Combining Rock Climbing With Pottery | Jessica Panicola | Episode 1005

Jessica Panicola | Episode 1005

Jessica Panicola holds a BFA in Studio Art, an MAT in Art Education, and an MFA in Design for Social Innovation. Jessica previously worked as an international Art Educator for grades K-12 in South Korea, Morocco, and Bolivia and she completed an artist residency in Turkey. What excites Jessica most about clay is where it intersects with Design and Innovation, and the new, exciting possibilities that emerge in this space.

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What were your first proto-types like?

So there were definitely some ups and downs. I think some of the first ones that were made, I didn’t realize the grog thing came later of making colored grogs and mixing that into clay. I think the way that I was coloring the clay took me a lot longer and now it’s much faster.

What does it do for your heart, your soul, to be able to mix two passions of yours? Your artistic creativity and your physical climbing abilities? What does that do for you inwardly?

So for me I really consider myself and maker. I love making things. I love building things. So for me it really fulfills that passion more than anything is to be able to make meaningful things that have intentionality behind it that I can share with other people.

What did your immediate people think about these cups?

Oh, I got a lot of good responses about it. There’s been a couple of times when I have had friends over and I have them all in my kitchen cabinets right now. It’s where I store them and I get to pass them around and everyone loves to feel the holes and sometimes they buy one. They really love them and even just selling them at the gym I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on them. It made me feel great.

How do you reach the larger climbing community and help them find your mugs designed for them?

So I try to be specific with my marketing when I post stuff on my social media page. For instance I made a mug that had a speed climbing hole and I tried to tag that specifically so that people who are very passionate specifically about speed climbing could find that. But on a mug smaller scale it usually goes by word of mouth and telling friends about this mug or that mug and about that shape or that color.

What is your day job now?

Great question. I work at the Department of Environmental Protection. It is very different from any thing I have done in the past but still very congruent with my values and passions now.