We recently connected with Zell Page and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zell, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I am, for all purposes, a self-taught ceramicist and artist. I have been drawing and painting for as long as I could remember and I started my ceramics work when I was in one of my final years of college. The only reason I started ceramics was because of a friend I had worked with in the Disney college program. As we got to know each other better, he said that I would most likely really enjoy it and that I should just try it out and see what I think. I took one intro class at my University (which was not the best) which provided me with little to no instruction.

Almost the entirety of my ceramics experience has been trial and error. I would have loved to have been able to take any classes earlier on– if I was able to start in high school or before that even– I think that would have helped me in the long run and I would be much further along than I am now. Aside from that, I could have cut out an entire degree, and gone down a different degree path than the one I chose.

I think the most essential skill is accepting that you will fail. You’re not going to be perfect at everything you do first try, and I know it’s oversaid, but practice does make perfect. If you’re really wanting to do something, and to do it well, you’ll really have to commit to it. Once I found myself with access to the materials and tools that I needed, I was working on my skills for hours at a time, every possible day I was able to.

I think the biggest obstacle in learning ceramics and art, for me, especially earlier on, was being from a low-income family. My family did not have the money to send me to extracurricular classes and I went to a school that did not have an art program. I think it is unfortunate that a lot of arts that are considered fine art are very inaccessible to the general public, especially those that are low income. I wasn’t able to Play around with the arts until college, and even then I was only able to take A few classes outside of my major (theatre).

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 of right now I mainly do general functionalware (think bowls, plates, mugs, household objects, etc), little trinkets, and jewelry/accessories. I think my artwork stands out among the works that surround me because of how non-traditional my approach is. Because I focus a lot on illustrative qualities of my work, I don’t necessarily use the same glazing methods or techniques that you normally find in New Mexican pottery especially. I feel I make things that are not necessarily commercially funny, and for the Southwest, are very brightly colored amongst all the earthy tones surrounding me.
I think I’m the most proud of being able to start a business doing something that I love, and that it hasn’t become a chore or insufferable as I hear that’s what can happen with many creatives who go into it professionally, unfortunately.
I think the best thing about making things is that you can do whatever you want and no one can tell you otherwise. I love making pottery that appeals to me and I’m very glad that other people find it amusing or unique or something that they want.
I focus on making what I want to make, and if I don’t sell it, that’s okay because then I have a new mug that I really love or a bowl that I think is pretty that I can use. I think I’m very lucky to be able to be in this position that I am.
And I think it’s funny that the only reason I got here is because I needed a way to fund the habit! I wouldn’t have started selling my work at all if I was able to afford the materials right off the bat. (Pottery can be EXPENSIVE, even at a public or community studio!)

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

I think the most rewarding thing about being a creative is seeing the joy that I can bring to others with my artwork. If I’m at a market and trying to sell my wares and someone walks by, picks up a mug and laughs, that’s honestly so lovely.
Granted, being able to make money is ideal, but if I can make someone’s day with a mug with a dumb little saying on it or a dumb little picture, I think that’s great. Sometimes it’s hard to find the joy in the little things and I hope that I can help with that as someone who struggles with it myself.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think the most interesting lesson I’ve had to unlearn is that there’s a right and a wrong way to do things.
I have been told that I have a unique method of wheel throwing, as I am a right-handed individual but I throw left-handed (I honestly think that has something to do with me being blind in my right eye and needing to do things on my left side, where I can see, and yet I flip the wheel to right handed when I’m trimming pieces.)
And there have been times that I’ve been told that I’ve thrown “the wrong way” And because I wasn’t doing it correctly, I was doing it badly.
The one time that really, REALLY stuck with me was at a Job interview for a studio that I do not work for currently. I was applying to become a teacher and because I didn’t throw the same traditional way that the owner of the studio did, I wasn’t good enough for the position. I really beat myself up about it and tried my best to adjust (throwing right handed as a right handed person, only using tools that I was “allowed” to use, and using common glazing techniques) and I was miserable, and so ready to quit the hobby that I had enjoyed so much.
Fast forward to a few months. After that incident, I applied to another pottery studio and got to hang out there a little bit and watch people do things differently than what I had seen online or in tutorials. And a lot of people did things imperfectly which really helped me acknowledge the imperfect ways. I did things and embrace them and make them my own.
I have been very lucky to be able to work in a community pottery studio as a full-time job, and I’ve been able to watch people grow and learn in their ceramics journey, doing lots of different things that traditional ceramicists would never think of doing. A lot of these people wouldn’t be able to throw if they didn’t do it their way and they wouldn’t enjoy throwing if they didn’t do it their way. There’s lots of things that I’ve learned from people who do things very non-traditionally, and I think that if I had kept going on how I had been seeing people work, and replicating their methods, I wouldn’t have found new techniques that have kept my art exciting and fun to me.

Contact Info:

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