Meet Sage! A super talented and creative Ceramicist based in Boorloo (Perth). Born and raised in “this quiet, quaint place…” Sage is an up and coming artist with her own flare on contemporary pottery and tackling the small business world head on. She is artsy, has a brilliant outlook on modern art and is keen to share her love of life with you; through her ceramics!

(Note: Contains coarse language.)

Sage, tell us a bit about yourself.  

Well, I’m 20 and I am an artsy human that likes to make stuff! I don’t really like to put a label on what I am because I like to make videos or ceramics, illustrations or whatever - an art human! Born and raised here in this quiet, quaint place. It’s an unusual place but it’s home~ I’m a Cancer and funnily enough, I’m a Capricorn Rising so it makes sense that I like to monetise my hobbies. I have two cats that I love dearly, and I like to play video games! I’m not a big rester, I don’t give myself a lot of downtime because I’m a workaholic - but when I do, it’s usually playing video games or watching horror movies. Psychological horror gets me every time; I really like horror tv shows, they are my favourite. There’s not many of them but they’re amazing. To name a few A Haunting of Hillhouse (a ghost story with love) and The Haunting of Bly Manor (a love story with ghosts) - I wept and I think it’s just so well done. That and Bates Motel, it killed me.

How did you get into the art of pottery?

It was really natural, I basically picked it up because Covid was a thing and I actually can’t remember exactly, but I had been wanting to do ceramics for 5 years and then my boyfriend just said, “Why don’t you watch a shit-ton of videos, buy a bag of clay and have some fun?” So, I did that, and it was like for the first time - I could sit there doing it for hours and just hyper fixated on it. I really enjoyed it and I didn’t - How do I say?

Usually when I’m illustrating for example, I’m always comparing myself and nit-picking and hating it. I really wanted to be an illustrator, but the process was almost painful as I couldn’t relax and embrace my weaknesses. But with ceramics it was like I know I suck but I’m where I’m supposed to be and I’m having a lot of fun. I’m not sure why that was the case, but I decided to continue and eventually I realised “Oh I kind of want to do this forever!” and that’s when I decided to launch my business.

I’ve only been doing it for a year, I started in May or April of last year, but my business isn’t a year old yet; it will be in December.

Why did ceramics interest you?

I like how you can really see your improvement over a few days or even a few hours after figuring out a new technique. I really do love working with my hands, in any artsy sort of sense. But pottery was like; I get to turn the thoughts in my head into pieces that people could use every day? Like something you could drink out of!

I love merch that isn’t just a mug with Howl’s (Howl’s Moving Castle) face on it - I’m not that kind of merch person. But there was never functional homeware for that sort of vibe and that’s sort of where the idea for my business came about. Making functional pieces that are encouraging and have affirmations on them, it kind of spider-webbed out into different things. That was the inspiration/prompts into ceramics.

Making cute and functional art accessible is one of my main motivators! By having the art be functional it gives it an extra use, which makes it more accessible because then it’s not like “I’m spending a lot of money for something that I can’t even use.”

Did you have any mentors? Any people you learned from?

I think I have other crafters and ceramicists where I like what they’re doing but I want to have my own spin and style on it. I didn’t have any teachers, I basically learnt through YouTube and reading blogs, a lot of trial and error which honestly, I wouldn’t recommend to everyone but It’s not the worst thing and it’s not impossible!

How would you describe the pottery scene in Perth?

I went to a few studios in Perth to fire my work, but I didn’t like their vibe. So, I ended up just being a bit more secluded, so I don’t know a lot. I did do a five-hour one day wheel throwing workshop a few weeks ago or maybe a month ago and they did pass the vibe check! They were really lovely, and they do a lot of workshops like that. Not So Perfect Studios hold events and workshops, and I just went to the five-hour one, I already had my pottery wheel and was “determined to learn on my own!” but I did it for two-weeks and realised I suck and wanted to get better quicker. The workshops helped me to fine tune the little bits that I wasn’t fully confident in.

Is branching out, working with other artists, and connecting with them something you’d like to do?

There is a possibility, I am very intimidated by other artists in general because I feel like I’m a baby potter; I haven’t been doing it as long as other people. I think there are a few artists that come to mind where I’d love to chat with them and pick their brain and share the nuances of the Perth art community. It is quite small but yeah something I’m open to!

I’d love to, in the future, open my own studio. That would be the dream but obviously that’s in many years’ time.

What’s the creative process like for you?

It takes a while because I do restocks, I kind of have to plan things a month or so in advance. For other things like Patreon and other special things I will have more time as it requires more things. I come up with my ideas very quickly, I basically just scribble it on my phone and its basically just that kind of idea, we like to laugh at how strange my initial sketches are. For a lot of pieces, I do I like to make a coloured sketch; I’ll take that to Procreate and to make the process a bit easier I have a swatch of all the different under glazes I have. Sometimes I want a particular shade and go to underglaze a piece and realise I don’t have that particular colour I want. It kind of throws the entire idea out of whack so I did this mainly for the custom Froggys and then realised I could use them for myself too!

I try to get the piece down to the bare bones like is it a bowl sort of shape or is it something that needs to be hand built. For example, the cat bowls, they start of as a basic kind of bowl and then I add everything else onto it later. Then I’ll write down everything else I need to throw for that day or hand build and then that’s my plan for the day! I’ll throw those pieces and start the cycle of making them and trimming them.

It’s very personal in the sense that every ceramicist will do something different, they’ll use a different ingredient or do something before or after firing something and it’s hard when you’re looking at ceramicists work and go “how did you do that?”. Every artist should protect their process or keep whatever they want private, but I think the problem with ceramics in general is - because the process is so varied you don’t really know what they’re doing so then you’re like “how did you achieve this?” and it can be hard for people learning.

Do you find this line of working exhausting? Churning out content on your socials and physically working to release shop updates etc?

I’m still learning to take away that guilt, shame, or embarrassment of not being able to work as hard. I do compare myself to other ceramicists who can throw 20 pieces a day and make hundreds of little trinkets. At the moment my max is like 6 pieces a day and that’s like “PHEW!” It’s definitely exhausting but I do love it. The pros do outweigh the cons, but I hate social media, specifically Instagram. Making content for that is annoying but beneficial for the growth of my work and my presence. A lot of the time, for Instagram at least, I’m not promoting my business, like “buy my pieces!” it’s more “look at the thing I made” or “look at the new YouTube video or Twitch stream I made.” To get that outreach you need to be constantly making and posting, I usually try to rest but I do work pretty much every day.

Being someone who does art online, you need to have those multiple income streams and diversify your income. I feel like I want to do these things and I don’t start them to make money most of the time.  

I see you’ve revamped your Patreon Tiers! Tell us a bit about this platform and the new tiers.

I’ve been using Patreon for around 9 months now, I can’t remember if I started it before or after my business launched but I did start with more tiers originally that I cut back from. I realised the way I was doing it wasn’t viable, giving a lot while making the tiers more affordable. It gave me a lot of anxiety, stressing that people won’t like it and as time went by, I’ve gotten more confident and self-assured.

For me, Patreon is a community. Where people want to learn more from what I do or support me in a monetary way which, even people supporting me with their hard-earned earth money is ridiculous, it’ll never settle into me that I’m doing this.

Bunny Buds: $1.50AUD

The first tier I ever made since starting it, that one hasn’t changed it’s basically just a small tip jar. You get access to my secret shop which is where I put a lot of my discounted pieces or flawed work, pieces that I’m still testing and trialling- a bit shy to post to the masses. Access to my Discord’s special Patreon secret society! Where we have a text channel to chat but all my patrons come and yell at me for my prices being too low.

Adorable Artists: $5.50AUD

That’s basically for all the artists that want to get a look into my process, I post monthly tutorials on how I do things like wax resits and all the tricks I’ve learned. Other tutorials like that because I think a lot of ceramic processes are trial or error and buying things and realising that you bought the wrong thing. I want to save people that heartache and stress.

Caring Caterflys: $9.50AUD

For my podcast I do twice a month! I’ve just commissioned an artist to make me a PNGTuber which is like a PNG drawing of me and when I talk it shows a second image of me, as the drawing, talking. @sof_uhh is the artist. You can set it up through Discord so that when it hears my voice is shows that image. This is so that I can record a video of my process and have my little persona in the corner chatting along!

Cozy Critter Club: $23.50AUD

First of the new tiers which are the physical reward tiers. This is just the trinkets so every three months you’ll receive a trinket from me in the mail! This quarter (there will be 4 in a year) is Studio Ghibli themed. I post around 3 sketches of my ideas and ask my Patrons to vote, and they choose.

Forest Friends Club: $32.50AUD

The same concept as the above tier but with functional clay creations. Originally, I wanted to do a heat reactive Howl mug but the only company that sells the heat reactive pigment, their shipping is $60 to Australia and the powder $50. A lot of people still wanted it so I’m thinking of doing a pre-order later, so now we are doing a little tea set. I love making inspired fanart but didn’t want to be known for it, so having it with Patreon I can still explore that, but it’ll be a limited thing that I’m not compelled to constantly make.

Prairie Package: $54.50AUD

A combination of the Cozy Critter Club and the Forest Friends Club.

How would you say your external and internal environment impacts your work?

It’s a few things! Studio Ghibli is a massive inspiration, the feeling that they invoke - a lot of their movies romanticise the quiet moments, the simple moments that people can live as a regular occurrence. I really like how they do that, and I wanted my pieces to allow you to romanticise your life and fall in love with the idea of drinking your tea in the morning. That was a big inspiration alongside my spirituality, and I really like tarot, it helps me find clarity and make decisions. A lot of it is having that vibe of what spirituality is to me which is like encouraging me or supporting me in a way.  

Some of my earlier work and affirmations written on them, like “you are enough” or a bowl that said, “I’m so proud of you”, little things like that.

Is there a way for the Perth scene and Propel to make it easier for artists looking to do more in the ceramist field?

For sure, like making learning ceramics more affordable and accessible, the courses are quite expensive (6-week courses) and require you to pay up front which a lot of people can’t do. Paying by lesson would be better or having it more affordable, that was one of the goals for making my own studio, I had this idea which is creating a pool where people who can afford my courses can put a portion of money towards a general pool of money that people who can’t afford classes can use. Like a pay it forward sort of vibe.

I feel like art should be as accessible as it can be, given who you’re talking about. A small business can’t function like a larger scale business. Price as well as being disability friendly is really important to me and helpful for the ceramic scene. Having a more supportive and encouraging vibe too, a lot of the vibes I get right now are quite ‘gatekeepy’. When I was first starting out, I made quite a few mistakes and was looked down upon which made me not want to involve myself with the ceramic scene anymore.

The ceramics scene isn’t really youthful, a don’t see a lot of people our age doing it. The way that it’s currently being run works for the older generations. I think for people who want to learn it earlier in life and be proficient earlier in life could benefit from having those opportunities.  

Do you have any advice for those who would like to explore pottery?

If learning ceramics from someone is accessible to you, I’d recommend it because it might save you a lot of doubt, and a lot of heartache. If it isn’t, YouTube and forums are also available, and I’d recommend it. Buy yourself a bag of clay, make sure the studio you are firing at can fire it though! So go there first. Do a little bit of research first, buy a bag of clay and have fun.

There are a few hard and fast rules with ceramics but as long as you know those then you’re good, you have the foundational skills, and you can have fun. There are a few misconceptions about ceramics but a big part of it is; don’t feel pressured to make things a certain way or make a certain thing to fit traditional pottery. Don’t put that sort of pressure on yourself to have things look perfect. It is a complicated medium so remember to have fun with it!

Sage has a brand new restock coming September 25th so keep an eye out on her Instagram and Website when she drops them, don’t forget to check out her Patreon and YoutTube for more content as well!

INTERVIEW BY: CARLA COLLINS