We were lucky to catch up with Signe Ariel Sampou recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Signe Ariel , thanks for joining us today. 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.

I was introduced to ceramics in a serious setting during my freshman year of undergrad at Green Mountain College. What began as a casual interest in making functional pottery for my dorm (and an interest in what I thought would be a couple of fun, easy credits) quickly transformed into a deep respect for the complexities of the craft. Watching experienced potters throw, on instagram reels or in movies (Ghost, anyone?) sets beginners up for guaranteed disappointment when they realize that just centering the clay, the first step in the process of throwing, will take months of practice. Our professor, Karen Swyler, didn’t spare us from the angst that comes with ceramics. In fact, I believe she knowingly thrust us into the thick of it- our first assignment was to create 40 functional mugs, a task we balked at, having had only a few days of throwing experience. That first project weeded out the less serious students, and I believe made me the artist that I am today. There’s nothing I would change about my learning process. I fell in love with the challenges of the craft, the euphoria that comes from learning to speak the language of clay and seeing those hard-earned results. As my fascination with clay grew over the three years I spent at Green Mountain College, I more often found myself drawn to the studio, returning again and again at all odd hours to keep working, to keep learning the little secrets in the clay that only show themselves after a lifetime of exploring this medium. It’s been 8 years now, and I still feel that the unknowns of the ceramic world keep me hungry to learn what else is possible within this amazing craft. I truly believe that to speed up the process of learning would have been to rob myself of a beautiful experience.

Signe Ariel , 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’m a one-woman pottery business based on Cape Cod, MA! As a lifelong illustrator, my interest in ceramic work blossomed when I began to understand it as a vessel for visual story-telling. Through stylized surface design that interacts with physical form, I build ceramic works that communicate narratives experienced and imagined. On forms both wheel thrown and handbuilt, I use brightly colored underglaze to bring to life characters and their stories. The subjects of my work are often connected to themes of childhood- toys, animals, and picture books continue to be some of my greatest creative inspirations. I am not a production potter, but rather a ceramicist creating unique, highly detailed works, most of which, once in the world, will be revisited only in terms of concept. I never make the same pot twice, something that I believe keeps my practice fresh and my creativity sparked. I am fascinated with the small, yet deeply significant moments of our lives. My work serves to call attention to those moments, to reflect on the humor, tenderness, and absurdity of the human experience.

Whether I create a set of mugs illustrated with summer flowers so happy and bright that they remind you, in the dead of winter, that warm weather isn’t so far away, or a custom vase depicting the bond between a customer and their pet cat, my work brings joy and personality to the inanimate objects that we interact with on a daily basis.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I believe that, if situationally possible, the most compelling tool a person has for creating the kind of world they want to see is their spending power. As a ceramicist, time and time again I encounter customers so used to cheap, mass produced ceramic wares that the price of handmade pottery shocks them. Through no fault of our own, we’ve been conditioned to consider fast, cheap, faceless products the norm. This is especially true in the fashion realm, where stores are stuffed with $15 jeans, a price point made possible through what is essentially slave labor. To ethically produce clothing with an eye for detail and beauty is an incredibly time consuming process, and is reflected in the price.

To those with the financial privilege of being able to spend on handmade art/goods, or even just goods produced with more ethical practices, I urge you to support artists and creatives versus large corporations. You may spend more money for a smaller quantity of “stuff” but the pieces that you bring home will have been designed and crafted intentionally from start to finish, a labor of love.

I’m very thankful to have an amazing customer base who understand that by divesting from cheaply and immorally produced ceramic wares, they’re not only pulling their support from a labor system rife with abuse, but they’re also supporting me to be able to continue to put art out into the world.

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

I’m absolutely in love with my creative practice. It’s the driving force behind everything I do, and I feel extremely lucky to have such a strong sense of purpose. At times I feel that my compelling desire to create work is a selfish endeavor- after all, I know so many people whose self-described purpose is directly related to the betterment of our world. However, I know that I’ll never be able to give any other path as much devotion as I can give this one. The most rewarding part of my practice is the creation itself. I’ve heard this sentiment echoed by other artists, that the finished piece is much less captivating to the creator than the process itself. I tend to drag my feet when it comes to documenting my work or uploading photos to my website, because my interest dwindles once the piece is complete. Lots can go wrong in the kiln, and some pieces come out looking very different that you’d imagine, which makes the present moment at each stage even more special. When I’m carving or under glazing my illustration onto a pot, I don’t know if I’ll like the end result after firing. As time goes on, you definitely get better at controlling the results, but just last month a bad glaze batch negatively impacted a whole kiln load of my work! The unpredictabilities of the craft force me to be very present with my work, and in a world where my attention is always divided between screens competing for my attention, I do believe that it’s beautiful to focus the way I get to when I’m creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: siggyceramics.com
• Instagram: @siggy.ceramics

Image Credits
Kayla Jorgensen