Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Mallard

Hi Donna, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

I was born with an insatiable desire to make things with my hands. Even as a kid, you could find me sitting underneath a tree folding leaves into shapes or holed up in the garage, hammering and bending aluminum cans. Whether it’s clay, cloth, paper, or paint, I find handling these materials deeply satisfying. It’s where I find flow. I have a non-creative day job that pays the bills for which I am very grateful, but it’s my creative work that sustains me emotionally and gives me a sense of purpose.

Most of my making these days is focused on pottery. I’m so excited about the surfaces I’ve created through experimentation and my extensive sketchbook work. I hand draw and cut stencils based on loose narratives surrounding king crow avatars. While I try to stay intuitive and not overanalyze my pieces, I would say that the overall themes that I’m interested in exploring these days have to do with liminality. I think this is most obvious in the architectural features of my most recent pot such as doorways, bridges, and windows. While I don’t sketch out exactly how I decorate my pots, keeping a sketchbook has become foundational to my approach. I explore motifs, play with color combinations, practice rendering, draw thumbnails, and just generally use it as a way to take in all the amazing things that I see around me.

Lately, I’ve been trying to improve my throwing and handbuilding skills, and it’s been fun discovering new sculptural forms. I even made a lamp recently!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

I’ve struggled with confidence, worrying too much about the opinions of others, my inner critic—the typical issues I think most of us experience when attempting creative work and sharing it with others. On top of that, I have struggled with anxiety and depression throughout various periods of my life, which is not only a creativity killer, but enduring depression is just no way to live. But in a wonderfully circular way, making art and sharing it with others was what led me out of the forest during my most severe bout of depression. I truly believe that art heals. Now, my sketchbook operates as another tool in my toolbox.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I am most proud of my work ethic—that I’m always working on new ideas, spending time in the studio or my sketchbook. I continue to work on executing my ideas, moving past disappointments, quieting my inner critic to keep trying to get at what I want to say. But in terms of tangible accomplishments, I’ve sold some pieces and paintings and had some designs published in a craft book, exhibited work locally, and produced commissioned work.

I love finding homes for my claybabies and have a goal of getting a pottery webshop up before the holidays. In addition, I would love to find a way to share both my stencil/glazing techniques and my sketchbook/ideation process, perhaps through workshops or some other community-building format.

If you’re interested in my work, please feel free to message me on instagram.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duckndam/