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

Madeleine, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes, and earning a full-time living as an artist can prove to be as futile as it is fulfilling, especially when your profesion is an expression of your soul. For starters, there is a business beyond the creative, one that goes hand in hand with driving my own success. With that being said, beyond the creative side I lend myself to being a bit more Type A, which allows me to plan, pull from past experiences, and pivot to prioritizing the investment in myself. In the beginning, aspiration drives a lot of the day to day, but shifting from concept to reality just does not equate. Meaning from day one, I had to be fluid in moving from role to role because I wasn’t just an artist, but I was also the sales team, marketing guru, socials manager, accountant, studio manager, and IT department rolled into one. Being all these things, occasionally suppressed my creative exploration, proving a bit futile. However, while strenuous and overwhelming at times, the truth is there is no replacement for experience and having each of those experiences allowed me to grow – in my own professional capacity, as well as provide a foundation for understanding my business throughout. From those experiences and milestones, I’ve been able to hone in on my best assets and properly implement the right people around me to help with strategic growth, a very fulfilling aspect. In turn, I’ve been able to refine my own creative explorations and have since developed a deeper appreciation for each subsequent role – something I wish I had learned earlier. While looking back, my biggest risk was starting. Each milestone represents more opportunities to learn and grow, so I think investing time early and often on identifying what’s working, or what’s not working, is monumental to streamlining the process – something much easier said than done when it comes to evaluating a reflection of your soul.

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

The visual arts have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. My own explorations began with questionable drawings of oceans and trees, in addition to finger paintings of X’s and O’s in an assortment of colors with my dad. However, my passion for porcelain developed when I found myself constantly creating new ideas and implementing them into my works; a passion I never quite developed in my drawing years. For this, I have to thank numerous supportive and influential teachers, most notably my grandmother – a former ceramicist. Presently, my artistry has opened the doors to a larger market with my business, Purely Porcelain. Purely Porcelain has grown to incorporate a plethora of fine art and unique objects with works finding homes around the globe, a really exciting accomplishment. Most studio days involve producing new work and interacting directly with clients. Oftentimes, I’m working with clients to envision, render, and ultimately create a perfectly unique work of fine art for their space. I enjoy embodying the collector and their space into each piece, a trait that often sets me apart and allows my work to transcend across many design styles. On my days out of the studio, I’m often absorbing inspiration from nature and my travels. I love adding subtle nuances to my current body of work, or being so inspired to create an entirely new line of work.

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?

Very rarely is the creative process linear, in fact, it’s often riddled with ambiguity and failure at each step. While it’s easy to get wrapped up in the final, polished product, the process is where everything happens – the experience, the growth, the modifications. The many layers that exist behind the surface, that’s the process, that’s the culmination of trials, tribulations, and multiple iterations to yield a refined result and it’s so overlooked because it’s not glamorous. With that being said, enjoy the process and trust your intuition. It’s not about the hours it took to produce one work – that one work took years of experience and honing your skill to produce.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Buy from the living and buy what you love. I respect and admire historical works and living legions, but it’s easy to fall victim to other’s influential opinions. Trust yourself, trust your taste, and know it’s way more fun to forge your own path and tailor a collection that embodies your expressions – especially in the early days of collecting. Years later, you’ll reflect on the collection and see an evolution of yourself, so the works will hold a more extensive and emotional meaning.

Contact Info:

• Website: purely-porcelain.com
• Instagram: purely_porcelain

Image Credits
Kate Turk/House of Turk The Scout Guide MainLine & Philadelphia/Lexy Pierce Into Art/Whitney Forestner