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#230 Creating Cute Mini Pottery w/ Key Antoinette
57 Plays2 years ago
In this podcast episode, the hosts talk with Key Antoinette, a self-taught ceramicist who turned her high school hobby into a full-time career. Key shares her journey of learning ceramics, acquiring her kiln and pottery wheel from Craigslist, and starting her business, Midori House, during the lockdown. She discusses the challenges of balancing her creative desires with market demands and offers advice for those considering a similar path. The episode also delves into Key's love for creating tiny pottery pieces, her unique sales approach inspired by gumball machines, and her philosophy on the joy and commitment in art. Key encourages listeners to enjoy art as a leisure activity and shares her experiences with chronic illness and having artist parents. you can learn more about Key @themidorihouse
Top 3 Value Bombs:
1. Artistic Journey: Key's journey from a high school student interested in ceramics to becoming a full-time potter during the pandemic is an inspiring tale. It's a reminder that our passions can evolve into a profession, often when we least expect it. Dee's story is an example of resilience and the power of pursuing one's passion, even in challenging circumstances.
2. Navigating Market Demands: Key shares the struggles of balancing creative desires with market demands, offering insights into the realities of being a full-time artist. Her advice to those contemplating a similar leap into full-time artistry is invaluable. She stresses the importance of being fully committed to the art and ready to handle multiple roles like a social media manager while being creative.
3. Unique Approach and Creativity: Key's unique approach to selling her pottery pieces, inspired by her fondness for gumball machines, showcases how creativity can blend with business strategies. Her focus on creating tiny pieces of pottery and drawing inspiration from darker concepts in media offers a fresh perspective on artistic expression. Her philosophy to bring small sparks of joy through her creations resonates with both artists and art lovers.
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Transcript
Finding Unique Style in Pottery
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, real quick before we get started, if you would like to find your own theme for your pottery so your voice really stands out and you're not getting bored with making the same thing over and over again, I put together 53 themes for you guys and it's completely free. All you have to do to get it is just go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash 53 themes. That's shapingyourpottery.com forward slash 53 themes.
00:00:28
Speaker
I think you have to be really ready to fully commit yourself. If you're not 10 toes down into the art thing, it's going to be hard because now you have to become a social media manager. You have to promote yourself while being creative, while making art.
00:00:45
Speaker
What is
Interview with Key Antoinette
00:00:46
Speaker
up, Shaping Nation? This is Nick Torres here, and on this episode of Shaping Your Pottery, I gotta interview Key Antoinette. Key makes some really incredible cute mini pottery. In this episode, you will learn how Key makes her mini pottery. You'll also learn the story of how she chose a name for her business.
00:01:04
Speaker
You also learn about the power of being fully committed to what you want to do and seeing the results from being fully committed. And finally, you also learn about why you need to be listening to yourself and what you want to make and not what other people want to make. I hope you guys enjoy this episode and I'll see you guys in there. 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.
00:01:34
Speaker
E, welcome to Shave Me Pottery and share with me what is something people might not know about?
Becoming a Self-Taught Ceramic Artist
00:01:39
Speaker
I think something people might not know or might not assume is that I was not trained in ceramics at all whatsoever. I taught myself everything that I know and I've never taken a class. I've never done tutorials, anything like that. Everything that I know is just from experimentation. So tell me a story how you got started in ceramics.
00:02:02
Speaker
So I actually took ceramics in high school, not really took it, but I had a art class that had a ceramics portion and I loved it. I mean, I loved, loved, loved it, but we had to do, you know, a sign like, here's a still life. Please make this still life. And I would make everything teeny, teeny, tiny. And my art teacher was like, this is, I can't grade this. This is not working.
00:02:28
Speaker
And I ended up failing that section, stopped doing ceramics altogether, hated it. I was like, never doing that again. Of course it was due to the teacher, not my actual love for the art. And so my dad's one of those guys that just kind of buys stuff. And so my mom had taken pottery in college and was like, oh, I'll surprise her with a kiln and a wheel. And he found one on Craigslist and then it sat in my house until COVID. And we were like, want to pull out the pottery wheel?
00:02:59
Speaker
And then people, so I was selling plants at the time and people wanted the pots more than the plants, but I was just making for fun. And we were like, wow, that's kind of weird. Pots are a lot easier to like take care of than plants. And yeah, I just kept doing it. Absolutely love it. So tell me about the moment when you decided to go full time with ceramics.
Full-Time Pottery Career Shift
00:03:22
Speaker
Yeah, so I kind of touched on it there that, you know, I was selling plants and I was selling like plant accessories. So like moss poles and different trellis kind of items. And I started making pots for fun. And that was the object that people wanted, like out of everything that I was selling, those would sell out right away every time. And I was just kind of doing it for fun. Like me and my mom were hanging out.
00:03:44
Speaker
because we were in lockdown. So what else are we going to be doing? Before I was a photographer and you can't do that during COVID. So it's doing us full-time because my other job was pretty much taken away. Like all of the weddings were canceled. All the parties were canceled. No quince is nothing like that. So I started doing plants full-time and then it became pottery full-time.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yay. So before I get into the next question, I just noticed you're wearing a super cool miles an hour shirt. I just want to say that was super cool. I just noticed that right now. This is becoming like part of my brand. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to wear it on. I love it. I love that. So I love the name for your business, the Midori House. What made you choose this name?
00:04:33
Speaker
So when I was trying to pick names, I actually had another like Etsy business before and it didn't fit right. Like the name didn't fit with this new direction. I was going with the plants and the plant type accessories and stuff like that.
00:04:50
Speaker
And so I was looking at like the greenhouse, just straight up the greenhouse, right? And it just didn't feel right. And obviously there's like a lot of copyright issues, just calling yourself the greenhouse. And so I started Googling just green and other languages and Mirori is green in Japanese, but specifically the green of like a budding new reef. So it can represent like new life.
00:05:16
Speaker
joy and, you know, anything beautiful that comes with that like new life, right. Fresh cream wave. And so I kept it the Midori house. I love that. I love that story. So what would you say was your biggest obstacle when you went full time?
Balancing Creativity and Market Demand
00:05:32
Speaker
I think at first.
00:05:35
Speaker
I struggled with what I wanted to make versus what I felt like people wanted to buy. I think especially when you do functional pottery for people, they have like size opinions specifically. And I really wanted to make small stuff, but for a while I was forcing myself to
00:05:56
Speaker
like make bigger, bigger and bigger things. And it just wasn't for me specifically. So it wasn't fun. But besides that, it was a really fun time during the beginning, just learning everything and being about my own. So maybe I'm crazy.
00:06:14
Speaker
So I want to get back into that a little later, if I hope I don't forget about it, but a little later. But for now, what is what advice would you give to someone also looking to go full time with their pottery?
00:06:28
Speaker
I think when people decide to go full time in art, I think a lot of times, you know how kids these days want to become YouTubers or Twitch streamers? Like this pretty like, Oh, I'm going to have so much fun. And like, we're going to make so much money. It's going to be great. Not that artists always say, Oh, I'm going to be able to make so much money. But.
00:06:51
Speaker
I think you have to be really ready to fully commit yourself. If you're not 10 toes down into the art thing, it's going to be hard because now you have to become a social media manager, you have to promote yourself while being creative, while making art. So I think it's really making sure that you're ready to
00:07:11
Speaker
be lonely and just making art, right? To make it really work, you have to really, really commit yourself. You look at any successful potter right now, most of them, it's just them in a studio so often and then now on their phone making social media content, right? So if you're not ready to like fully
00:07:29
Speaker
let yourself do art, maybe keep art a hobby. Like you should really, that should be something you thoroughly enjoy. So I think finding that like, are you ready to really commit yourself to art? Do you love it that much? And then if you feel like you really love it, go for it.
00:07:44
Speaker
Absolutely agree. 100%. Shaping Nation is so important. If you were thinking about going full time, you have to fully commit to going full time. Otherwise, like he said, to leave it as a hobby. Fully commit if you want to go full time. I love that so much. So let's talk about your pottery.
Inspiration and Creative Process
00:08:05
Speaker
In one sentence, can you tell me what you make? I make...
00:08:09
Speaker
Everything I make is functional, and the way that it's function is to bring small sparks of joy. I love this. So tell me the story how you started making this small sparks of joy pottery.
00:08:22
Speaker
So I've kind of touched on it before. When I was in high school, I had a blast making a tiny steel knife. I thought it was like the funnest thing in the world. Everybody else was making life size, like apples and stuff. Instead, I had this, you know, centimeter tall apple. And when I started pottery myself, I kept gravitating towards making things smaller and smaller and smaller.
00:08:45
Speaker
And people were like, that small thing's so funny and cute. And I was like, so you're not going to fail me for making tiny things. Okay. And then recently it's been getting smaller and smaller and smaller. I started around like an inch. Everything was about an inch, but now it's getting really, really tiny. It just feels like what's cuter than small things. What has been the smallest thing you've made?
00:09:10
Speaker
So I do nativity sets every Christmas and I make some really tiny stuff for that. I think that's probably the smallest thing that I've made actively, but I've made some teeny tiny like mushrooms, teeny tiny kittens. I think the tiny people are like the smallest thing that I do.
00:09:28
Speaker
I love that. I love looking at the small pottery that you make. It looks so cool. Thank you. Something about interesting is you are inspired by darkness. Can you explain this to me some more?
00:09:41
Speaker
So it's kind of a two sided thing. I typically am drawn to in media, I guess, darker characters. I feel like for some reason artists spend way more time making their villains look really cool. And I always, I'd love good character design. And then darker concepts, darker. I don't know if you watch any YouTube stuff, but like the series don't help me. I'm scared.
00:10:03
Speaker
I absolutely love that. Like the slight, it's very cute appearing, but that like slight creepy edge is always interesting. So I really love that. And then the second half of that is that the world's pretty dark. You know, like just social media, we're in like weird times, more or less. There's a lot of division and stuff, but.
00:10:23
Speaker
we can be a little light via art. And so I think the desire to bring those small sparks of joy to people and a time where a lot of people are having a really rough time is the thing. And so those are the two halves of my darkness integration. I definitely agree. So can you tell me how does this impact the way you make your pottery? I think
00:10:45
Speaker
Recently, I've been focusing on making sure that I'm really having fun making things. And I've noticed that the people who see my art can really see that. The more fun I'm having, they also see that fun and the love that goes into it, which if they're seeing that I'm having fun, obviously that's a positive thing, typically. And so they're enjoying it more. So probably.
00:11:09
Speaker
Yeah, just letting myself have fun when I'm making things. Like, have enjoy while I make it to rip my fat in my art. Kind of like cooking, right? Like, put love into your cooking and a taste study. I love that. Shaping Nation, the most important thing is for you to have fun. And when you're having fun, everybody else is going to notice that you're having fun. You're going to be truly enjoying what you're making. I love that.
Innovative Pottery Sales Idea
00:11:32
Speaker
So something I love that you do is that you bought a gumball machine and thought it was random tiny pots that people can buy spins. Can you tell me the story behind this?
00:11:43
Speaker
I've always loved like gumball machines, candy machines. You know, you go to the mall as a kid and it's just all of those beautiful, shiny things. And I don't know about you, but my parents were like, absolutely not. But you don't need to spend a quarter on that little piece of trash. No, no, no. And so when I got older, and then obviously like Japanese gacha machines, I also saw those, like the gacha parm machine. Those are awesome. But I was like, what can I do that give adult that little sense of joy? So.
00:12:12
Speaker
That, like, it's a very tactile thing. You know, you get to feel like the little spin thing, if you do it in person. And then hearing like the little balls drop out of the machine, but then you get something that like you want more as an adult. Not that there's anything wrong with kids having toys. Sure, we'll see them on my shelves. But it's, it's all back to that, like bringing little joy and nostalgia to people.
00:12:34
Speaker
I love that. When I first saw that, I was like, that's such a creative idea. Like people just buy random spin to get random pottery. That's so cool idea. Yeah. I love that. And I get to make whatever I want. So that's cool. Yes. I think that's also what drew me to it because you can make whatever you want. And it's just random. I love that so much. So can you explain to me how you create your mini pottery? Like process wise or the thought like the thoughts that go into it are physically.
00:13:04
Speaker
Let's go both. Okay. So a lot of times I have to think about what clay can actually do, right? So obviously the smaller pieces that you're working with, they dry out super, super fast. And so anytime that I'm thinking about what designs I want to do, I'm making sure that there's too many individual pieces that need to be connected because obviously that really, you end up with a leather hard piece, too, or super fast.
00:13:30
Speaker
And that can be cool, but it's also the more detailed pieces. They can end up cracking and breaking. They break super easy, obviously as well. So mostly I just kind of whatever's on my brain that day. I'm like, can I make this like, let's find out. Can I make a cat? Okay. Well, yep, that's a cat. Great. Perfect. Sometimes they come out super ugly, but most of the time they don't. Essentially though, I have a,
00:13:54
Speaker
little tub that has my clay in it. And I just move out of finger worth. And then however much that is, that's how much I try to make something tiny out of. Mostly I'm just freestyle with it. I'm going to be honest. So what is the technique you are using to create them?
00:14:10
Speaker
Mostly it's just technically sculpting. So I do make a bunch of teeny pinch pots, but my smallest work is usually just a tiny piece of clay with more mesh on top of it, like traditional sculpting essentially. But I do a lot of pinch pots. A lot of my smaller work is pinch pots. A lot. So something I noticed while scrolling through your Instagram is that you used to actually throw on the wheel, but now you are hand building. Can you tell me about that?
Adapting Techniques After Injury
00:14:39
Speaker
So I again started on the wheel, but at that time I actually had a fingernail injury, which sounds stupid. I know, but one of my fingernails was messed up and the pottery wheel made it a thousand times worse. So I had to stop throwing and I was like, well, maybe I can figure out how to.
00:14:55
Speaker
hand built figured out how to throw. And so I love it. I started doing it. It is way slower. Obviously you can like throw something on the wheel super quick once you get really proficient at it, but there's something about hand building that I absolutely love and I I'm better now my fingers better, but I just never went back.
00:15:17
Speaker
I love that shaping nation. You don't have to stick to just one technique. You could do whatever technique you want. If you want to throw in the wheel, you could throw in the wheel. If you want to handle it, you could start handling it. It doesn't matter what you choose. Just choose what's ever best for you. So let's talk about discovering your voice. Can you tell me about the moment when you knew you were heading in the right direction with your potter? I think
00:15:40
Speaker
I know this is going to sound stupid, but when I made those first pot and people wanted the pots more than they wanted the plants that I was initially meant to be selling, I think I was just making them for fun. And then to see people really enjoy them. And that was something that I wanted to make for myself. I just had access. I was like, Oh, this is fun. Like people want to see the cute, stupid little things that I already want to make. And then I just kind of let it ride.
00:16:09
Speaker
I know that's not the most helpful, but I think just seeing what you want to see, right? Like what's cool art that you personally want to make or what you want to see. That's what you should be making, not like a replication of somebody else's work or like, Oh, this does really well for most people. Let me try that. Like the authentic to who you are and make something that you personally want to see.
00:16:32
Speaker
I definitely agree 100% shaping nation. You have to be making the art that you want to see because that's where your voice is going to start showing up. I love that. So now, earlier you mentioned that it was hard to find the balance between what to sell and what you actually want to make. Can you explain that to me a little further?
00:16:50
Speaker
So especially. Okay, social media is great, right. We get almost instantaneous feedback on literally anything I mean you could post something right now that you just barely started working on and you're gonna get feedback from people, lots of feedback.
00:17:09
Speaker
Looking at that feedback that people are giving and taking it maybe with a grain of salt is good, right? You don't want to lose your vision for what you are planning on making. Because again, like I said, if you truly love the things that you're making, that's good. Your art's going to reflect that very well. But when you see all that feedback from people, they're going to want different things. And I think
00:17:36
Speaker
If you're making what you truly love, the people will come who want to buy it. You'll find that audience. But if you're trying to appease one or two in the comments, like get one guide, like they say on Twitch, that could be a negative impact on you. So try to take all of that feedback with a grain of salt and really focus on what you want to make and you'll find your audience to sell it to.
00:17:58
Speaker
I definitely agree 100%. I love that so much.
Influences of Background and Health on Art
00:18:02
Speaker
So you contribute your growth to being chronically ill and growing up with artistic parents. Can you tell me how this played a role in your growth? I think having a plan B is good.
00:18:16
Speaker
But I think that if you have a goal, right? Like, let's say your goal is making art, you should stick to that weird thing, right? And because I'm chronically ill, having a plan B is very difficult. There's not really many options for me as a chronically ill person. So I put 100% of the eggs in the pottery basket, right? Like I'm fully committed to it.
00:18:38
Speaker
And I think when you don't have options, sometimes if you don't give yourself other option and you really commit yourself to something, that love and time that you're putting into it is reflected, right? And so that definitely contributes my growth, is not having other options, just fully committing myself to it. And then growing up with artistic parents, I grew up essentially in like a Michael's craft store, right?
00:19:04
Speaker
I didn't realize that not everybody had colored pencils and, you know, acrylics and easels and all that. I didn't realize that that's not what people had at their houses. And so that's like the one area I can truly say that I was blessed to grow up around so many art supplies and just always being allowed to be creative and be making things like
00:19:24
Speaker
There's no limit to how much or what I could make because everything was just kind of there. Both of my parents went to college for art, essentially. So that's why there were so many art supplies. And that really allowed it to like, there's no stifling on creativity specifically because there were no boundaries. It's just like, yeah, we can make that probably. And so, okay.
00:19:47
Speaker
I love that. I love that. So much shape nation. Don't put boundaries on yourself and just if you have an idea, try to go make it. I love that so much. So what is something you are doing to evolve your voice even for?
00:20:01
Speaker
Right now, like I've said a couple of times, I'm really focusing on just trying to make what I feel like making at that time versus trying to appease maybe a small group or what I feel like the algorithm wants to see specifically. I've really just been trying to have fun and I've noticed again, as soon as I start having more fun, if I'm posting that stuff, people are really excited about it, like even more so than normal.
00:20:26
Speaker
So I'm really trying to listen to myself and trust that the things that I want to make are good. I love that. So as we are coming to a close here, what is one thing you want to hammer home with my audience today?
Commitment in Art as a Career
00:20:40
Speaker
Remember that art can just be a hobby. I know it's kind of ironic for me to say as a full-time artist, but there's literally nothing wrong with just allowing yourself to create for the sake of creating. Just because you make something, you don't have to make it a job. You can enjoy it as just a hobby. But also if you think you want to do art full-time, dive in Venn, come join us. Like just commit yourself, have a good time and make something cool.
00:21:10
Speaker
Have fun. I love that key. It was so great chatting with you today. Where can my aunties go and learn more about you? So I'm the Midori house. I'm pretty much everything. You can find me on like threads, TikTok, Instagram, any of that stuff. Feel free to send me a message. I'll answer them.