Store of the Week: Nature Design Pottery

This week’s Seller of the Week is Amelia from Nature Design Pottery.

Rooms Solutions first came across Amelia and her work on Etsy and we immediately had to find her on Instagram for a feature.

Amelia’s designs are interesting and unique, we wanted to understand her creation process and how improvised they are…

What are her favorite pieces and how does character impact her work?

Let’s get started!

Q&A With Nature Design Pottery

How did you first get into ceramics and when did you decide to create Nature Design Pottery?

My journey to becoming a ceramic artist started at a community center in Portland, Oregon, where I grew up.

I felt a strong connection with clay from a very young age. After pursuing more traditional career paths as a young adult, in 2017 I decided to make a big change in my life and dedicate myself 100% to my passion for ceramics.

I spent the first couple of years exploring options to sell my work in Spain, where I have been living since 2004, and decided that Etsy would be the best option to share my creations with a more international audience.

I created the Nature Design Pottery online shop in 2019.

Have you found Etsy helps you sell your products more easily?

Yes, selling on Etsy allows me to reach a wider global audience of people who love to buy handmade items.

The customers I interact with are always conscious of their choice to support an artisan or small business.

They’re looking for something unique and not mass-produced, which comes with a whole different set of expectations about the product and the time and effort that goes into the preparation of the item they’re buying.

Etsy Store: Nature Design Pottery

The designs are really unique, do you plan the styles beforehand or are they spontaneous when you’re making the pottery?

My designs are almost always spontaneous and improvised.

I usually arrive at the studio in the morning with ideas about what I’m going to work on, but I love to experiment and I often wander from the original idea.

That’s why most of the items that I sell are one-of-a-kind or created in very small batches.

When they sell out, they’re gone.

I feel that this way of working keeps me on a constant learning curve and I never get bored with my work. 

Do you have a favorite piece?

My favorite pieces are always changing as I grow as an artist.

I usually dislike anything I’ve made the year before, but if it has been 5 years or more, I learn to appreciate them again.

It’s funny how that works!

I do have a favorite glaze that I’ve used for many years though and most of my favorite pieces are done in that color.

It’s called ‘Inspiration’ and it’s a turquoise/jade color that always turns out with different shades and tones of blues, greens and even black/brown.

I love never knowing what exactly will come out of the kiln!

We love the vases! Is the character in a piece as important to you as the functionality?

Absolutely!

I think the joy of using artisan pottery is appreciating the character in each artists’ craft.

All of the little quirks or “imperfections” are what make a piece unique.

The character sets the piece apart from industrial-made pottery that lacks character and soul.  

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Rooms Solutions would like to say a huge thank you to Amelia, it was great working with her and we’re sure you’ll agree that her answers are fantastic.

Would you like to see more of Nature Design Pottery?

Etsy Store: Nature Design Pottery