We recently connected with Sandra Murray and have shared our conversation below.

Sandra, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

I had a boss once, Bob DeVito, who BELIEVED in the power of good design. His packaging firm was highly regarded and Bob was a busy man. Still, he showed up for critiques. He took the time to talk through communication goals. He treated his employees with kindness and encouragement. It was the balance of brilliant design aesthetics with empathy that made him a phenomenal boss. EVERYBODY loved Bob DeVito – designers & clients alike. He was my first and most cherished mentor. From him I learned to be articulate and confident. I learned that while the design process can be messy, design itself should be clean—a mantra that has served me well in my ceramic career as well.

Sandra, 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?

As a graphic designer, my compelling creative instinct is to unite form with function—always. Problem-solving and communicating are fundamental graphic design necessities that are objectively measurable—which is something I’ve often had to remind my clients: design has a job to do, and aesthetics are only part of it.

But with pottery… I am my own client. I do not have to communicate. I can concentrate on form. I can explore unfinished forms and then finish them in alternate ways. I can let the surface of my materials — the textures and vagaries of clay and fire and pine needles and stitches—tell their own story. I am free to love form for form’s sake. (And occasionally concede to function when I need a coffee mug).

It has taken me years to accept that sometimes a beautiful thing to behold is enough.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I’m not sure if this is something non-creatives need to understand about me, or something that I need to understand about the world, but my standards are legit. If I think I can do better, then I can do better. I am on a journey but I’m not there yet. And not only is that OK, it would be weird to think I’ve achieved mastery. I can’t compare myself to others, because I am not on their journey. So my valuation of my work is personal and comes from me knowing myself better than anyone.

Also, I’d like non-creatives to know that there is so so SO much more to making something than just …making something. There are materials, there are years of experience, there is time, there is timing, there are the myriad mishaps and screwups and re-dos… and it’s all agonizing and expensive and ultimately when that beautiful piece comes out of the kiln, there is the need to put a price on it — that’s the hardest part of all.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Several years ago, I took my ceramic work to a new level by introducing a mixed media element in the form of basketry. I had been wanting to do something like that for awhile, and found classes and inspiration on a trip to South Carolina where the Gullah community weaves sea grass into extraordinary baskets. I started adding pine needles to my pots and the result was very satisfying. On a return trip to South Carolina I was interviewed by a museum director who had seen my work and was interested in having me discuss my process and inspiration at a workshop there. I was pretty excited to do it and ended up really REALLY downplaying the thoughtfulness behind my efforts. I did not realize that he needed me to respect my craft and my abilities more than I was able to do at the time. I did not end up speaking at the workshop and I learned that in order for others to take me seriously, I must do so myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.workingpotter.com
• Instagram: @workingpotter

Image Credits
All images: SANDRA MURRAY