We were lucky to catch up with Joan Libby Hawk recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Joan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Risks and living go together. Frequently, risk and change pack a double punch. Starting a new full-time art practice required closing down a successful career and painstakingly establishing a studio. In 2016, I faced these questions and more when this phase of the adventure began: What equipment did I need? How should the space be organized? What work could I do myself? Which kiln should I purchase? How would I cover the costs? And on and on.

While the material aspect of the “risk” story challenges, the heart of the risk centers on the art and internal personal resources. Could I renew, reinvent an art practice stopped short decades earlier? Did I possess the confidence, originality, perseverance to develop a unique visual point of view? Basically, could I start over?

Yes, but let’s be clear — it’s difficult. No one works in a vacuum, so finding a community that helps fuel the making and exhibit venues demands a lot of time and thought. Introducing yourself to a new gallery, a new organization requires a lot of fortitude. Expect disappointment from the outside and the inside too (I’m a very tough critic of my work). The risk continues with every piece of new art attempted. At the end of the day however, the risk/benefit analysis points strongly to the benefit side.

Every morning, almost without fail, I walk over to my studio, do my “art making thing” until it’s time to re-surface into the world as we mostly know it. This mundane journey obscures the wonder of it all. My artistic and professional journey intertwines commitment to art and advocacy. It’s taken decades and taking risks to make this walk.

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.

Writing about oneself — a difficult task but one worth taking on especially if the words encourage curiosity and understanding. I am a multidisciplinary artist based in Sarasota, Florida. When you hear the word “multidisciplinary” it just means that I use many materials to investigate visual questions and express my point of view. I make one-of-a-kind clay vessels, sculpture, paintings on shaped canvas and paper crafted into three dimensions. It’s no different from a fine cook who seeks new ingredients to make a richer, more complex dish.

Everyone’s journey from where they grow up to where they want to go tells a special story full of twists and turns, ups and downs. From working class roots, I grew up in Revere, MA, just north of Boston. Not very prosperous, the town boasted a mediocre school system and a beautiful crescent-shaped Atlantic Ocean beach complete with rides and purported “games of chance.” Being close to Boston with its grand Museum of Fine Arts and public library along with Cambridge’s experimental Charles Theater meant I could experience evocative visual arts and culture. Thanks to parents who insisted, I hitched my wagon to education, gaining a scholarship to Mount Holyoke College, earning a degree in English. Turbulent times and conscience drew me to the anti-Vietnam War movement and human rights activism. My husband and I jumped ship from the US to study at Oxford, England. Deliberately, I used that jump across the ocean to practice art and learn. I attended the legendary Ruskin School of Art and learned ceramics at the Oxford Polytechnic. A few years returning to New York City, I taught ceramics at Riverside Church Arts and Crafts Program and other New York City studios, immersed myself in the City University of New York’s Master of Fine Arts program, and began exhibiting with other artists. But like many women, responding to urgent priorities – children, family – required a pivot to a different professional path.

I hung up my potter’s apron to help support the family (eventually two boys, two dogs) building a career developing innovative communication strategies for nonprofit organizations and government. From 2001 until 2016, I worked at United Nations Women headquarters in New York designing and implementing programs to reduce violence against women globally, advance human rights and women’s equality. My profession connected me to activist leaders around the world, heroic women on the front lines of realizing rights and equality. In hindsight, my career working in human rights and women’s organizations around the world provided substance and a world view without which my art would not be my art.

In 2016, I stepped down from my consulting practice to again fully concentrate on making art opening a studio, my professional center, in Sarasota, FL in 2017. A new phase unfolded —a full-time art practice. that embraces making unique vessels, sculptures, paintings; extends to teaching ceramics at Suncoast Technical College and exhibiting at regional galleries and national shows.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Well, first, I’ve never met anyone who can’t tap in to creative things, and as a teacher, I have seen it happen many times.

It’s very fun to talk to people without a lot of art making or art looking experience. The conversation can be divided into three sections. Often asked first is what the art is made of, the materials, and how you do it, the process. Sharing these details connects to the viewer’s personal experience. Since I’m a ceramist and a painter, it’s during this section that I learn the last time the other person handled clay, painted something that wasn’t a room or watched a child delve into art.

The soon-to-follow conversation section jumps into the non-material — the why, the idea origin — representing the individual heavy lifting of making art. I’ll use whatever piece my new friend is asking about to go back to how the piece originated..recalling the thought process, references, drawings, models and jottings. The details and stages really matter here. Myths surround the role of the artist. One pervasive idea is that the art just comes: people see Instagrams, films, often vastly speeded up, showing whoosh — clay lump to beautifully crafted vessel, often glazed and fired, ready to take home. Mesmerized, they watch artists in front of a blank large canvas surrounded by pots of paint and 30-seconds later..an artwork ready for hanging. Mastering an art or multiple art disciplines requires decades of work, study, experimentation and failure. It’s impossible to tell this story on IG or TikTok but it’s a really important story to tell.

Last, we may discuss how I feel about my work, how the other person feels about what they do. For me it’s important that the difficulty of being an artist emerges. Whether it’s coping with disappointment, frustration, financial pressure, trying to build a community; every stress the other person copes with and triumphs over, so do artists. I hope by the time we part company the viewer feels more comfortable around art and artists, may be encouraged to see more, even try some.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Working each day to make what I’ve not seen before may seem an odd mission but it drives me to break new ground, elaborate ideas and themes, use and mix-up less-known materials to better realize visual ideas. A broad concept, it encourages exploration and empowers me to ignore passing fashion. I want everything I make to embody an individual identity, whether a bowl or ritual vessel, a torn paper painting or crumpled canvas. I live with these objects and continually assess what works, where or how I can move forward to continue to make what I’ve not seen before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.libbyhawkartmaker.com
• Instagram: @libby_hawk_studio_potter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010272463281

Image Credits
Joan Libby Hawk