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Adrienne Eliades | Episode 275
Adrienne Eliades is a studio artist living in Vancouver, Washington. She has been extremely fortunate to move all over the country for her work. A recent MFA graduate in Ceramics from the University of Florida in May 2016, Adrienne is currently working at the Ash Street Project in Portland, Oregon.
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How do you keep community and relationships growing in your life?
Well, that’s a really good question. Everyday that I was going to my studio by myself working alone for the past couple of months I was asking myself that and I’m not sure I found an answer to it and then I got an opportunity to work at Ash Street which is this amazing community. So I think the way that I have just figured out how to do that is to have these occasional opportunities, be it a residency or a visiting artist thing where I go and immerse myself in a community that I am not used to. Then I can take back some of those interactions to my private home studio and that is going to be what keeps me going.
What makes you happiest? Head down and working on your stuff or hanging out having a beer with someone?
Probably on a daily basis head down and working on my stuff. I used to be a pretty big introvert when I was little and I was always drawing or doing something alone in my room. As I got older I figured I needed a bit more balance than that, so I do really make it a priority to try to get out and hang out with friends.
What motivates you to succeed as a potter?
I’m a perfectionist. So everything needs to be in its place and I always need to be working on something new. I always need to be applying to shows or residencies and getting that next opportunity. It comes from inside, I guess. It’s hard to explain but I just always need to be proving to myself that I can do something I didn’t think I could do.
How does being a ceramic artist today fulfill one of your childhood dreams?
I’m not sure it does. I didn’t think I was going to be a ceramic artist when I grew up. I don’t think I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I think I wanted to be a bearded lady more than anything, which sounds kind of strange. Just kind of an anomaly or something different. This is just kind of this path I got set on when I went to college in North Carolina and fell in love with all the utilitarian pottery that exists there.
What is your best marketing tool for getting the word out about your work?
That is something that I am not terribly good at. I am trying to be better at social media and posting on Instagram and self promotion because I think if you are not interested in your art practice no one else will be. Right now I apply to a lot of juried shows and get my work out that way.
What would be your perfect day?
So I go and work at this place in Southern California every summer, it’s called Idlewild. I go and assist down there, or have the past few summers for their Hot Clay series where they get well-known artists to come and teach workshops. I really enjoy being there, the setting is beautiful the studio is really nice. The people are all so friendly and seeing how much it means to the students to come and be immersed in that kind of craft school experience. I call it my happy place. So I think my perfect day would be just being there and maybe not having to work all day and getting out to hike and view my surroundings there.
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