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Rebecca McClure | Episode 766
Rebecca McClure is a ceramic artist from Victoria, British Columbia in Canada, the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples. She began working with clay in 1991, but previously studied art education, theatre design, and art history at the University of Calgary. Rebecca creates work with a modern vibe, using classic forms, stark contrasts, and vibrant colours.
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Do you have collectors, people that come back again and again to purchase your work?
I do have some people that are regular buyers and who order custom things. So yes, I have a few. I still feel however that I am fairly small potatoes… so I’m emerging on that.
What does that do for you when you see that name pop up again as a customer?
It is very reassuring. There’s two things to that. One is that, obviously they like it. But two is that they are still using (an older piece) and enjoying it, or loving it enough to share it with other people.
Your work has a very unified theme with all its vibrancy and even the forms seem to have a very solid connection with each other. Do you feel it’s important to have a unified theme in your work?
It’s important to me. That doesn’t mean that it can’t have tendrils and variations because I’m always thinking what can I do next. But I do want people to go, Oh, I think I know who made that!
Have you had someone say, I think this is a Rebecca piece?
Yes.
When you hear that, how did you feel as a maker?
The word that I really want is evading me, but it is affirming. It is very affirming. I’m on a path, maybe I found a voice for right now, and people can associate it with me. I like that.
I know that you have roots for what you make in terms of your relationship with your aunt, does your work therefore have a story behind it, is it just that it has roots that it’s grown from?
It’s probably a little of both. It has the roots it grown from… I’m old enough now that I remember what mid century modern stuff looks like in people’s homes. So that is a root of where it is from, but it also has a story of good feelings of being a kid and being around adults that made a big deal of me. So there is always a good feeling in me when I’m making these pieces.
Have you found that the more you find that sense of affirmation that you have become more certain of yourself as an artist?
I would say so, yeah. There is a feedback loop of course between maker and client or people using your work and the more that feedback loop gets used, the more information I get about myself as a maker. But there is also that sense for myself when a piece feels good to hold, feels good to drink from, does it feel good to use… those also build my confidence when I also like my own work.
Book
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Contact
Instagram: @rebeccamcclurestudios