As we entered into the holiday season, we brought in a collection of ceramic ornaments from local artist and founder of Hillie Ceramics, Holly Farrell. Some of the ornaments are nods to previous Corners of the Month and others are classic sneaker designs that we love. We asked Holly about her creative practice and ceramics journey.
Your work is multi-disciplined, yet ceramics seem to be at the center. Tell us about your journey, like how did you first discover clay and how did that lead to starting Hillie Ceramics?
I have a BFA in painting and drawing from Tyler School of Art & Architecture, so all of my earlier work is all 2D. Working in 3D felt incredibly intimidating to me, especially in clay. I didn't touch clay until a couple years after graduating, I just always assumed I'd be bad at it. Around 2013 I started following a bunch of illustrators and I noticed that many of them had a line of ceramics. I saw the way their work translated from 2D to 3D in a way that still felt cohesive so I decided to try it for myself at a community studio (Lancaster Clay Studio) in Lancaster, PA. From then on I caught the bug and just never put it down. It's been over a decade. When Covid hit I saw many others taking the leap and fully committing themselves to their hobby. I followed suit and founded Hillie Ceramics in 2021.
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Many of your pieces are functional objects for the home. How do you balance the need for utility like a mug that's comfortable to hold or a bowl that stacks well with your own artistic aesthetic and design vision?
In the beginning functionality wasn't a very important thing to me. I was experimenting, making lots of mistakes, learning on the go. It wasn't until I became proficient at wheel throwing that I started to prioritize utility and making in larger batches. Because I have that painting/drawing background I kind of look at ceramics as a mutation of that. I'm still painting, only now the "canvas" has changed. Surface treatment has always been the most important thing in my work. For that reason I don't consider myself a traditional potter in any sense.
You lead many craft workshops like ceramics and paper mache where mistakes are common. How do you encourage students to embrace unpredictable outcomes and treat "failure" as part of the process?
I try to be real with people about the kind of expectations they should have. Ceramics is such a labor of love. You can spend so much time on a piece, but if you don't follow the process correctly it can crack or explode in the kiln. It takes a certain amount of trial and error to understand how the material works, so I just try to emphasize that to students that have never touched clay. The same is true for paper mache, but it's a far more approachable medium.
What is the biggest hurdle you see people face when starting a new creative hobby, and what is your best advice for students to help them overcome that initial block?
I can speak for myself when I say that getting frustrated easily is the biggest hurdle when starting a new creative hobby. I tend to have big expectations like "I have to get great at this!"Understand that you're not going to be great at something out the gate. There's always going to be good days and bad days. I still have days when I can't throw on the wheel. If you have the desire to master something, you'll feel it. You'll want to devour all the information you can on it. Pay attention to how you're feeling and keep going.
Do you have any other hobbies that influence the shapes, textures, or colors you use in your work?
Sewing is another hobby of mine. I'm very drawn to fabrics, so I often draw inspiration from colors, shapes and patterns in textile designs.
