Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Altman.
Allison, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My introduction to ceramics was during my childhood. Not making forms, but painting bisque ware with my grandmother in her basement studio. My grandmother, Claire was a self-taught painter and the descendant of other painters in my family line. She had a small kiln
and would paint wares for all of her family and friends. She gave the best gifts!
I loved spending time with her “down in the basement” she always had music playing and was such a patient teacher. I took a ceramics course at Penn State but was a film major. I moved to Venice upon graduating with a degree in film and minor in History, to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. I worked as a television producer from 2003 to 2013; the birth of my second child, my son Levi, marked my departure from producing TV. My husband is a feature documentary filmmaker and our simultaneously demanding schedules were not conducive to the kind of family life we both wanted to provide for our kids, and we adjusted our life accordingly to survive on one income. It wasn’t easy! But we found we were able to live with less, for example we only have one car, and it’s modest… (Our daughter, Quinn, was born in 2011, Levi 2013)
When I made the decision to not return to producing, my entire world opened up! Initially, I was looking for a studio sculpture class, but ending up in a wheel-throwing pottery class. Here in Venice (2015?) called the Temple of Mediclaytion. At first, it was just for fun with a friend but before I knew it, I was moving heaven and earth to have more time there. Some nights I stayed into the early morning hours. My children were still young and so I could only manage one day in the studio per week (my in laws would drive up and watch the kids all day so I could commit to more time!) and it became clear over time that I needed my own space to create in my home so I could be near my kids AND near my craft. I loved my community at ToM and my teacher, but it felt like torture being kept from the studio… so I built my own. First, I bought clay and hand-built at home. I now have two kilns, five wheels! I saved my money, at first in a little envelope on the fridge. I scoured craigslist. I bought books about how to build a home studio. I read a lot. I dreamt a lot.
One day my mother told me that I had a small life insurance policy that my grandparents had bought for me when I was little and that they had kept paying on it and I could have it and cash it in to help pay for my studio and Potter’s wheel. I remember crying on the kitchen floor as I held the phone and my mother told me. This was my grandmother Claire who introduced me to ceramics, and my grandfather Richard, who had bought this policy for me. Using that policy was a gift they never knew they’d give to me. It was only a small amount (2,700) but it was a start. I bought my first wheel and found an old kiln online. My dreams were coming true and my grandmother had somehow played a role in its fruition, even though she had passed on years before. My parents bought me my kiln, my father and husband built my roof over my studio, and I painted and helped lay floor tile.
It’s not easy to begin something new mid-life, especially a career in a new field which I was JUST discovering. I was terrified and felt like a phony, but with the support of my amazing family, husband and friends, I now have my own little business running. I make for two local businesses and just hired my first studio assistant. I make and sell from my studio, for OWL and The Men’s Groomer, both in Venice. I also teach classes from time to time. I usually work when my kids are at school (up until COVID), and so I’m able to switch into mom mode and be there for them when they need me. It’s not easy to balance, but we make it work and I’ve never been happier!
Wares can be purchased at OWL on Abbot Kinney in Venice, www.owlvenice.com, or directly from my studio www.bornonsunsetceramics.com
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Struggling to find confidence in myself. Fear of failure. Afraid the ceramics community wouldn’t accept me because I was starting so late. Afraid the world would judge me for leaving a lucrative TV career to be the primary caregiver for my kids. I have been called a “Cali Housewife”. Women are damned if we do and damned if we don’t so best to just DO and try my best to ignore the haters.
My husband has a very demanding career. He was living in Chicago for nine months and it was just me and the kids. He works very late nights and constantly has deadlines, but he’s pursuing his dream and that’s part of why I took a step back from my old career as well…. producing TV didn’t feel like my calling. So why steal time away from my kid’s ONE childhood to work in that field? He has also been my BIGGEST cheerleader and supporter. He moves his world around all the time to help me find more time to be in the studio making.
Please tell us about Born on Sunset.
I’m a huge nature lover, especially the ocean. The majority of my work is inspired by nature; sunsets and surf breaks/coastlines mostly. I honestly believe that Mother Nature has all the correct answers, so I just “peek over her shoulder” for inspiration. As a family, we are always camping or surfing or playing by the water’s edge. I’m constantly collecting or taking photos of rocks, shells, water, native flora, etc. to be used in my work.
I also have a strict no slip-mold policy. I do not judge makers who slip cast their work for quicker production, but for me, I put so much of my love and energy into each piece, I honestly feel like people can feel that when they hold one of my pieces. It’s just me from planning/design, throwing and trimming, glazing and firing. I’m a HUGE music lover and I’m singing in my studio whenever I’m in there making. I have to be in the right mental space to throw and music is my meditation and helps me get there. Everything that moves through my fingers is born from my focus, contentment and honestly, pure joy.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Sometimes I wish I had gotten a BFA in ceramics at Penn State (they have an excellent ceramics dept) but then I wouldn’t have met my husband in that fateful documentary class and without him, I truly have no idea where I’d be. So, I guess I wish I would have at least minored in Ceramics instead of History!
I’m still relatively new to this whole thing, so I’ll have to revisit this question. I make mistakes ALL THE TIME. But I embrace the fail and use it to help me move forward. There is a lot of trial and error and failure in ceramics. It’s part of it for every level of potter. If you aren’t failing sometimes, you aren’t experimenting or pushing yourself.
I’m a Bowie nut and this quote from a past interview of his has been my emotional life raft:
“…if you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. When you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
And this by TS Elliot: “If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bornonsunsetceramics.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/
bornonsunsetceramics
Image Credit:
Joshua Altman
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