Grace Chaplin from Muckware Ceramics is a fully-fledged professional artist, but she has no desire to create ‘fine art’ pieces. Instead, what captures the Byron Bay-based ceramicist’s imagination is everyday useful items: tableware, homeware and kitchenware, encompassing everything from mugs, plates and noodle bowls to oil bottles, butter dishes and matcha sets.
“I make things that can be hyperfunctional and used daily that are beautiful but also have a lot of design consideration,” she says. Earthy glazes in hues of pecan, wood ash, butter and liquorice provide a grounded colour palette where objects effortlessly harmonise. Producing up to 200 handmade pieces a week, Grace shares how she stays on task, and the process behind bringing a new design to life.
Follow Your Creative Calling
“I remember loving my art teachers at primary and high school. High school was a rough time for me so art was my escape. After school, I travelled, then signed up for a fine art degree at UNSW Art & Design in Sydney. Through the electives, I came across ceramics and immediately fell in love, then majored in it for my honours year.”
Be Ready to Pivot When Opportunity Knocks
“I graduated in 2018, then the COVID-19 lockdown happened, so I moved back to the Northern Rivers [of NSW] where I grew up and got a job at a pottery studio. I ended up managing the studio while launching Muckware Ceramics. After a few years, Muckware needed my full attention so I moved to the studio where I am now. I remember getting my first wholesale orders. I recall being so stoked that people loved what I made.”
Fuel Your Creativity With Different Sources of Inspiration
“I look up to a lot of potters – London-based Florian Gadsby and Malcolm Greenwood, the OG Australian handmade restaurant-ware maker. The appeal for me in ceramics is creating objects that can make a meal or cup of coffee that much more special. Nature also inspires me. All of my colours are very earthy and I use clays that have quite a rich iron body. The Northern Rivers is such a beautiful part of the world – there’s incredible coastlines with rocks and cliff faces. If I could just pick a colour off a cliff, that would be my colour palette.”
SEE ALSO: My Creative Process With Crochet Artist Katelyn Leonardo
Set a Daily Rhythm and Stick to It
“I’m at my studio five or six days a week and run a few private classes per month as well. I’m here quite early to put the gas kiln on out the back. It has to fire for six to eight hours, and I have to monitor it all day. I’ll look at my whiteboard which has a list of things that need to be made that week, to see what needs to be done first. I’m usually at the wheel all day, throwing, getting up every half hour to check the gas kiln, then I might have another kiln to unpack, so there’s usually five things going at once.”
Make Your Workspace Work for You
“I have a whiteboard where I write down orders – a dot next to them signifies they’ve been made. There’s a week, a month and a three-month ‘to do’ list – it’s constantly evolving. I have a calendar next to my whiteboard that notes down my workshops and when my assistant is coming. I use a Moleskine [notebook] with grid lines to write dimensions and draw, and a grid book to graph every gas kiln firing, with the time and temperature. My other essential tool is my Shimpo pottery wheel, plus trimming tools and wires.”
Build Rituals that Cue Creative Focus
“If I’m not in the right headspace, I don’t sit at the wheel because I’ll just end up making things that aren’t right. Instead, I’ll do glazing or admin. But those days are few and far between, because when you’re the sole maker, nothing happens if you don’t make it! If I need to hustle and get in the groove, I’ll put some music or a podcast on, light some incense or clean the studio. A clean studio is a good way to get in a creative mood.”
Consider Your Art’s Purpose
“Most Muckware Ceramics pieces come from a need. For instance, I started making noodle bowls a few years ago when I was eating laksa once a week and now they’re one of my bestsellers. My process is rooted in design, so I’ll think about how a piece should function, how it sits in your hands or on the table. Usually I’ll sketch something and make a first pass at the shape. That then goes through a lengthy process in the kiln, then I’ll use it and decide which design elements work. Is it too heavy for what it is? Does it stack nicely? Design before beauty, then hopefully they come together.”
SEE ALSO: How to Make Textured Art That’s Truly Unique
Hone a Distinct Aesthetic
“I find that I’m constantly going back to simple and classic forms. Whenever I try something new that has detail or decoration, I don’t like it as much and it doesn’t feel very Muckware. Once I strip back a design to its essential features, that’s when I feel most happy with a piece.”
Put In the Hours to Grow Your Skills
“Mastering ceramics requires a lot of time. Time at the wheel is really the only thing that will build your skill. Even though someone can learn how to do it, muscle memory needs time to develop. You’ve just got to keep at it. You can be naturally talented, yes, but what it comes down to is practice.”
SEE ALSO: My Creative Process With Rach Jackson
Stop to Savour Success
“When I think about how many pieces I’ve made in my short career, it baffles me to think there’s that much of my pottery out there in the world. It would be tens of thousands of Muckware Ceramics pieces, for sure. I’m just so proud that I get to do what I love and that it sustains my life. This year, I’m looking at my business model and where I’d like to focus more attention. I’d love to do more online and direct sales. I want to focus more on being in the studio and doing classes.”
