Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Cheri Downey | Episode 1032
Cheri Downey, a ceramic artist originally from Northern California, is currently live in Huntsville, Alabama. Cheri began working with ceramics in 2014 in high school classes. Cheri has had home studios since after college and has owned a commercial studio for the last year in Tennessee. Cheri focuses on dinnerware sets, mugs, and luminaries.
SPONSORS
You can help support the show!
GRPotteryForms.com
Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com
For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com
How do you go from dreaming to doing?
It all starts with really simple steps and it think it starts with buying your wheel used. (laughter) Just starting really small and getting connected with a local studio, setting up a little home studio, and figuring it out as you go. I don’t know how else to explain it.
How significant is belief? How significant is it to believe you can do it?
I guess it’s less so belief but more so passion for me. So figuring out how passionate you are about something leads to that belief. I feel like all this started with a little bit of imposter syndrome. Am I really an artist? Did I really just make this mug? But I don’t know, it just takes practice and it just takes time and it takes commitment and I think what drives that is passion.
What kind of safety nets did you have in place in case it all fell through?
That’s a good question. I honestly don’t know if I had a safety net. I mean, my husband works full-time. He’s an engineer. He made enough, let’s say, to pay the bills. What I made was anything outside of that. My safety net would probably have been to go back into the mental health field if this wouldn’t have worked out.
Is it important to be ready to pivot? To test and pivot?
I think one hundred percent, yes. Because the tides are going to change at any moment in my opinion. For all careers but especially, I think, for pottery. You kind of have to take the next opportunity as it comes.
I’m curious. What is your dream developing into next? Another way to say this is tell me what it’s going to be in five years?
This is something I am still thinking on doing as well. Well, this might not be a super short answer, Paul. (laughter) I will try.
Give us the nutshell.
Have you ever heard of Mid-South Ceramics in Nashville?
It sounds familiar.
It’s a super large pottery community. Multiple potters rent out spaces. It’s just awesome. It’s incredible. Well the eventual goal, maybe not five years, maybe more, would be pretty much to have a miniature Mid-South in maybe Huntsville or where ever we end up in the next five years. And what’s cool about that is Jordan also has that dream so there maybe a partnership there in the future. That’s all I will say about that.
Book
Art is a Way of Knowing by Pat B. Allen
Contact
Instagram: @cher_ceramics