Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisha Smith.
Hi Elisha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
After being heavily involved in the visual arts, for what was essentially my entire life, by the time I graduated high school, I was completely overwhelmed by all of the other choices available for me to explore. I had no idea where to attend school or what to study. I decided the community college near home, in Bradenton, Florida, was at least a place to start.
In the Fall of 2010, my best friend was working at the local hospital and that’s all she ever talked about, which was fine by me because I found myself fascinated by the things she was seeing and doing. I was so excited, feeling like I had finally found my calling. I would be “something” in the medical field. I applied to a vocational school shortly after and began climbing the medical ladder at 19.
At age 21, I was a Certified Medical Assistant and Certified EKG Technician. I was feeling great and accomplished and had landed a job six months prior to graduating at the same hospital with my best friend, working twelve to sixteen-hour night shifts, four days a week as a Monitor Technician on the Ortho/Neuro wing.
It. Was. Perfect.
Luckily, there were many quiet nights, so I spent any downtime studying for my phlebotomy certification to eventually become a lab tech. A short six months later, I passed my test and was officially certified. I transferred to the day shift in the Out-Patient department, where I had my own private lab and worked one-on-one with 40 to 50 patients a day. It was my dream job.
I was several steps up my ladder now, so when the howling winds of change came, I had to reevaluate my priorities.
I was now married. Baby number one was arriving soon. My parents had moved from Bradenton to Dallas not long before the announcement. My husband was now working nights. And me? I left my job to raise our family but was beginning to feel like I had no direction or place anymore.
Eight months after our daughter was born, we packed our bags and moved to Dallas. I continued my role as a stay-at-home mom but still felt like something was missing. The problem was that I didn’t know what that was yet.
My parents have always been more aware than I of what gets my gears grinding, so it wasn’t a surprise when my dad suggested I check out the University of North Texas and finally go after that Fine Arts degree they (I) always dreamed of.
Do you hear that? It’s the winds of change calling… Yes, that’s right, baby sister on deck.
23 years old and three months pregnant on the first day of art school…
In 2018, I graduated with my BFA in Drawing and Painting but spent my entire senior year in a cast… That’s right, you called it…those winds…
I had carpal tunnel in both hands, but my right was a severe case. Two months after graduating, I had surgery and as my own form of physical therapy, I bought some clay to putt around with. Little to my knowledge, I did not purchase air dry, or even oven-baked clay. I bought the real deal clay. Clay that had a bunch of specific rules, whose whole existence revolved around chemistry (which naturally I received a C in), required an ongoing list of tools, needed to be fired in a kiln, glazed, then fired again…
Sooo, I BOUGHT A KILN!
And Texas Clay Studio was born.
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?
Hah! You read my last answer, right!?
It was by no means an easy journey to get to this point, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was bad. It’s still a difficult process daily. Being a one-woman show makes time-management the dentist, tax season the boogeyman, and social media is a popularity contest.
It’s not only daunting but also mentally and emotionally exhausting, to find your voice in a medium that artists have been mastering for decades, let alone a process that has existed since the Paleolithic period. As an artist, or rather anyone with a product and a plan, you have to ask yourself, ‘What makes me stand out? What makes me better than so-and-so? Why should someone choose me and my work over that guy?’ And if there’s anything more challenging than what I’ve already mentioned, the hardest part of it all is being able to confidently and passionately answer those questions.
I am my own worst enemy. I am my biggest critic. I am not always confident in myself or the work I make. And I used to think that if it wasn’t perfect, it was worthless. Several times, I wanted to call it quits.
The last three and a half years have been committed to clay and developing a creative business that could actually bring in some profit. The first year of making was, honestly, a disaster. I had no training or experience with clay, so I relied on YouTube videos just to learn how to make a pinch pot.
Over the last year, I have pushed myself to the top of every mountain I’ve climbed, both personally and artistically to find who I am as a ceramacist.
And I finally know who that is now.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an Artist who works with clay. So, you could call me a ceramacist, potter, sculptor. I make functional works of art.
Most people who ask what I do for a living are usually surprised or confused by the answer. They do the head-tilt like dogs do when you say “treat.” That’s typically followed by, “Oh, like the movie Ghost?”
Sure…just without the famous actors, demons, murder, and everything else.
I handbuild all of my work. I took several sculpture classes while at UNT, so constructing forms in various parts came naturally to me. I make all of my own templates using tar paper and make most of my own molds either from plaster or clay (which is then fired to become bisque/bisqueware- unglazed pottery).
I decorate my works with colored slips (a watered-down slurry of clay, like a milkshake) and I add different ratios of mason stains to achieve the colors I want. Very similar to monoprinting, I paint my illustrations with these colored slips on newsprint paper, then burnish the image onto the clay. I peel back the paper and viola! My ‘painting’ is now transferred.
It’s not like I’ve reinvented the wheel with this technique, but I’d like to think my designs are what set me apart.
Texans love being Texans. My illustrations revolve around that concept. We play tourist in our own backyard. We love to buy things that embody being a Texan.
Margaritas with a lime…check.
Chili peppers…check.
Cow print…check.
You get the idea.
My works are “a little whimsy with a whole lot of Texas!”
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Penny for your thoughts…
Don’t start a business at the rise of a pandemic.
I “officially” opened Texas Clay Studio online in January 2020 and was applying to markets and fairs, only to find out a few months later, that all of them were canceled due to Covid. It was not a good start for me.
Promoting myself and my work online became a challenge I was not prepared for. I find it extremely difficult to engage with people solely via social media with pictures and a few captions. I like interacting with people. And as far as making work, I feel it’s really important for prospective buyers to be able to touch and hold handmade items. When you see people shopping for clothes, they don’t just take it off the rack and checkout. They touch the fabric, they hold it up to themselves, they try it on, etc. It changes they way they feel about an item once they’ve touched it. An online marketplace doesn’t have that option.
So, thanks Covid…
Contact Info:
- Email: texasclaystudio@gmail.com
- Website: www.texasclaystudio.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/texasclaystudio/
