Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nesreen Alawami. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nesreen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us 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?
As far as speech pathology, i knew I wanted a medical setting but not a medical doctor. Speech Pathology allows me to work with the adult population and rehabilitate their swallowing and speech function post surgery or medical event.
As for pottery, I enjoyed watching videos of ceramic artist where I grew up and begged my dad for a foot kick wheel which he promised but never delivered. He gave me cats instead as distraction. I shared that with my wife and one Christmas, more than 10 years ago, she gifted me a 6 week pottery course at a local studio closer to us. And the rest was history, since then my wife and I share an art studio at Hardy & Nance studios where I display my pottery and she her paintings and photography. I also share a pottery studio with 5 of my “mud buds” and we meet up once a week to create together, or most of the time gossip and socialize.
Nesreen, 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?
I was born in Saudi Arabia and I was fortunate that my dad was open minded and encouraged my sisters and I to travel abroad and experience the world. I was fortunate to come to the US for college, speech pathology, and met my wife of 30 years. Once I was established in my medical role, I wanted to nourish my creative side and got into ceramics. Now I can’t imagine not doing it. I enjoy the feel of slip on my hands and love creating functional colorful pieces from mud.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Being in a supportive art community. I enjoy our studio at Hardy & Nance as it provided me with great opportunities to meet other artists in various mediums. The support we receive to be our true selves with no restriction is amazing.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
In this day and age of uncertainty and fear, art offers a medium where support is unwavering…with the right art community that is. I believe our society can take a step back from the news and big cooperation to invest in local artists. Buying locally is the best way to develop a rich local artist society.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: nessySLP
- Facebook: Pottery by Nesreen
Image Credits
credit to me. i took all the pictures