Alisha is a ceramic artist who loves creating unique beautiful environments. She has a BA in art therapy and an MAT from the College of New Jersey. One fall evening she attended a pottery class with a friend. Unbeknownst to her, that evening she discovered one of her true passions was to create in clay. She is a wife and mother to two incredible children and one wonderful kitty. When she’s not getting her hands dirty with clay she also enjoys photography, painting, sewing and writing. She is always looking for ways to embrace creativity in the everyday moments of her life and is usually busy answering the knocking at her hearts door.
1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?
Over the years I have worked in many mediums but I’d say for about the last 14 years my medium of choice has been clay. I love creating beautiful, meaningful things that are also functional.
2. What are you working on right now? What’s on or in your camera/desk/easel/kiln/studio?
This year I started working in porcelain. It’s been exciting to make things that I previously made in earthenware clay in porcelain. Now that I feel settled in with the transfer, I am ready to start making some new work and evolve with this new material. I feel a knocking at my heart to create something new, different and soulful. It is still devolping right now.
3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?
Each weekday morning I get up an hour and a half earlier than the rest of my family so that I can have some quiet time to center myself before the day begins. I say prayers, meditate, then I do morning pages and affirmations. This is an absolutely essential part of my daily routine. {I have been doing this for more 15 years now, which is really crazy to think about. I didn’t realize it’s been that long until just now.} There have been a few times when I have let this practice go and the results have been disastrous. If I don’t keep up this practice regularly not only do I notice but my family and close friends notice as well. I have a much harder time finding my creative center and general happiness without this practice.
4. What is one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?
I create the things I do usually because it’s something (like my mindfulness mugs) that I needed or wanted in my own life and I hope that it will resonate with someone else out there. A part of my process that I don’t talk a lot about is how the other creative mediums I work in strongly influence and ignite my creative flame in ceramics. Sometimes I need to play and create with photography and paint before I can move on to create the next theme in my ceramics, which happens to be a place I am in now. A lot of my work and journey is about undoing the past and allowing myself to be fully, truly myself with no apologizes.
5. What advice would you give to your younger artist self?
Keep making, keep believing in yourself and have patience it will all come together in due time. Everything you do will take much longer then you ever expected but don’t give up because you will make it all happen.
For more about Alisha, visit her at Songbird Studio.
Inspired by Alisha?
Want to know when the next sketch is posted?