We recently connected with Kira Ni and have shared our conversation below.

Kira, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My clay journey began in a community ceramics class in London, UK. My first encounter with stoneware clay – hand-building and wheel throwing in tandem. Attending classes was just a bit of escape from my daily office job, a place to be mindful and relax. It was never meant to be a path towards becoming a full-time potter. If I knew that pottery would become such a big part of my life, I would have preferred to attend more in-depth courses and apprenticeships. But on the other hand, I was completely free and could enjoy clay without thinking about the technical part of the craft or imagining it as a day job and all that comes with it, like taxes, website management, client emails etc. At the community college, you won’t get into details of clay and glaze chemistry, technical things behind type of firings, kilns etc. Community classes are meant to be a place for hobbies, a place to relax, which in turn led to the biggest obstacle for me, a lack of in-depth information, which limited my ability to learn and explore potential directions I could have taken.

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’m a studio potter living and working by the Baltic Sea in Estonia. All products are designed and handmade by me in my home studio. Kira Ni Ceramics was founded back in 2015 in London, UK. My primary method of making is a traditional hand-building technique with coils using stoneware or porcelain. Making hand-built ceramics is relatively slow-paced and repetitive; everything is produced in small batches and intended to be treasured. Seagull Jug is one of my signature pieces. Each jug that has been either thrown on a potter’s wheel or hand-built has a unique number. Why Seagull? I was born and raised by the Baltic sea; gulls are part of my childhood memories. When the first set of Seagull Jugs was made and glazed in a white glaze, I instantly saw gulls in their profile. I have experimented with different techniques, from wheel-throwing and hand-building with slabs or coils to slip-casting.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Most of my friends and acquaintances are non-creatives. Sometimes it’s hard to explain your day-to-day life and be on the same page with guys. As a maker, I work 24/7, no weekends or holidays. Non-creatives sometimes imagine a life of an artist based on the pictures they see on social media: beautiful work, messy studios, a creative process, colours, shapes etc. But in reality, it’s just 40% of the time other 60% consist of being on your computer dealing with taxes, emails, chasing payments, looking for potential clients, taking care of the website, taking and editing pictures and running social media etc. Creatives often also work part-time jobs to supplement their income for those “dry months”. I think this is often not spoken about openly. Creatives don’t have a monthly salary; our income is based on the season and amount of orders we get. For example, September till January is the busiest times of the year, getting ready for Christmas sales. As a creative, I don’t get to spend a quiet winter evening cosied up in a blanket with a cup of mulled wine reading a novel on Saturday evening. My evenings on winter Saturdays will be busy packing orders, going through spreadsheets, and ensuring parcels will reach clients before the holidays.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Yes, artists communities where artists gather together and share their knowledge in a friendly environment. Artists of all ages and different mediums come together. If you live in a big city, make sure you find such a community. If there is one on such a small island as Malta, then there for sure is one in your city.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kiraniceramics.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kira_ni/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kiraniceramics