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

Madison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I never earned a degree in art. I was a genetics major in college and somewhere along the line I picked up an art minor because I couldn’t fight the “itch” to create. Growing up, my family was always very encouraging when it came to my art. My mother owned a paint-your-own-pottery studio and I’ve been blessed to have a father that encouraged any interest I ever had. However, even though they helped to foster my creativity, I couldn’t deny that I was just plain good at science and other classes in school. I took AP courses, graduated top of my class in high school and college, and I just “knew” that the “right” decision was to go to medical school and become a doctor and make lots of money. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how happy I am that I finally gave into the urge to create and stopped doing what I thought would “make money”. Now I get to do what I love every day! But it hasn’t been easy as most of my work has been self taught. I have spent countless hours learning how to paint pottery sitting in my mom’s ceramic shop. Thankfully, I always had access to a kiln, (which is usually the biggest challenge for starting a ceramics business) so when I was still experimenting early on, learning to hand-build in the garage, I could always fire my work. Total, I’ve spent 15 years going from painting pottery, to teaching myself to hand-build with clay, and finally in January of this year, I started teaching myself to throw on the pottery wheel. I am proud to say that while it hasn’t been easy, I have gotten good enough to start selling my wheel-thrown works alongside my hand-built pieces. The painting part has always come easy to me since that is where this journey started for me. I love to create bright, whimsical pieces that can be described as more “painterly” than most ceramics out there. I love to create pieces with a watercolor style of painting and then add a bold outline to make the entire piece come to life.

Madison, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My earliest memories of creating artworks are from when I was in daycare. I had such a wonderful daycare that always nurtured the students’ creativity. We spent time every month learning about a particular artist and one of their most famous works, and then we created our own studies of those works. At the end of the year, we had a big art show where we all dressed up and our parents visited. We ate appetizers as we walked around and looked at the walls full of works we’d each created throughout the year. This fostering of creativity played a huge role in getting me excited about art as a young kid and from there, I just never stopped creating! When I was in middle school, my mother opened up a paint-your-own-ceramics studio, and I learned to paint pottery and worked here from the time I was 16 until I was 23 when I managed one of her studios. During this time I taught myself to paint pottery and hand-build pottery. I also minored in art in college where I took 2-3 basic courses on drawing and painting. While my art minor wasn’t very well rounded, it helped me to gain some basic knowledge that I’ve been able to build upon. After leaving college I continued to paint mixed media works on canvas and create ceramics. To be honest, I have never even considered just choosing one artistic medium because for me, art inspires art. Many of my ceramic works inspire painting collections, and likewise many of my painting collections have inspired ceramic collections I have made. My work has always been inspired by nature as I love to spend my free time outside with family or caring for my many, many houseplants. My husband also has a passion for wildlife and our oldest son was named “Irwin” after Steve Irwin while my youngest son was named “Fisher” after our love of fishing so many of my works also include animals. Prior to 2020, my work was very dark. I created paintings with thick chunky paint and dark hues. I also created heavy ceramics with many blues and dark colors. Then, I had my oldest son, and everything changed. Without even realizing it at first, my pieces became bright and colorful. I began to work with more warm tones and my painting style became less heavy-handed and more light and whimsical. For me, having children has inspired so much of my work. I try to get my oldest son involved in as much of my work as possible, and now that my youngest is getting old enough, we are fostering his creativity as well. Many of my ceramics are inspired by my son. He loves strawberries, so when he asked me to, I made a strawberry mug. One strawberry mug became an entire best-selling line of strawberry ceramics! I also did a wheel-throwing series where I asked my son to draw a “pot” on paper and I tried to throw it on the wheel. This is one series I hope to continue again this summer when I have more time. We had so much fun with it! When it comes to my work, I try very hard to make it feel whimsical and approachable. I always tell people that everyone deserves to have beautiful artwork in their home. I want my work to make people feel the way a lavender latte makes me feel – calm, happy, simple, joy. I am also trying to build a brand that is very welcoming to everyone from every walk of life. I try to be open and honest about my struggles as a mother, my interests outside of art, and my journey as a self-taught artist. When people ask me for tips or advice, I try to be as helpful as possible. I do not believe in gatekeeping information. There is a place for anyone and everyone in this artistic world! This mindset likely comes from my background in teaching. I have taught many ceramic classes over the years, and I even did a stint as a high school anatomy and chemistry teacher for a while! Teaching and helping others truly brings me joy.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

For me, I have always felt that the best source of new clients is attending fine art markets. In this world, social media has truly changed the game for artists and many artists have been able to grow highly successful businesses online from the comfort of their home. But, there is nothing quite like directly interacting with people viewing an entire collection of your work in person. I absolutely thrive at markets. Although I wouldn’t really consider myself an extrovert, I LOVE talking about art and my process. It comes pretty naturally to me and I think at markets my clients take notice of the confidence I have in my work and it typically helps me to gain substantial interest in my work and commissions.

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?

I think as a ceramicist, there are many people, even amongst the creative world, that do not quite understand the perseverance on must have for this medium. From the beginning stages of finding and acquiring access to a kiln, learning how to properly and safely handle pottery, and also finding access to a kiln is daunting. Once that hurdle is jumped, one must have extreme patience with pottery. It is an art and also a science. You have to understand glaze chemistry, you also have to get to know your clay and its limits. My processes are heavily influenced by the weather since I have a studio in my unheated or air conditioned garage. In the winter, my pieces can freeze and crack and its hard to throw because the cold can be painful on my hands. In the summer, my pieces can dry too quickly and crack before firing, and in Texas I even have issues with pieces drying to quickly while I work on them. Humidity is also an issue because pieces have a harder time drying before the first bisque firing. I also think that for many it can be seen as more of a “craft” and less as a form of fine art. But in reality, I am not only building the canvas from a literal lump of mud, but I am also painting them. It is incredibly time consuming.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madisonstidham.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/madstidart
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/madstidart
• Other: tiktok @madstidart

Image Credits
Madison Stidham