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

Alright, Kristin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

To an extent I believe we are all born with a creative capacity. What that particularly is found on what we call “the journey of life.” As I began my entrepreneurial pottery business, I look back and connect all the dots of the unexpected moments which serendipitously brought me to know I’ve made the right moves to fulfill my life’s purpose. I don’t have to wonder what it would be like to have a regular job. Like many of us, finding the faith and courage to pursue a dream is a game of time. After receiving my BFA in Painting and Ceramics I found myself wondering what to do next. A keen skill one learns in art school that I believe is overlooked by corporate business is the talent of branding oneself, the marketing of an idea. I went into Marketing after college, succeeding in a way that brought me to be the Director of Marketing for an international B-Corp. I’d find myself technically maintaining two jobs, 9 to 5 and then joyously 8p.m.-2a.m., working on my art. I don’t think it’s ever bad to have the personal funding to pursue your passion through a regular job. In a way it gave me a sense of ease to flesh out my style, my identity in my work. I was always happy to be a creative, in whatever capacity, yet I knew there was something more. I then went back to school, receiving my MA in 2021. I moved on to spacial design during my time of education, interior design for photoshoots. I would be building mixed media sculptures, procuring these incredible vessels, these statement pieces. I recognized the power and narrative of artwork in print and film. I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore. My concepts, my art, was something to add to the conversation. That is when I decided to dive into the deep blue water. It’s so refreshing. Being an artist is a manifestation of knowing who I am. I love creating objects of joy, it’s the the truest understanding of happiness for me. It feels like play and I feel so fulfilled. And I love bringing that concept to people in their daily lives. I see it as giving myself to the world every day, objects imbued with happy feelings.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Kristin Rucker, artist and founder of rockSTAR Ceramics. My purpose is to make objects for joy and living.

I am a traditionally educated ceramist. I really identify with my business name and the connotations. I got into my BFA, found porcelain, understood its strength and really rebelled against functional traditions of the medium. How can I make functional as absurd and sculptural as possible? Many thanks to my professor Hadi Abbas. Iranian born and part of the 80’s boom of ceramic creatives in southern North America. He instilled the fundamentals of international tradition. He instilled the depth, ritual, and intimacy of home objects. From learning Egyptian bead making, Persian bathhouse tile making, 15th century Italian majolica traditions, Japanese ideas of wabi sabi and tea ceremony, to primitive techniques of Kazegama kiln building and pit firing, I, like many artists mastered the form and then found my voice. So many great ceramists have come from my group; Richard Munster, Jesus D. Minguez III, Julie Harbers.

I am currently working on two series for 2022, Lusus Naturae and Child’s Play.
Lusus Naturae means “freak of nature” in Latin. I look around as see how ingrained our new friend technology is becoming, then I look up. The florets of tree branches like broccoli, spider webs, swirling tide pools, and deep sea coral, it’s absurd. I want people to be amazed again, ponder the physical space we exist in. We are both closer and further from nature than ever before. I want this collection to bring this revelation of absurd nature to eye level, into the home, to become meditative pieces that ground us in the delight of who we are at the core, playful, intricate, and delicate nature. Time is fleeting, yet the beauty of life is not. I think clay is the perfect medium for this concept.

Child’s Play is all about creation, the sensations of being the creators of our personal worlds. One of my big interests is analyzation of consciousness development in children and symbol associations in the brain network. This series is all about memory, nostalgia, and play to conjure up those deep feelings thrill and wonder. When I was a child my grandmother has a collection of porcelain lace drape figurines and spaghetti poodles. Here in lies my deep romance for texture and where my signature “squiggle pots” design stems from. My first memory and introduction to clay was a one week summer camp when I was six. Pinching and squeezing and forming anything that came to mind. I still have the first thing I ever made, a pink and yellow daisy on a pedestal stem, about 8″ high. I’m still in love with it. I’ve always been a hand-builder. It’s still my preferred method. Every ebb and pock is physical evidence of a thought, a flow and a movement. It’s the visual reminder of creation.

I love every aspect of my craft. I sometimes refer to it as “science baking” to my friends. The chemical reactions of raw materials and heat differentials is always incredibly exciting. Fun-fact, clay when fired, chemically changes into a technical rock. Thus, rockSTAR. I believe art should be accessible to every person. Collecting, nesting, it’s primitive and innate. I want every client to feel like a rockstar, totally unique and expressed by my work. I not only make fine art ceramic vessels, but also a line of beads, jewelry, mugs, and planters that I sell online and at local markets. This really is a pleasure. I love to see the art come to life and grow into a story that the owner can tell of their own life, memories, and ideas.

My work can be found exclusively at Gold Dust Home store. See Etsy and rockSTARceramics.com for a selection of pieces and for custom orders.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I am incredibly interested in NFT’s. I am actually an attendee of this year’s VeeCon. It was incredible to hear from some of my favorite creators and artists such as Jen Stark and Julie Pacino. It’s a real quandary though, where does the art end and the business model begin? Where does the client begin to influence content? Similarly to the Percy Shelley poem ‘The Defense of Poetry’ 1821, I believe the artist is the legislator of the world. Art is culture, it’s the first message and sign of pulse, subconscious or not. NFT’s really get my marketing bells chiming. I do believe it’s very ‘artist as brand’ focused, monetizing the artist as a character rather than the work. Of course, DADA was once in infancy, as was Surrealism. It’s all identity when it comes down to it. And that’s great, it’s undiscovered territory. It’s a beautiful to live in a very certain change in the facade. Deepok Chopra was at the conference and he said that it is about intention in which we create as artists. That’s something I can agree with. My favorite ceramic artists, the Haas Brothers, just announced their digital collection. I think it’s an incredible way to advertise and meet people at different price points and age groups. I think of it as another form of art collecting. I learned about new concepts where patrons buy images of physical work or digital concept art surrounding a piece and certain amounts awards patrons physical pieces. Is it so different from Guggenheim buying up Pollock’s studio for her gallery? Does buying NFT’s make you or me a curator? It’s a question to ask about art and accessibility. That really does mesh the physical art buying space and Web3. I look forward to the advancement and implementation of the NFT’s in immersive experience most of all. Jen Stark has been having these incredible digital art shows displaying technicolor, moving, dreamscapes. You are just soaked in color, or Van Minnen, an incredible oil painter, he has a great NFT collection. It definitely puts art on the radar for those who do not have access to the worlds fabulous galleries. I’m not sure if it is popular opinion however. But ultimately, I love creating, and it’s just another form of human creation and I’m excited to see how it evolves.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

You are capable, you are worthy, your narrative is valid. People want to connect, people want to understand. Your expression of life through art is contributing to society. We all love to watch the films and documentaries, “unexpected success” and “:against all odds.” There is a magic and inspiration, a drive it instills. Why is that short lived? I think that the answer is fear. We all seek love at the core, whatever word you want to use; acceptance, approval, companionship, security, admiration. But what I think is key to say is that when you give yourself the freedom to go after your dreams and create your most authentic life, all that comes. You find your tribe, you find peace. The secret is that you had it all along. You gave yourself the acceptance and support to pursue what you want in life and everyone else is a cherry on top.
I love to create new work and have people over and springboard their emotional reaction and narratives of my work off of me. But without me believing in myself and loving my work, myself, I wouldn’t have the business I have today. It doesn’t feel logical, but when does falling in love ever feel that way?

Contact Info:

• Website: rockSTARceramic.com
• Instagram: @thefaintingcouch @rockSTARceramics
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinrucker
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/rockSTARceramics

Image Credits
kristin rucker