We recently connected with Natalie Pellegrini and have shared our conversation below.

Natalie, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I began my pottery journey when I was 30 during the pandemic. I needed a way to occupy myself while the bar I worked at what shut down so I decided to take a wheel throwing class at the studio down the street from me, I was hoping I would like it enough to make a hobby out of it. I never thought that it would quickly turn into my full time job.

For me, I took two classes with the studio and then primarily was self taught which is honestly pretty tough and makes the learning curve for throwing on the wheel much steeper. Looking back, I might tell myself to take more of the classes available and maybe sign up at a community college where they dive deeper into clay and the chemistry of it all.

Overall I think I took to it pretty quickly, even with doing a lot of the learning on my own. I tell my students all the time one of the best things to do in pottery is to allow yourself to fail. It’s the only way towards improvement – trying too much pressure, ripping it in half. Going too fast, going too slow and having it wobble out on you. Without the failures you never learn exactly what you need to do with your hands to get the correct results.

The biggest obstacle I’ve found, through teaching beginners and through my own personal journey, is 1. centering because it’s the first step and it is quite easily the most annoying one to do and 2. yourself. Getting frustrated, not giving yourself enough grace to learn, smashing pieces because they aren’t perfect. The list goes on. That’s one of the big reasons I think failure is your best friend when it comes to pottery, especially throwing on the wheel.

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

Hello! I’m Natalie and I am a potter and a pottery teacher. I got into pottery in September of 2020 when the world shut down and I needed something to help keep me sane. I had just stepped back from pursuing an acting career and the bar I worked at had been shut down since March. After watching the opening credits to The Great Pottery Throwdown I signed up for a class and I never really looked back. I had never intended on changing my entire life after that one class but looking back it makes sense.

I started my business, NP Clayworks, because my friends kept asking me to make them different pieces for them and they offered to pay which I couldn’t believe. From there I started selling at markets and eventually online. Personally, I love a mug so that is what I started making early on. It then spread to different home goods. Now, 4 years in to selling my work, I focus on functional home goods that bring a bit of personality into the home.

The idea of making one of the same thing or type has never appealed to me and that is heavily reflected in my collection of work. I get bored easily with making too much of the same thing. Even when I make 6 or 8 of the same exact mug, by the time I get to glazing them all they tend to end up 6-8 different styles.

The fun thing about this is that I am always allowing myself to play within my world of pottery and that means that there is truly something for everyone on my table at a market.

Since I am a mug person one of the best compliments I can receive is “I use my mug every day.” It feels surreal when I hear it, honestly. My goal when I’m at events is to make peoples days a little brighter, share a little pottery knowledge and connect with the community. I had no idea this is where I would be four years after taking that class and I’m so grateful.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

When I started out, I think the goal was to have a creative outlet that could also potentially bring in some extra income. Over the years it has changed and I see pottery and selling my work as a way to independence, to not having to work for someone else.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to connect with so many people. Whether it’s someone finding a piece of pottery and wanting to tell me about who it’s perfect for or someone sharing how they’ve always wanted to do pottery but have been to nervous to try, I get so much joy from being able to connect with people through pottery and ceramics. It is a field where you want to tell someone about a tip you learned or an artist you love or an experience you had. It’s such an amazing feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://npclayworks.com
• Instagram: @np_clayworks

Image Credits

Portait – Kat Hanegraaf