Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Haynes.
Hi Emily, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ceramics has been a part of my life since I was in my early twenties and living in Brooklyn, but it wasn’t until I moved to LA with my husband and son (and another on the way) in 2016 that I decided to turn it into a business. At that point, I had been doing ceramics for almost twenty years and I realized that I either needed to spend way less time on it or lean into it and take it to the next level.
I was about to have my second child, I was living in a new city, and for the first time in my adult life, I had a garage, which meant I had the space to set up a home studio. So, I decided to make the leap and I formed my company, Blue Pen Ceramics (the name is a reference to my other professional life as an editor)! Once I gave myself permission to really practice and hone my craft, a whole bunch of other challenges came up. What is my style? How do I fit in this intersection of craft and design? How much should I charge for my work? How do I market it? But the first step was just making space in my life for the work. In the years since I’ve built my one-woman enterprise sale by sale, follower by follower, until now I need to really be mindful about how much I take on and how I manage my own expectations of what I can accomplish. If I push myself to do too much my body and work-life balance pay the price. But despite having my hands in clay for almost half my life now, it never gets old and there is always so much more to master and learn.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
A lot of the last five years has been exciting as I’ve been able to reach customers and build a fan base around the country (and even other parts of the world!) and see my wares in some of my favorite shops in LA. I think my biggest challenge has been developing the graphic style that I use on the surface of my pots. I love being able to make my own “canvases” by exploring the form and function of wheel thrown pottery. But the graphic design side is newer and more challenging, and it has been an ongoing journey to hone my style, I am inspired by the Southern California magic-hour-surf-shack-mid-century-modern design vibe that is pretty much inescapable in LA and I often try to marry parts of that aesthetic with the lines, form, and function of my pottery. The other challenge I run into is time management since I need to balance my ceramic studio with my part-time job (I’m a copywriter and editor) and my family. I am in the privileged position of not needing to depend on my art to pay the bills, but I am also limited in how much my practice can grow if I’m not able to devote more hours to it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What am I known for? That’s a tough one. My kids know me as the person who magically makes clean clothes appear in their dresser drawers and always has a snack or a tissue when they need one. But what am I known for regarding my ceramics? I can’t say for sure, but I hope it’s for my attention to detail—I make sure everything is made well from the foot to the rim (one of my biggest ceramics pet peeves is when potters don’t bother to trim the bottoms of their pots!), and hopefully for the bright colors and retro vibes of my designs. I’m also very into making larger work these days and I’m hoping to focus more on vases, serving bowls, and other display-type pieces. My teapots are also pretty unique. I don’t know anyone else who makes the style of the lid I’ve developed—like a little acorn.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bluepenceramics.com
- Instagram: @bluepenceramics
