Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Morgan Levine | Episode 704
Morgan Levine makes functional slipware out of her Brooklyn studio. Morgan’s work references a long history of marbleized patterns across different mediums and around the world. Each piece records the reaction between Morgan’s gesture and the colored slips’ movement.
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
Is it important in terms of creativity to give yourself room for learning?
Probably yes, I think that the room I needed was less about my creativity and more about….I had a very solid idea of what my work would look like and feel like and it really took me years of just tinkering to achieve that. So I feel like the creative moment had a lot more to do with seven plus years ago when I sort of had this vision of these wacky colored, marbled, functional, ceramic pieces that sort of reference psychedelia but also reference 17th century work, you know I had such a clear idea of what I wanted and I think that the time it took to figure out how to do it was more about technical problem solving more than following a creative vision.
Is it important to give yourself a time in your journey to where the pressure to pay bills is not required of your creative endeavors?
I think so. I certainly went into the last few years knowing that I am not going to be making great money as a brand new potter trying to convince people they want my work. So I saved up and I built up my studio over time and I kind of knew this was coming. So far I think I am on an okay track but I think you need some time to be able to figure stuff out. I figured out everyone wants to buy mugs I started out really making a ton of plates and it took me a long time to figure out how to get my patterns onto a vertical surface like a mug. And I think that if I didn’t take time to learn those things and just sold crummy mugs that would have been a huge mistake. So I needed the time to be able to figure out what I saw in my head as what I ought to be making.
When you don’t have the cash flow how do you stay motivated to keep making?
Oh, it is tough. I am not sure. I try to set kind of deadlines for myself . One thing that has been really helpful , if you scroll through my Instagram you will see that some photos are way better than other photos, and that is because I have worked with a photographer, so having a deadline like that has been super helpful. I better get some great collections of work because of I am working with this person and documenting it I want amazing stuff to be ready to photograph for that. Providing items for holidays like Valentines Day is helpful to stay motivated. So setting artificial deadlines has helped me. Certainly real deadlines are better. (laughter)
Is it important to have a place to test audience reactions and responses like having a booth or like having Instagram? Is that helpful to you as a creative?
Certainly. Without Instagram it would just be me surrounded by a lot of dishes in my studio , I think. Or without craft shows but it has been a year of no craft shows in New York at least. Yeah, I definitely need people’s reactions. I have found though if I am repeating a pattern or a color way over and over again people respond to it more so I do think there is a bit of a…it goes both ways feedback loop, like I do certainly pay attention to what people are reacting to but I think people like seeing stuff they are already a bit familiar with.
Do deadlines hamper or enhance creativity?
I am pretty sure there is a spectrum of what works for what person. I know that I am at my most efficient when I have some kind of pressing deadlines but not too much. There is certainly a line that then I feel terrible and would prefer to do nothing. BUt I know for me personally having a bit of pressure to get something done kind of makes me think more efficiently, if I know I need to do four tests but there’s a deadline, I will probably do them all in a much smarter more efficient way. If there’s no deadline I may do one test this week and maybe I didn’t take great notes, and which one was it anyway? So I find for me a little bit of pressure is helpful, too much pressure-not helpful.
How did you come about setting the pricing for your work?
I looked at what else was available out there that had kind of similar process associated with it. I also looked at how quickly I could produce work and the amount of money I was spending on materials as I am sure a lot f your listeners know colorants can get super expensive. I am pretty limited on space so that all kind of hinders my efficiency. I would actually love to lower some of my prices…these days I worry does wholesaling mean it is too expensive for everyone to buy. So I am still tinkering with pricing. I am working on some new techniques where not everything needs to have a foot and then I can cut out a lot of time on those finishing processes for maybe a ring dish to make them more accessible. It’s hard, it takes forever to make these things and there are certainly people who have the means to buy them. But I wish more people could buy them. I know they are out of my budget so I am still tinkering with pricing.
Book
Contact
Instagram: @morganlevine