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#170 Creating Calm Pottery w/ Lucia Matos
33 Plays3 years ago
What is up Shaping Nation on this episode of Shaping Your Pottery I got to interview Lucia Matos. Lucia makes some really great pottery that have a calm and serenity feel to them. You can learn more about Lucia by checking out her Instagram @luciamatosceramics
Top 3 Value Bombs:
- How to get your pottery to have a calm and sernity feel
- Developing Disipline to help you discover your unique voice
- How the small choices that we make will help us discover our unique voice
and so much more
Take this Free Quiz to see how close you are to finding your pottery voice click here to take the quiz shapingyourpottery.com/quiz
Follow me on Instagram @nictorres_pottery
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Transcript
Introduction and Pottery Quiz
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, real quick before we get started and get into the episode, if you want to figure out how close you are to discovering your own unique voice, I put together a free little quiz for you to see how close you are to finding your own unique voice. If you would like to take this quiz, go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash quiz, or you can just go to shapingyourpottery.com and it'll be right there. I'll see you guys in there.
00:00:26
Speaker
If you love pottery and want to take your skills to the next level, you're in the right place. Find your own pottery style right here on Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres. Let's get started.
Interview with Lucia Matos
00:00:39
Speaker
What is up, Shaping Nation? This is Nick Torres here, and on this episode of Shaping and Pottery, I got to interview Lucia Matos. Lucia makes some really incredible pottery that she throws in the wheel and has a calm and serenely, surreal feel to them. In this episode, you will learn how Lucia makes her calm and serenely pottery. You'll also learn about being in the moment
00:01:06
Speaker
You'll learn about developing discipline to help you discover your own unique voice. And then finally, you'll learn about the small choices and the sum of all your choices lead to you discovering your own unique voice. I'll see you guys in there.
Lucia's Journey from Conductor to Potter
00:01:22
Speaker
Lucia, welcome to Shaping Your Pottery and share with me what is something people might not know about you.
00:01:30
Speaker
So first, thank you for having me here. I'm super happy. And what people might not know is that I used to be an orchestra and opera conductor. And I'm still a professor at a university at Northern Illinois University teaching music. But unfortunately, I had to stop a few years ago. I stopped conducting because I developed a severe
00:01:52
Speaker
tinnitus or tinnitus and that was unfortunate but I'm very happy now having the pottery and the teaching. Absolutely love it. So tell me the story how you got started with ceramics.
00:02:09
Speaker
It was by luck. Look, we were watching, my husband and I were watching a video about Portugal and he saw the tiles, the azules, the beautiful Portuguese tiles. And my husband, he's a painter. And he said, I think I will make some tiles, learn how to make tiles. And then he said, I might get like a tiny little test kiln to fire the tiles.
00:02:34
Speaker
And I remember we were in the kitchen and as he said that, I said, huh, so then I learned wheel throwing. And he didn't make the tiles, he didn't buy the little kiln, but I started right away and fell in love with that. I love that so much. So what made you keep pursuing pottery further?
00:02:57
Speaker
And for me, like, there are many people that I hear the same, you know, when they try wheel throwing for the first time and they just fall in love with it. And for me, it was very much like that. And also because I was coming from a period of grief.
00:03:14
Speaker
from losing what I loved the most, which was the conducting. With the pottery, I found purpose again in
Defining Serenity in Pottery
00:03:23
Speaker
life. And I remember the New Year's Eve right before the year. I started in 2021, so it has not been a long time, in June, beginning of June. And that New Year's Eve going to 2021, I remember write some intentions about the year.
00:03:40
Speaker
And what I wrote that I would hope that most that would happen in my life would be that I would find purpose. And I really found it. That here, I'm so grateful for that. That's really amazing. I love that so much. So let's talk about your pottery. In one sentence, can you tell me what you make?
00:03:59
Speaker
I make mostly decorative work like vases, vessels, large decorative bows, like for a centerpiece. And they are made by stoneware and also I use porcelain. So can you tell me the story how you started making the pottery that you make today?
00:04:19
Speaker
You know, it's a little bit strange because when I look back at the first things that I made, I already was in the past that I am now. Like I started because I wanted to do cylinders, perfect cylinders and get higher and get higher. But at the same time, every time I made a cylinder, I would.
00:04:40
Speaker
search for an interesting form and I also I didn't like personally for myself like the glossy glazes and from the very beginning I would start just putting clear on the inside for example and leave the raw clay and now okay I use matte glazes and some textural
00:05:01
Speaker
But even the forms, the first forms that they look like forms, they are a little bit like a prototype of what I'm doing now. So you are inspired by many things like architecture, minimalism, museums. But the one I find the most interesting is you are inspired by Eastern philosophy. Can you tell me how this comes back into your pottery?
Influence of Eastern Philosophy and Meditation
00:05:25
Speaker
Yeah, actually, when I started doing, I did yoga and it was in a studio where we would do also meditations like once a week for an hour, sometimes a little bit longer. For me, it was like transformative because in conducting when you are on a stage or when you are in front of a big orchestra, like an important situation, it's a lot of pressure and you have to perform your best.
00:05:52
Speaker
But when I discovered meditation, it was very much to learn to be in the moment and not worry about what's going to happen, like the hard passages that were about to come or the results, if things were going to, the musicians would like my conducting, you know. So it was liberating very much. And with pottery is the same, like I think it really helps to be in a moment
00:06:18
Speaker
and fully centered and that helps also with the wheel throwing because you need to be centered to be able to do it. I think so and also I think it has an effect on the pieces that I make which they are more quiet to a more introspective work.
00:06:41
Speaker
So besides for meditation, what else do you practice to help you stay centered with making pottery?
00:06:49
Speaker
It's mostly meditation, but it's every day, even if I have like not much time, even if I have sometimes like five minutes to sit quiet. And sometimes I just count down from a thousand, sometimes I just breeze, but that moment really connects, like it's very important. I think that's the most for me.
00:07:13
Speaker
I definitely agree. Shaping Nation, it's important to kind of be centered when making pottery because when you are centered, that means your work is going to look a lot better and you're going to be able to make things that are truly amazing because you are more calm and centered. You're able to think things clearly. I love that a lot. So something I found interesting is you want your pots to convey a sense of peace, equilibrium and serenity. Can you explain this to me some more?
00:07:40
Speaker
I really believe that the space where we live and the objects that we choose to have close to us, that they have an effect on us. And for me, since even when I was a student, I liked in the studio, like tiny studio.
00:07:57
Speaker
and I like to live in a place with no clutter and more minimal space and without color like much color because color is I love color but from personally I like to get home to be home and to have like a retreat from the outside world like a moment of calm and I need that very much
00:08:23
Speaker
And so, and I think what we choose to be close to us, like if we have an object that has lots of decoration, lots of colors mixed, it's very invigorating. Like it's, it's, it's incredible the effect that it, it has on us. So in the same way, like I, and I live with the pieces that I make and I, and I get that from them, but I hope they give the same to the people that own them very much. I hope that.
00:08:54
Speaker
I love that. Shaping Nation, how can you create your pottery in a way where it's either sparking a different emotion, maybe it's like serenity or maybe it's excitement or maybe it's just another emotion.
Techniques for Evoking Emotion in Pottery
00:09:05
Speaker
How can you create your pottery so it's creating more emotion just in your life and other people's lives as well?
00:09:12
Speaker
I really think color has a lot to do with that and the shapes that you choose. For example, the bows that I like to make, they have very narrow foot and then they open up.
00:09:27
Speaker
And like, you feel like they, I don't know, for me, like a little bit idea that they float a little bit in the air, the lightness, even if they are not as light as I would love them to be. They are not yet. I'm not there. I have a long way to go.
00:09:43
Speaker
But the shapes that inspired that, like gentle curves, some angles, a little bit more modern, because there are other types of pottery where it's a little bit heavier, chunkier, but it's comforting too. It's wonderful. It's just that it's not what I would like to make. I respect and admire many styles of pottery very, very much.
00:10:09
Speaker
but I know what I would like to make which is something that is connected with my view of the world and yeah definitely agree I love that so much so can you give me a simplified explanation on how you create your pottery
00:10:27
Speaker
So I work at the wheel because I love the wheel. I do some coiling and slabs too, but every time I'm doing them, I'm thinking, I wish I was at the wheel, I wish I was at the wheel. So it's mostly at the wheel. And then after it's bisque, actually some of them I use terracigillata, the refined clay slip.
00:10:50
Speaker
And then if I don't use that as a gelato, then after bisque, I use glazes that are met, or I also like the lava glazes, the textural glazes. So let's talk about finding your, actually, we'll hold off on that one for now. What advice would you give to someone trying to add a little bit more serenity into their own pottery?
00:11:16
Speaker
I would recommend to spend some minutes of quiet, being quiet before going to the real world at all other moments, but at least have a part of the day where you are quiet and also being inspired by different artworks, like forms of art, you know, not just being inspired by other people's pottery, but by other artists in different artworks.
00:11:45
Speaker
Definitely agree shaping nation. It's not only important to take inspiration from other potters But also good to take inspiration from other artists and other art forms in general And that's where a lot of ideas are really going to come. I love that so
Balancing Teaching and Pottery
00:11:58
Speaker
much. So now let's talk about finding your voice What would you say has been your biggest struggle when it came to finding your voice?
00:12:06
Speaker
You know, I don't know, maybe because of the experience that I have, like, as a musician, I didn't really have a lot of, because I couldn't say, I can't think of an obstacle, real obstacle to find my voice. The only thing that I wish I had more is time, because teaching at university, which is more than an hour away, so I drive and I spent a lot of time commuting, so I don't have
00:12:34
Speaker
the time that I wish to just spend making. So I don't go every day, so I have days where I have full time with the pottery. But I wish I had more and that if I had more time, for sure, my work could be further ahead than it is now. You contribute your growth as an artist to your form in life as an orchestral conductor. How has this helped you with growing as an artist?
Discipline and Creative Flow
00:13:01
Speaker
I sing in two different ways. One was because to become a music, a classical musician, you have to develop a lot of discipline because you have to practice. Since you are young, you are used to go to school and then you go and practice. And my case was the piano. You try to practice three hours. Sometimes if it's like you have something, you even practice more than that, four hours. And you develop that.
00:13:28
Speaker
You have to do it every day. And then if we become a conductor, you study the scores for many hours. So that discipline helped me because I really spent, even though it's not a long period of time that I've been doing pottery, I've spent many, many, many hours doing it and enjoying it. And the other aspect, I think it's because when you are in one of the arts, you develop your artistic sensibilities.
00:13:58
Speaker
And I think that, in a way, kind of translates to other forms. At least to me, it felt very natural. And the same things that I feel when I am at the wheel, sinking, trying to create a piece, it's very much what I felt in front of the orchestra, where you're totally there in the moment, that flow moment, where time passes and you don't even realize it.
00:14:25
Speaker
The only thing that is the advantage of pottery is that in music, you finish the performance, it's wonderful, everyone is happy, but the music is gone with the pottery. You still have the pottery with you, it's fantastic. And that could last like thousands of years. So it's a big advantage compared to music. Of course you have recordings, but the recordings are never, I mean, sometimes they are live.
00:14:54
Speaker
But most of the time, they understood you in a special situation that you're going to report that. But otherwise, the performances, they are just gone.
00:15:05
Speaker
I love that. I love the part when you're talking about the flow. This is a little bit off topic, but when I was in high school, I used to play baseball, and there would be moments when I would just be in that flow, and I love feeling that flow, and I still remember that. I love how pottery kind of relates back into that. You still feel that flow. I love that you said that a lot. So nice you had that, to experience that.
00:15:30
Speaker
What is something you are doing to evolve your voice even further? Right now, I've been sketching more like drawing shapes because before I was only like being at the wheel and then think of something and try to do it.
00:15:50
Speaker
But now I've been more mindful in terms of planning and spend more time drawing a form and then changing that form in the drawing and then go to the wheel and going to the wheel and trying that at the wheel. So how was drawing it out helped you evolving your voice further? Yeah, evolving your voice further.
00:16:12
Speaker
Like, if you draw in edge advance and you go at the wheel, you go exactly with that ID in mind to try that. And with the drawing, you can erase it, you can change an angle, you can change a curve.
00:16:28
Speaker
And you can look at that and see how the proportions are. Like with the wheel, you do make a curve. I mean, you can't change, but at some point you cannot do as much like as you can do with a drawing.
Design Evolution and Style Discovery
00:16:42
Speaker
And my drawings are horrible. But with a razor, you can, you know, make different iterations, like different shape one, and then you change it and that shape becomes one A, one B, one C, you know.
00:16:56
Speaker
So for me, I think that and I want to continue to do that. I love that shaping nation. So not everybody is going to like drawing or need to draw, but there's sometimes when drawing can really help you make a vision come to life and that will help you go a lot further if you have that vision in your mind already. So so so as we're coming to a close here,
00:17:22
Speaker
What advice would you give to someone trying to find their own unique voice with their pottery? So what I said before about let yourself be inspired by everything, by other arts, and also see what resonates with you. Because I think, you know, when we talked about the voice and find your own style, like, for example, where we are in our lives, like you and I,
00:17:49
Speaker
I think that we are like the sum of all the choices that we made in our lives before. Of course, there's a lot of influence of the environment where we live, live, lived and live. But like those little choices, they add up. Sometimes we have some big choices like who we're going to marry or
00:18:10
Speaker
what we're going to study in college. But we are like the choice, the sum of those choices. And I think our style or artistic style, it's also like that is the sum of the choices that we make every day at the wheel or when we are glazing. And to be aware of those choices, because sometimes it will take some time until you look back and you see your style and you tried more things
00:18:38
Speaker
But, and also trust your instincts. See what resonates with you. Like you, you make something different than you were looking. Do you love that? Does it say something to you and be connected to that and then trust them and keep going in the past that you feel the desire to go without thinking so much about other people, you know.
00:19:03
Speaker
Definitely agree 100%.
Connecting with Lucia and Closing Remarks
00:19:05
Speaker
Lucia, it was really great chatting with you today. Where can my artist go and learn more about you? As always, I like everyone else on Instagram. It's luciamatusceromics and I also have a website, luciamatus.com.
00:19:22
Speaker
Hey, thanks for listening to this episode of Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres. If you want to discover how close you are to actually discovering your own unique voice with your pottery, I put together a free four question quiz. It's very short. It takes 30 seconds for you to take. If you want to know how close you are to finding your own unique voice, go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash quiz or you could simply go to shapingyourpottery.com and it'll be right there at the top.
00:19:51
Speaker
I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I'll see you guys next time.