We were lucky to catch up with Nonna Hall recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nonna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Ever since I was introduced to pottery, I knew it was something deep and important for me.

It wasn’t at the college, it was way after that. I needed an outlet from the corporate world I was in at that point. I fell in love right away with clay and the process of making something out of it.

I enjoyed being in a community studio in Manhattan. It was so inspiring and motivating to be surrounded by creative and super talented people. I’ve always been motivated to learn new things and was soon offered to teach wheel and hand building classes.
Sharing my knowledge with other people always pushes my own boundaries and helps me to grow in my own work so fast.

That experience at the community studio planted a very big seed inside of me – I knew I wanted to create my own brand of ceramics, something that would be unique. I wanted to share my vision of the world through my pieces. Another part of that seed was that I wanted (needed) my own space where I could display my work and show art created by my fiends who have inspired me and who have been part of my life in one way or another.

It was at this point that I had to leave my beloved nest in Chelsea (the name of that studio is La Mano Pottery) and rent my own space, so I could be more independent and have time for experimenting and growth. I was sharing that studio in Brooklyn (the Gowanus area) with my lovely studio mate.

My husband and I then decided to move upstate, and we bought a house with an area where I could have my own studio. As soon as I started to meet people from my new community, I had support and interest in my work was spreading. I realized pretty quickly that my small studio in the house wouldn’t be enough, because I started to get so busy so fast with my own work in addition to my private classes (almost immediately I had to buy a second wheel).

I had been looking for a space where I could produce and display my work and perhaps have a couple of students. As soon as I found my first showroom in Bethel (think Woodstock), in addition to my own work, I brought a collection from one of my favorite Russian artists and friends and displayed his work there as well.

Three years later, I found the most magical little spot in Barryville, not too far from our house. The studio has a very rustic building right on a beautiful brook. I’ve created my own working space there, as well as a teaching studio, a small gallery, and a gift shop. It’s truly amazing to realize that that part of my mission (building my own creative and loving community) has materialized. It’s very humbling as well, because there are so many obstacles (or maybe challenges to overcome) in the way, and sometimes your ideas are turn in a different direction. However, this just makes me think … there are so many ideas, something good has to come of it.

Nonna, 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’ve always been creative in some way or another. In my childhood and teenage years, I was really into performing art. Even when I was studying psychology at college, my research was always centered on an artistic world – visual or performing.

It wasn’t easy to get into a ceramics class in Moscow when I was in college, unless you were in the art school. We didn’t have a pottery studio in my college where I was studying psychology, but I have always had an interest in it. Those ancient vessels at museums, the old teapots and kitchen wares from Central Asia (where I lived until my parents moved away when I was 7 years old), dishes and items from old Russian summer homes and villages that I visited all created a collective influence in my mind. I wanted to create something with my own hands, something that could be used and admired generations later.

So after I moved from Moscow to the US and had become comfortable with my English (as a second language), I wanted to learn everything I could about pottery. I was eager to learn, I was so fascinated about how something completely unique could be made from the lump of a mud.

And as soon as I realized that there were people who wanted to learn from me, or people who wanted to buy my creations or commission some work from me, I knew I didn’t want to stop what I had started. I wanted to create something special and try to build a creative community around me so that we would stimulate, influence, and work off of each other.

There’re a couple of things I’m proud of:
1. The quality and design of my work has attracted some interesting collaborative projects with certain brands and designers, and these have pushed my creative boundaries in such a good way that my confidence in myself and my work have become much stronger.
2. My little gallery has become a well-known place in my area. I opened the studio and gallery right before the COVID-19 pandemic, and I was worried that my business would die before it even saw the light. But I guess the way I’ve shown my community how much I care and how much I have to give has resonated and been reciprocated.

I’m so proud not only to create and show my own work, but to show the work of my talented creative friends. Sometimes we even do collaborative shows, which are even more fun, because we inspire and challenge each other.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I moved on from the community studio to my rented studio in Gowanus in Brooklyn, I was pretty sure that I had found my focus. My next goal was to find my own space where I could do production and where I could meet my clients.
When we bought our house upstate, I thought that I found what I was looking for – my own space (our basement is so spacious and I was almost overwhelmed with amount of space I had – a basement and a backyard where I was already dreaming of a separate studio. But it didn’t last long. Over a very short time, I knew I would have to change something.

First I needed some decent showroom where I could display my work and have meetings with clients. While exploring the area, meeting new people, and participating in some local markets, I picked up a couple of private students. I’ve always loved to teach, and I was happy with my new students, but I knew I couldn’t have more than 3 students in a week. I just would not have time for my own work. Even though I enjoy teaching, my priority always has been building up my own brand.

So when I found my current location, I knew from the first glance what I wanted to do with that place. I had an immediate vision – there was plenty of space for my own work and I could put at least 5 pottery wheels there and run classes, because the demand to that point was pretty big. In addition, there was a little room in the front for a gallery and shop.

So even though I had a plan all along, I have pivoted and chosen to follow what my community was expecting from me … pottery classes, workshops, and artist shows.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

When I just started to sell my work, Instagram was not the market it is now, so I was very happy with Etsy until they started to include all sorts of manufacturers and they crowded out small artisans like myself.

I registered and created my own website using Squarespace, which was very helpful, but it takes so much time away from your work, especially for somebody like me, who doesn’t have enough experience with websites. I’ve never had enough time to spend on my website, because it’s very challenging and time consuming. However, when the pandemic started, I knew I had to pull it together, because I thought that was probably the only way to sell my work.

At that point I decided to invest some money and hire somebody who could help me with my website, and I am so lucky to have a friend who is an amazing photographer who has worked on some beautiful images for my website. I have to admit … it doesn’t matter how beautiful you work is, if it’s not presented right online, displayed tastefully, or shot under bad lighting, there will be less interest in it.

So my main choice for E-commerce – Squarespace and Instagram. I really love Instagram. It’s a very helpful platform for me, especially because we have that feature now where you can connect your shop right in your posts. So helpful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nonnahall.com/
• Instagram: @nonneta https://www.instagram.com/nonneta/ , @nonneta_and_friends_creative https://www.instagram.com/nonneta_and_friends_creative/

Image Credits
The portrait of me by Beth Flatley. Pictures of my work by Bette Blau and Randazzo & Blau Photography.