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Heather Knight | Episode 1022

Heather Knight opened Element Clay Studio in Asheville, NC in 2007, after running a retail studio in Asheville’s popular River Arts District, Heather moved her growing family to Savannah, Georgia.Though the business has grown greatly over the years, the backbone of the studio has remained the same. Heather is committed to remaining a craft based business, and all of the porcelain dishes, tiles, vases, and decorative objects are 100% handmade and don’t use any means of mass production. Adhering to these values allows Element Clay Studio to continue to produce only the finest, heirloom quality work. Heather’s work has been featured in many art & design publications, including Interior Design, Elle Decoration, Rue Magazine and American Craft. She works with designers across the globe to place custom art installations, and provides custom tableware for celebrity chefs like Eric Ripert, Jose Andres and Gordon Ramsey.

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When you are looking at your vision board does it help you see the future of your work?

Yes, I think it helps me look over and see all the things that I am drawn to and brings them all together. It’s really hard to explain. (laughter) I wish I could show you a picture of it. But yeah, color palette, things that inspire me, spaces that inspire me, photography, and the way that people shoot their own work. Just lots of different things that kind of gives me a cohesive direction.

When you are feeling a little jumbled in your mind does it help you to glance at that and bring clarity to the direction?

Yeah, I don’t reference it all the time. If I need a place to start a lot of the time I will go…like I love Pinterest and I will go and research and comb through imagery and look for what sparks my interest and then find a theme. I pick what sparks interest and I follow it and pay attention.

Do you have a physical vision board and also a digital one like Pinterest?

Yes.

Tell me hope those two interact with each other.

In Pinterest everything is in a little file. Like I might have all plant imagery or I might be looking at vases or bowls. It is all in kind of different files and the big board in my studio is a culmination of all that.

Is your physical board collage oriented and sporadic and messy?

It’s organized chaos. I just try and arrange it beautifully. (laughter) It makes me happy when I look at it. Everything is just kind of living there together and arranged nicely. I like to be able to look over and have something tangible vs something that is living on my phone or computer.

How often are you adding a subtracting from your board to keep it up to date and keep it inspirational?

I haven’t actually updated it in awhile and that kind of tells me that it is right. (laughter) I am still drawing from the same things and I haven’t felt the need to edit it in a long time. I kind of have hit this moment where I understand what I am trying to do.

For you which is better the physical board or the digital board?

I thin it just depends on what I am trying to do . I like have the culmination of the entirety of my visual labor on that board. So it’s nice to be able to see it all together. They are just two very different things. When I am looking at my phone I am looking for a jumping off point, you know.

What has you really excited right now about what you are making?

I think I am taking a big creative leap right now. I don’t know if anyone else is noticing but I am making much larger pieces and they are getting a little weirder and drawing on a lot of succulents and Fibonacci. So really kind of pumped to be loosening my grip and working with kind of broader strokes if you will. And seeing where that whole process takes me.

Book

Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday

Contact

elementclaystudio.com

Instagram: @elementclaystudio