorphic forms. Each piece became a lesson about clay bodies, firing, and failure. Glazing sculptures was particularly challenging. It took me time as I had to apply everything by brush. Unlike color theory, glaze chemistry determines the outcome and I hadn’t experimented enough. There were MANY mistakes. Over time, I began throwing vessels as a way to experiment. I then applied those learnings back to my sculptures. That’s when it all fell into place for me.

Even with technical foundations in place, ceramics presented an emotional challenge. There’s a common saying in the medium: “don’t get too attached.” With a four-to-six week turnaround and so many points of failure such as cracks, warping, explosions, unexpected glaze results, loss is inevitable. But my work was deeply emotional, and I was attached to every piece. Each failure felt personal. That realization forced me to rethink my process. My husband, a fellow ceramic artist creating under the moniker aCrowsFeet, suggested I begin working in series. Creating multiple pieces within a shared concept allowed room for failure, repetition, and growth. I still get disappointed when things fail but now I don’t let it dishearten me.

In 2025, I made a deliberate decision to pursue ceramics professionally. I worked on three distinct series and exhibited pieces from them in three separate shows. Sharing my work publicly was terrifying. I was riddled with self-doubt. But I asked myself, If not now, then when? …. so I took the leap, eyes closed, tightly holding my husband’s hand.

Now, the hardest part is behind me. I get to continue creating, connecting, and growing, not just as an artist, but as a person.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Honey, and I create under the moniker aCowsTail. I’m a self-driven ceramic artist based in Jersey City, NJ, living between two worlds: engineering and clay. One is rooted in logic, structure, and predictability; the other asks me to surrender control to curves, textures, and imperfection. Balancing the two has shaped how I work, disciplined, but playful; intentional, yet open to surprises.

My practice centers on building a whimsical, emotional world inspired by illustration, flora, fauna and storytelling. I primarily hand-build anthropomorphic ceramic sculptures. Humor and vulnerability are central to my work, inviting viewers to connect with clay as something expressive, alive, and deeply human.

What sets my work apart is its narrative focus. Each piece is built like a character stepping off the page, mischievous, tender, sometimes fragile. Through layered glazes and tactile surfaces, I shape each form until it feels animated, encouraging curiosity and emotional connection rather than perfection. I’m less interested in making flawless objects and more interested in creating moments and pieces that make people pause, smile, or feel seen.

In 2025, aCrowsFeet and I launched our first professional collaborative series titled “Second Charms”. The series celebrates the charm of adopting senior pets that deserve a second chance at love. This project is very personal to us as it’s inspired by our senior fur-babies. It debuted in a group exhibition called “Animal Instinct” in Jersey City. It has since grown into commissioned, deeply personal sculptures for families wanting to capture a moment with their pets. Through the profits, we have been able to donate to rescues that help senior pets. That evolution and seeing the work resonate beyond us is something I’m incredibly proud of.

At its core, my work is about storytelling, connection, and care. Whether working independently or in collaboration, I aim to create ceramic worlds that feel playful, meaningful, and emotionally resonant. Pieces that carry stories long after they leave my hands.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Ceramics is physically demanding work. Alongside the long hours it takes to make each piece, I also navigate ongoing physical limitations that affect my mobility and endurance. My energy and pain levels can shift unpredictably, sometimes even within the same day, which means I can’t always rely on my body to behave the way I’d like it to. Over time, I’ve learned that resilience for me looks different. It is not about pushing my body but learning to adapt.

I began building systems that allow me to sustain my practice. I plan my work in advance, sketching each piece so my studio time is focused and intentional. I separate build days from glaze days to balance physical demand, and I design projects that are modular or can be completed in shorter sessions. Working within these constraints has sharpened my efficiency and clarity, teaching me to make decisions with confidence and purpose.

What I’ve learned is that showing up consistently matters more than pushing endlessly. No matter the challenges, I return to the studio with curiosity and commitment. I continue to create, learn, and evolve and that, to me, is resilience.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

At the heart of my practice is a desire to build a fantasy world drawn from my inner landscape. It’s a place shaped by storytelling, emotion, humor, and care. Rather than working toward a single monumental installation, I’m more interested in constructing this world piece by piece, through a growing collection of small works that exist in conversation with one another.

Each sculpture functions like a fragment of a larger narrative. Together, they form a collage of characters, environments, and moments that reflect all of my interests: illustration, flora, fauna and anthropomorphic forms. This modular approach mirrors how I work and live: slowly, intentionally, and with room for evolution.

My long-term goal is to bring this world together in a solo exhibition within the next two years, creating a space where viewers can step inside and explore it on their own terms. Ultimately, my mission is to invite people into a universe that feels playful, emotionally resonant, and alive. One where curiosity is rewarded and stories unfold quietly, over time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://acrowandacow.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acowstail
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aCrowandaCow/
• Other: Second Charms: https://acrowandacow.com/pages/second-charms
  Gallery: https://acrowandacow.com/pages/by-acowstail

Image Credits

Photos of aCowsTail with dogs by @aCrowsFeet