Searching for the Path | Brandon Pena | Episode 515

Brandon Pena | Episode 515

Originally from Cedar City, Utah, Brandon Peña is a functional potter currently teaching high school ceramics classes at Box Elder High School in Brigham City, Utah. Brandon received a BFA degree from Utah State University in 2016. Brandon discovered his passion for clay after taking his first ceramics class in high school; he now finds joy being able to share that passion with his own students. Aside from Making pottery, Brandon is an avid skateboarder who puts just as much time and effort into increasing his abilities on the board as he does with making his pots.

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How do you define creativity?

The biggest thing is just the ability to see potential in everything. I have felt like that as it relates to clay and you just look at these blobs of earth that you can mold and do stuff with and you can make anything out of it really. I see it every day in everything I do really. It kind of ties into my love of skateboarding too. I don’t know who else drives around town or walks down the street and looks at stairs and is fascinated by stairs and handrails and just random things on the street. It is about being creative on a skateboard and thinking what could I do on that. Or in the studio with clay, what could I do with this. How can I make this into something beautiful?

How much does drawing from your background affect what you are making?

I think it affects what I making more than I allow it to in a way. I think everything from my background plays into my making, whether I want it to or not. There are always these outside influences that push you one way or another and kind of shape the way you see the world and I think it shapes what I put into my own work.

How does the current social world we live in now impact the way you make or what you make?

Yes, I would say so and not always for the better. Sometimes it is for the worse. Especially with things like Instagram or things like that it is a very good platform for showing your work and discovering your work that you like, but at the same time sometimes I wonder why am I actually doing this. Am I doing this because it is something I am interested in or because I want someone to see it and then be interested in it. So I think it is a push pull or both positives and negatives.

What role does an artist have in the world today?

I think artists have an important role. We are getting to a point where everything is so one directional in a way with certain pushes. You really can’t have everything we have without the artist that has the creative mind that thinks through the problems. I think creative thinking in general is important. once everybody, no matter what field they go into, sees themselves as an artist and kind of establishes themselves as an artist in their own right, that’s when problems start being solved.

How important is it to have other creative people in your life?

It is extremely important. To have a community of people that have a similar experience, especially those that are makers too, being able to look at other people’s work and them being able to look at yours and being able to have a conversation and a little bit of a critique about it, you definitely get to see things in your own work that you overlook and you can get feedback from people. At the same time you can see work you really, really like and you can pick their brain and ask why they are dong certain things and discover new things from them.

Do you have any triggers that help you get into creative mode?

Honestly sometimes it is just having a good day. I think that is the biggest trigger that makes me creative. Personally I connect my love of ceramics and skateboarding together and sometimes when I feel more creative skateboarding and I do something new skateboarding it kind of helps me be more positive about being creative doing ceramics. It makes me want to do it more. Because I have those two things that kind of tug at each other.