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Amy Rae Hill | Episode 1064
Amy Rae Hill is a ceramic painter who illustrates dramatic celestial scenes on pottery. After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Washington University, Amy worked at a pottery painting studio to develop her current craft. Amy paints with low-fire pottery glaze on earthenware to create her pieces.
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Because you are painting on a 3D object do you have a hard time finding the correct positioning for your compositions?
Yes, I feel like it has gotten easier to compose over time, but you do have to consider the shape of the piece. A tea pot is round and it and you will need to consider a distorted landscape if you are putting that on that surface. Or a cup might have a certain angle to it and that affects the way a spaceship might look on that sort of a surface. So it’s just getting to know your bisqueware shape.
Do you ever have losses for your work?
Very rarely. I usually commit to a piece and if something isn’t working I will wipe it off and then start fresh. It has been probably just a few occasions where I have gotten in deep and I realize that these colors aren’t working together or there are too many layers to go back and fix and really save the piece, so I have to scrap it and start over.
So your losses are more about the design than the pot not making it?
Right, so I probably have an easier time than all the other potters because if something is coming to me damaged then I can report that to my supplier and get a refund for those materials that I have lost and it will go towards my next order. So I have a way easier time with that.
Have you done collaborations with other artists? With other potters?
Yes, I did one with The Monster Inn and there was a couple of monster mugs that we worked on together and they shipped them to me from the UK and I painted a few astronauts climbing up a rocky surface on this monster design and another one had a galaxy on it. And that was really cool to be able to see all of the skill and building of piece and the design of the creature where I got to think about how to make an interesting surface on each of those different designs. A lot more interesting sometimes than a plain cup.
Have you ever used any of the Amaco underglazes?
I haven’t but I have been really tempted to use what all the cool potters use and they all look really good. (laughter) I would have to look into if it works on Earthenware or if I would have to work on more porcelain and stoneware. It seems like a lot of their stuff is higher fired in that case. I am not sure, I would have to research it a little bit more.
Is this your full-time gig?
Yes, it is my full-time gig. I do have a side teaching job a couple of days a weeks that does support my income as well but I am very lucky to have customers that want to buy enough of my work to live on.
Book
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Contact
Instagram: @amyraehill