A Texas Potter And Her Story | Ellen Duvall | Episode 1019

Ellen Duvall | Episode 1019

As an avid gardener, flora and fauna serve as the main source of inspiration for Ellen Duvall’s explorations in surface design. Beneath a layer of vibrant color, Ellen illustrated functional ware also weaves in personal narrative, finding parallels between the natural world and the human experience. Following a long career as an art educator in public schools, Ellen now works as a full-time ceramic artist in her home studio located outside Austin, Texas.

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Why is it important to you to have a background story to the work that you are presenting to the world?

because I think the reason I make is to process all of that. That’s my reason for making is because it is healing. This has been the reason I started because I needed this healthy outlet for myself and I think that it helps me process the emotions. Because it is layered with these moments of joy it also keeps this perspective in balance for me. The process itself is very calming and it centers me.

Why is your color pallet so vibrant and happy?

I am just drawn to those vibrant colors and they do evoke joy in me when I see them in my work and other’s work. But it’s also evoking this joy in my garden, when you are walking past and you see these bright moments of color when you realize something has bloomed it’s like this endorphin release and it is just this moment of joy. And I think I am not only bringing joy to myself through this process and healing and working through big emotions and finding joy in the process itself and sharing the process and connecting with others, but i really appreciate when people receive my work that they find it joyful and there is something about bright colors that do evoke joy.

What kind of feelings do you want them to have as they use your work?

Well I think people, based on their own personal experience are going to interpret the work and make their own connections their way. It may remind them of somebody in their family or maybe they are a gardener or they are just drawn to the colors. But I do want them to have a appreciation for the work that’s gone into it because there is just something really sacred about using something that has been built by hand by someone, created from their hands and their heart.

I noticed your work is sold out on your website. Do you ever feel the pressure of needing to make more work and fill the shelves?

Absolutely. Absolutely and my process is inherently very slow and because also in ceramics often things don’t go as planned. With ceramics you can make a mistake at any point. There’s always this potential for failure. A little crack in the handle, the glaze inside doesn’t do well, it might have a chip, there’s so many elements that have to come together beautifully for the piece to come out. So there is a pressure because you are inherently going to make mistakes and I am still learning and working through creative ideas.

How often do you like to do a shop update?

I would love to do them every two months but it’s realistically about every three months for me because i am constantly trying new clays and trying new things. And honestly to I have been struggling myself with time management and I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, at the age of 44 , and that can impact your ability to stay organized and manage time and plan and focus. Basically it means that my brain is wired differently, I am neurodivergent so there are challenges that come with that. So I would like to be producing more and that is a little bit of a challenge. Getting the diagnosis gave me some tools to help me moving forward with selling my ceramics. So I a hope that they will be more frequent with time and experience as I am navigating this new world.

Is there a project that you are currently working on that you have not shared with the world yet? And if yes, what is it?

So I have some ideas in the works. With surface I have several different techniques that I would like to explore. I am wanting to do underglaze slip transfer. One thing about the stencils while they give me a beautiful, bold line quality I wonder sometimes are they too rigid for such an organic subject matter. So I am wondering about different ways that are kind of more organic and natural to get my drawing to the surface. They other thing is I wan to revisit sculpture which first got me started with clay.