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Maddy Kelly | Episode 772
Maddy Kelly grew up on an island off the coast of New Jersey, participating in ceramics programs since 6th grade. Maddy went to college and studied nutrition, public health, and then got her master’s degree in health psychology. Maddy made a new year’s resolution to breathe more energy into ceramics in 2018.
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Why is it an emotional experience for you to hear that someone loves your work?
That’s a tough question. I think I am still in that new stage. I don’t feel as established as most of the potters that I see. So I still kind of feel like each batch I make is a little different and I am still tweaking the perfect flower and the perfect pot and the perfect handle, so every time I hear things like that I am reminded that the pieces are still perfect and also you can make different pieces in the future and perfect.
Do you go back and read all your reviews that people put on Etsy for you?
I don’t go back and read them but whenever I get a notification that someone has left a review it’s immediate heart racing and I stop whatever I am doing to go read it. It’s just that deep inner stress in me that something might have come up. But it’s always amazing and I am always..Thank goodness, they love it. But I don’t go back and read and that is why when you read it out loud to me I had forgotten that someone had written such nice words about my work.
Do you find that by that encouragement going out towards you like that, that you found it to be giving you support and justification for what you do?
Oh, a hundred percent. I think I started pottery up again as an adult outside of high school kind of as a hobby and like a crutch to lean on and then I started making things and thought, Gosh, maybe I could sell this. And this snowball and domino effect with all this positive encouragement has kept me going. I really don’t think I would have kept going and put as much perseverance into it because it really takes a lot to build your own wheel and get your tools together. It takes a lot and I think if I didn’t have that whirlwind of positive reinforcement, it probably wouldn’t have come.
It sounds like just a few words of encouragement fed you a ton of hope, like filled the tanks far greater than just your own self looking at your work. Is that accurate?
Oh, a hundred percent. And I think I have done a lot of self-work in order to get to that point, where a little bit goes a long way, and a small thing can fill my tank. Because it doesn’t take much to get me really excited and I think that’s some head and heart work that I have done and worked on to get myself into this perspective.
Do you find that with encouragement you are becoming more confident, not only in your making, but also more confident in your willingness to present it to the world?
Definitely. I started out not even wanting friends and family to know that I made an Instagram account for my pottery. I was like hiding it from people. And then once I started getting a following and there were some really, really, nice comments I thought, Oh. This is like a cool thing that I have been doing. Which takes a lot for me, I think. To be able to share that with people that I love and it is being really vulnerable to show people something you are passionate about and just hope that they are encouraging to you.
It sounds like it’s been very empowering for you.
Yes, and not even just in my artistry, if I want to call it that, but also in my young adult life. Just going through my master’s degree joining the work force, this part of me has helped every other part of me.
Would you call encouragement, love?
I think there are so many things that fit into love. I am sure you have heard of the love languages, but I would bet that encouragement would be a fit. It is love; it makes you feel love when you give it. It makes you feel love when you receive it. It makes you feel a lot of love.
Book
Centering by M.C. Richards
Contact
Etsy: mudbymaddyd
Instagram: @mudbymaddy