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

Alright, Natalie 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?

I am happy as an artist and maker! I create handmade functional pottery that beautifies people’s homes and makes every ordinary moment feel like a special one. I love creating things that make people happy while adding function to and ease to their lives. That’s why I do what I do.

Owning my business comes with freedom and flexibility. I am able to create my own schedule and decide the next steps on my business journey. While I love being an artist, it definitely comes with its own challenges.

I am also a full-time student pursuing my Master’s degree in Design for Sustainability. Since I do not have a full-time job at another company while I am working, I rely heavily on NEC Designs as an additional source of income. This in itself is a challenge because my sales ebb and flow throughout the year. The holiday season tends to be more profitable, but that drops heavily after the gift-giving season is over. I know this going into every year, so I can plan for it, but it is a reality that sometimes is difficult to deal with. While having my own business gives me flexibility, it can also give uncertainty.

I think the concept of having a “regular” job is something that used to be more prominent but is beginning to fade slightly as we move forward in our society. More and more people are starting their own businesses, going out on their own to do what they love and explore the world, and still make a living. Sometimes I think about my business and how much work and time it takes to make my pottery, and I definitely think about scaling back to take some stress out of it. This is a natural thought when I feel the hustle and demands from customers and owning a business take over. However, in cases like this, I take a step back to remember why I love making pottery in the first place and how I wouldn’t want to live life without that creative outlet. Now is the perfect time for creatives to pursue their interests and passions, especially with the widespread access that social media can bring to customers and businesses.

While I do appreciate the reliability and consistent paycheck of having a “regular” or “traditional” job, I wouldn’t want to ever do something just to make that paycheck and nothing more. I believe there is value in loving, or at least finding some joy in, the work you do for your job. People spend 1/3 of their lives working, and I would never want to be one of the people who dread doing that work because otherwise, that’s 1/3 of your life wasted. Overall, I love making my pottery and sharing it with the world! I also feel a sense of pride in having something that I started myself and have pursued more and more over time.

Natalie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Natalie Crenwelge, and I officially established NEC Designs Ceramics in 2020. I have a fine arts background but studied industrial design at Savannah College of Art & Design. I specialize in functional handmade pottery. As an industrial designer in my professional career and training, I have high regard for how things function, creating new types of products that aren’t seen as often and improving my existing designs as I go. I absolutely love when I see my pieces being used as part of people’s daily lives.

I first began my pottery journey in high school. I went to Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet high school in Dallas, TX, and started playing with clay as a sophomore.

Over the years, I grew more and more in love with the medium. I loved how it was an art form with a function – something I could actually use after I finished making it.

As a high school senior, I began selling my pottery and other artwork at a local farmer’s market, but I had to start accepting the fact that I would soon be leaving my passion behind with graduation, as I didn’t have any way to continue making pottery outside of school. As fate would have it, right before graduation, one of my neighbors was giving away a free kiln, and I was lucky enough to claim it!

In Fall 2017, I started as a freshman in Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Industrial design related to my love for functional pottery because I was able to design beautiful products that did more than just sit on a shelf and look pretty. During school, I did not have time or my supplies to make pottery, so I continued my pottery journey only during winter and summer breaks. I also continued to sell at my local market during these times.

Flash forward to March 2020 – the pandemic. As we all remember, this time was very hectic. Within one day, my spring plans had changed, I packed up to head home, my study abroad trip was canceled, and I realized I would solely be taking classes online for the coming quarter. All of our lives flipped before our eyes. However, this might have been the best thing to happen for me and my business.

I stayed home for a whole year before going back to school. Since my home is where my pottery supplies were, and I wasn’t traveling or leaving the house often due to the pandemic, I had a LOT of time to practice and create new pieces. I became really good really fast, and I started gaining traction with customers at a local level. I could see a major improvement in my craft and my ability to share my products with the world.

I should also mention that, due to the gravity and restrictions of the pandemic, the local market I used to sell at had shut down for that one year. Since I couldn’t sell my pottery in person anymore, I decided to revamp my website and turn it into a beautiful online shop. This gave me the ability to reach people across the country rather than just in East Dallas. In 2020, I decided to officially declare NEC Designs Ceramics as a business and take my craft seriously, or at least as seriously as one can while playing with mud.

I mentioned that I got better at sharing my work. While at home, I started fully promoting myself on Instagram, went viral on TikTok, and started making some YouTube videos. Now, I primarily use Instagram reels to promote myself, but I learned so much from exploring various social media channels. The height of the pandemic was a really hard time, but it also had so many bright spots. I have to appreciate it because it allowed me to grow exponentially as a person and a business.

Jumping forward to current times, I am back to my act of making pottery during summer and winter breaks while starting to sell a little more in person at various markets and on consignment. I graduated with my BFA in Industrial Design from SCAD and have since decided to come back to SCAD to pursue my MFA in Design for Sustainability.

Since I am back in school, the challenge is continuing to grow my business while being a full-time graduate student and working another part-time job. I have had to become more creative in my planning and film lots of pottery while at home, so I can post throughout the year.

People often ask me if I would ever pursue pottery full-time after graduation. I often struggle with an answer because I love pottery, but I also love design and making the world a better place at a higher level, which can often come from working at a larger company. For now, I love keeping it as a major part of my life and pursuing it during my “free” time.

It is so powerful to think about how far I’ve come in the past two years, and I can’t wait to see where I go in the next five.

I have developed a couple of products from designs I’ve seen elsewhere. People love buying mugs, but I’ve become known for my thumb cups and pocket mugs. Thumb cups are essentially tumblers, or cups, that have a slight indent in the side to place your thumb. My mind was blown the first time I made one when I realized how comfortable it makes holding your drink.

It also makes holding your cup easier because it provides an extra grip around the cup. Out of all the products I make, it is my favorite.

One product that has been gaining a lot of popularity recently is my pocket mug. I started out calling these mugs “tea mugs” because they are normal mugs with a side pocket to place your used tea bag to reuse again. However, I transitioned to calling them “pocket mugs” because of all the things you can store in them. I’ve seen people use them for tea bags, marshmallows, cookies, goldfish, and more!

You can use them to hold non-food-related things too, like makeup brushes in the main mug and hanging earrings off the pocket. They are such a fun product and super unique compared to what other potters offer.

I am very proud of the progression of the products that I’ve designed. As I mentioned, I am an industrial designer at my core, so I am constantly thinking of new product designs and improving the functionality of the pieces I’ve made in the past. My pocket mugs are an example of ones that I’ve adjusted the design of tremendously. I also love my planters and hanging planters.

What sets me apart from others is truly my exploration of function and form. Since I do have an extensive background in art and design, where I’ve had very classical training mixed with modern design, I bring a fresh perspective to this art form. I am also simply a lot younger than many of the potters I’ve seen or met. Pottery is often thought of as a traditional or ancient craft, but I approach pottery with a contemporary design style.

Many people also start their pottery journey later in life, so I am definitely ahead of the game! My perspective on this is that, since I started pottery so early, I have so many more years to come to learn and improve as a potter. I love the learning journey and experimenting often!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Artists and creatives aside, I think one of the best things people can do to support our economy overall is to support local businesses. This includes food and necessities overall, but then it does come back around to artists and makers too. I currently am in a Master’s program studying Design for Sustainability, so this is something I’ve grown more familiar with in the past year. When we support local growers and makers, we support our local economy and shorten the supply chain. This does a few things. First, it keeps money within our direct community, rather than stretching it out to send to large corporations or overseas. Second, we are shortening the supply chain – reducing transportation costs and emissions, among other things. Third, we are quite literally building the community we want to live and thrive in. When you support makers and artists in your community, you are validating the fact that you want them there and like to have people and businesses like this that make up the building blocks of a solid and resilient community.

Makers also often provide necessities for everyday life. Take my handmade pottery as an example. Pottery is something that has been made and used for ages. It is a traditional craft that is still needed as much as it was in prehistoric times. We eat off of it, cook with it, drink from it, etc. I fill the need for ceramicware in everyday life. The difference is, rather than buying a cheap mug from the dollar store that holds no meaning, the people who purchase my pottery value the handmade quality and durability that makes it special. When you buy my handmade pottery, you are contributing to your local economy and everything I mentioned before, but you are also beautifying your home and space that you spend so much time in. This definitely has an effect on people mentally by relaxing them, creating a sense of appreciation for the items they have, and giving them something to cherish for years to come.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being a working artist is seeing people cherish my work. Every time I pull up my social media and see someone share my work or post a photo of them loving the mug they just received from me, it makes my day and reminds me of part of the reason I make pottery. I absolutely love sharing my work and seeing people enjoy it so much. There is something to be said about pottery that is handmade. People have such a better appreciation for it because they know the time and energy that has gone into creating it. I feel even better when people come back to buy more items as gifts for their friends! That gives me even more motivation to keep going and continue my pottery journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nec-designs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nec_designs_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/necdesigns/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-crenwelge/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKQJW6DBfPx0dzQlbzkxwrw?app=desktop