Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristin Erhard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kristin, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
Throughline Design was born during the pandemic. At the time, I was teaching English as a Second Language to adult learners online, morning, nights and weekends. As for many people at that time, most of my waking hours were spent in front of a screen, or a “Zoom Prison” as I often referred to it. My life was literally and figuratively becoming a flat, one-dimensional version of what it had previously been. The immateriality of my day-to-day existence mediated by computer coupled with a DIY-attitude was my impetus for starting Throughline Design in 2021.
I remember a few pivotal moments leading up to then. I had always been fond of earrings but didn’t get my ears pierced until well into adulthood. Once I did, I quickly accumulated a collection, often spending $40 or more on each pair. One day, after buying a new pair, I dissected the cost and craftsmanship behind them and realized that I could, and wanted to, create my own earrings. I began with wood and paint and later incorporated metals. Simultaneously, I explored encaustic art—a long-held interest that the pandemic had forced me to pursue independently. With some books, videos, and equipment, I was soon experimenting with encaustic prints and advanced techniques like layered photo transfers. I was captivated by the process and the results.
I had studied ceramics at UNC-Asheville and Penland School of Crafts and dabbled in creative pursuits for the past decade and a half when I finally set my heart and mind to making my creative life more than just a hobby. I think part of what had held me back previously was that I had kept trying to fit a square peg in a round hole: I kept trying to make ceramics work in my life even though it simply did not. I was not a full-time ceramicist, and as such, I would work with clay only to find a project dried out the next time I got back to the studio a couple weeks later. I regularly felt incompetent and unaccomplished as an artist and couldn’t imagine a life as a creative entrepreneur because all I could see were my inadequacies. I also never really acknowledged that I didn’t truly love ceramics from start to finish. I loved working with wet clay, sculpting and refining, but I never liked the process of finishing my ceramic pieces: glazing was a bane and firing was a gamble (would my work come out in one piece or crack in the kiln after many long hours of labor?). As I brainstormed names for my business, I saw a common thread, or throughline: I was motivated by enjoying the entire creative process from start to finish, the throughline in my designs.
Looking back, I am glad that I started when and how I did. The experiences which led me into starting my business have fueled its growth and direction, and I’m excited about the future.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I create one-of-a-kind, bohemian earrings and intricate, layered encaustic prints.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Provide artist grants, residencies and affordable studio space to artists so that they can experiment, live and collaborate without such restrictive financial stress.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I wish I had known sooner about Penland School of Crafts and the NC Arts Council Artist Support Grants.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.throughline-design.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughline.design/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-erhard/
