Today we’d like to introduce you to Lillian Flint.
Hi Lillian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my business after College, I went to college with the intent to play college soccer and get a degree in Kinesiology and after a series of events that didn’t happen, I tore my ACL and college soccer got taken off the table, I enrolled in a local Community College and took a Ceramics class as an elective, slowly I fell in love with it and made it a priority to take a ceramics class every semester, I was in college for 5.5 years due to all the extra ceramics classes I was taking and working at a plant store on the side. After about 3 semesters I changed my degree to arts. Once I was done with my associates degree, I went to the University of North Texas because of their excellent ceramics department. Once I got there, I changed my degree to ceramics. After college I did everything, I could to continue to make work without the facilities provided by the schools. I had been saving money all threw college so I could set up a studio space and buy a kiln and a pottery wheel. This was my main focus, next, I had to figure out how to get my work in the world, I applied to a lot of markets and shops and faced a lot of rejection. I ended up getting accepted to sell my ceramics at the Dallas Farmers market, which was such a blessing. I get so much exposure here and see thousands of people a day telling me how unique and cute my work is. The farmers’ market is such a great community and I am thankful to have ended up a part of it. I fell in love with this wonderful guy and we moved to old east Dallas where I had the opportunity to set up a home studio. My home studio/apartment is just 10 minutes away from the farmers market, making my commute to this wonderful community so nice and close. Recently I have been offered a job to be the manager and also to sell my work at a ceramic shop opening spring 2022 in Bishop Arts, the name of the shop is Vessels. Their focusing on “Holding every moment of every day” and I’m so excited to see where this takes me and my ceramics.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
To say it hasn’t been a smooth road is true. With the inflammation of people making ceramics “pottery” due to covid and TikTok is crazy. This has made recourses hard to get. I had to wait months for my kiln to get shipped to the facility due to the amount of people trying to become a potter. I was so anxious to just get started after college but this is a key element. Many other materials are always sold out due to this as well. I wanted to set up my kiln at my parents’ house but due to old wiring an electrician quoted me $10,000 to make it a possibility for it to run there. Luckily my brother lives in south Dallas and had the space and electrical outlets to make it work for me. I soon after moved to East Dallas which worked out in my favor to be closer to my kiln and this also provided me with a home studio situation. My family has been supportive for the most part but the questions of “what are you going to do with a pottery degree” always arise at every family affair. Trying to get into many shops and markets at the beginning came with lots of rejection, I was losing hope until getting accepted to sell at the Dallas farmers’ market.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an artist making ceramics, mostly funtionalwares. I use Terra Cotta clay because I love the warm color of the clay body, I over firing it a little making it nonporous and good for functional ceramics. I make a lot of planters because I am a plant lover and that is the original intent of terra cotta clay. I make of mugs, plates, and bowls, alongside flower vases. I dapple in jewelry making and lately, I have been making a lot of pipes to play around with the idea of “funtionalwares” what else is functional? I decorate all my pieces with a lot of patterns and bugs, I draw inspiration of my patterns from wallpapers and fabrics from the 1970s and 1980s. I love the color pallet this provides with the browns, reds, pinks, and oranges. I like the idea of the funky feel my wares provide.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Most people probably don’t know how much research I do on vintage furniture and patterns to draw inspiration from. Most people probably don’t know my parents were my age in the ’80s living in Berlin, Germany, and hate the inspiration I draw from lol
Contact Info:
- Email: lillianflint@gmail.com
- Website: lillianflint.com
- Instagram: @lillianflint
Image Credits
Tommy Nee
