We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sabine Fletcher. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sabine below.

Sabine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

At the end of 2017 I began to pursue learning how to work with clay. I got started by taking a throwing class at a local studio in my hometown where I learned the basics of technique. After that I self taught myself by practicing long hours and watching youtube videos of the new forms I wanted to be able to create. Then joining different community studios to keep practicing in. Honestly it has been an extremely slow process to self teach, when you have to research everything you want to learn – sometimes the issue is you don’t even know what you’re looking for. I think that taking more group classes at the beginning would have sped up the learning process.

Some of the most essential skills i’ve learned though have come from simply existing around other studio members. That is where you learn the little things that make clay easier to work with, something as simple as how long you wait for a piece to dry before cutting it. One studio mate began throwing on the wheel without wooden bats. This technique is a bit more difficult, to cut the piece off you have to make sure its decently dry so the shape wont warp, but because of this all of your pieces can be stacked onto a single drying board instead of 15 round bats that take up a large amount of room. This may mean nothing to someone not familiar with clay – but believe me it has made a huge difference in the efficiency of my practice. The little tips you share with and learn from your studio peers make a world of difference.

I think the biggest obstacle has been money and equipment, initially it was very difficult to join a traditional studio. It’s expensive and usually has time restraints on when you can work. Sometimes you don’t always feel creative on a Thursday! The past two years I’ve worked on saving up from markets and built a home studio complete with a wheel, shelving and kiln. Now the only obstacle to making is the time I can put into the art.

For the next part of my learning journey I would like to pursue alternative glazing methods, mostly saggar firing and highly textural glaze work. This will be a point when joining another studio is important, I’d like to be taught these methods by a seasoned potter rather than spending lots of time guessing. Learning from an experienced artist is an incredible tool.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

As I described in the previous question, I am first a self taught ceramic artist but also a portrait photographer, darkroom tech, visual merchandiser, production assistant for Malibu apothecary and set production assistant. All of these different avenues seem a bit chaotic at first, but they allow me to dip into each passion I have and make a living from them. Rather than just pursuing one path, that may not be the only thing I enjoy doing in the future.

The past few years I’ve been really focused on making ceramic work for markets, other brands + profit, what people really desire to consume, as this was how I was making a living. This includes functional pieces like mugs, bowls, plates, lighting, or custom client work designed for their space, ranging from custom wall pieces, to lamps, and cup sets. On the side i’ve kept creating sculptural and lighting pieces purely for my own creative pleasure. I would like to transition into making less work in the future though. Focusing more on making a smaller amount of intentional pieces to display at galleries and shows, creating in a slower way. That being said I still want to collaborate with other local brands and artists to make some neat pieces together!

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

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is claiming time as my own. As a freelancer in the arts I have the privilege to work for others mostly when I want and spend the rest of my time on creative projects flooding my mind or simply existing in my life, traveling, reading, learning more about the world, which lots of people do not get the chance to do. It is also incredibly rewarding to see a vision from your head transformed into an accurate – tangible object!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My driving goal is to share my ideas with the people I encounter, for the rest of my life. Whether that is physical work like ceramics, a photograph or the exchange of thoughts. I want to be continuously be growing + learning and sharing artwork along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: sabineruth.com
• Instagram: fletcher.ceramics

Image Credits
First photo by Brook Spence. All other photos by Sabine