Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lisa Fleming. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Lisa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I am allowing myself to be more and more happy as an artist as I begin to accept that this is what I do, this is a valid career. I have struggled with the idea that this is a real job.
There have been times and people in my life who inferred or said directly that art was not a career choice. You need to choose a ‘real’ job. Art is a hobby and something you do AFTER the work is done. Almost like I had to earn the right to do it, earn the time to spend on it.
Amazingly, time for art never just fell into my lap at that point in my life, (and what counted as ‘work’ was seemingly never done). So, for many years, even though I had a degree in art, and even after 2 degrees in art, it still felt like a guilty pleasure to engage in it.
I have had several ‘real’ jobs if we look at it like punching a time clock or working for a salary, but they were never joyful or fulfilling for me. Not something I had a desire or passion for that was sustainable. However, those types of jobs seem to garner more respect, almost automatic validation with other people, a profession they could relate to more easily.

But I have spent the last couple of years coming to terms with giving myself ‘permission’ to be an artist. This is not only what I do with my time, but it is who I am and there is so much joy!
This is what I GET to do as a career. I am so incredibly grateful and lucky that I could turn my art into my career. I am a ceramist, but I am now also an entrepreneur, a photographer, a marketing person, and so forth. I have learned all these skill in addition to making my art and they are all so enjoyable! I feel inspired and excited to be in my studio and running so many aspects of this business. It is stimulating to learn new things and meet new clients. It is REAL job, and I am so happy to be doing it.

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

I have an art degree in painting and drawing from decades ago and for many years that was a hobby while I worked in graphic design and advertising jobs to earn money. I also went to culinary school and worked in restaurants and catering for several years. I got into clay when I moved to South Carolina from my home state of California. I had met my husband and was working in a job that was easier to change than his, so I gave SC a try. I initially took some evening clay classes at a local museum, which I loved. I then learned about a great, comprehensive program in North Carolina and went back to school for my degree in ceramics. The program not only focused on clay and glazes but covered everything you needed to know about starting and running your own ceramic studio; photography, marketing, writing a business plan, designing and costing a studio, etc… It was an incredible experience. When my husband and I and our young daughter moved back to San Francisco I created a studio on the lower level of our home where I work today.

My biggest inspiration in ceramics are mid-century Scandinavian vessels and the glazes used at that time. My work has always tracked those forms and silhouettes. I love making my own glazes and colored porcelains to approximate colors I appreciate. I work only in porcelain clay and create my vessels on the pottery wheel so each piece I make is one of a kind. I repeat certain shapes but they are all individual. A refined line and surface are very important to me and I address the form and surface at all stages of the process. A vessel can take a few months from wet clay to a final fired piece; throwing and slow drying, trimming and more slow drying then some surface and rim refinement. A bisque firing to 1900 degrees, then sanding, a glaze firing to 2300 degrees and another sanding on unglazed vessels or parts of a vessel. Then cataloguing and photography.

I make form-focused, decorative pieces. Some of my vessels can be used for food and drink but that is not their purpose in my mind. To see a lovely form in your home, holding space and bringing beauty is what I’m after. We all collect and display things that bring us joy and enhance our environment. This is where I want my work to live, this is its primary purpose.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I am still un-learning that art is not a viable job or career. That my art is a hobby or side interest and only engaged in when other work was done (see back story earlier).
It is a wonderful, stimulating career that I am lucky to be able to do. I am unlearning the (maybe) cultural or social idea that art is not as valid as other career choices. Perhaps it was more what I was led to believe from childhood and young adulthood, but I am focusing on the importance of art and craft in our society and how nourishing it can be to people. To see beauty around you, in your home, in your life in the form of objects is a simple but profound way to connect with our inner self. Beautiful objects can inspire peace, joy, connection, and contentment. Approachable, affordable art can be part of many people’s lives. The art does not have to be large or expensive to touch us. We all want to live with things that we enjoy and appreciate. Creating items like this, one at a time, with my hands brings a lot of satisfaction. Learning that making beautiful objects is a valuable pursuit has been so freeing and validating.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I am finding it very rewarding to be self-driven in my career. I can self-motivate, most of the time, and I decide what direction the work will go in. It’s not always been the case but at this point I can stay true to my vision of what I want the work to be and not cater to what someone else wants. I can explore ideas and inspirations, experiment and change course when I find something that compels.
And when people respond to my work positively and purchase it, repeatedly, it’s a wonderful feeling of validation. Which can be a struggle to find on your own as an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lisaflemingceramics.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lfceramics

Image Credits

Lisa Fleming