Today we’d like to introduce you to Tricia Schmidt.
Hi Tricia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I always was “The Artist” in my family and my small, rural Wisconsin school. It was my identity. I got my Art Education degree at UW-Eau Claire and my first teaching job in Woodbury, MN right out of college and I am still there, 23 years later. I started out teaching a random variety of Art classes, but soon inherited the Ceramics program and that is when my world exploded. I had always had a soft spot in my heart for clay, but working with it every day, learning new techniques to share with my students, building my skills and meeting local ceramic artists showed me beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was born to do this.
I made pots on my own time at school, after the students had gone home, since I didn’t have a home studio. Once I had kids, I had to figure out how to make my work from home so I started making clay jewelry for myself at my dining room table. I wore a pair of my earrings to a national ceramics conference in 2010 and a gallery manager asked me where I’d gotten them; when I told her I had made them, she invited me to sell my work at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. This was the beginning of a wonderful partnership between myself and NCC; they have been relentlessly supportive of myself and so many other emerging artists working with clay. Now I sell not only my earrings but also functional and sculptural vessels at the Northern Clay Center, and I am on the cusp of branching out to have my work represented at other galleries around the country.
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?
I have been lucky, but I also have worked really hard to get where I am. Not having a degree or much formal training in ceramics were hindrances at first, but it turns out making a bunch of crappy pots is a great way to learn, and daily practice really honed my craft into something I’m quite proud of today. Not having the space or the resources early on in my career were issues, but my persistence found a way around all that. Late nights, lots of terrible pots, and loads of disappointments have been and continue to be my norm, but those obstacles and hardships have never deterred me because I love this path I have chosen so dearly.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work is primarily functional pottery that has a quirky or humorous component, usually in the form of animal motifs. I started carving sloths into my work 8 years ago, and now I guess that is what I’m best known for. Sloths, in addition to being such endearing creatures, remind me of myself in that I can also be implacable, impervious to highs and lows and just plodding along, ever content to continue on my journey at my own pace. I also love to carve rabbits, which represent anxiety and creative energy, and squirrels, which represent tenacity and the drive to overcome. During the 2016 election, I became interested in women’s issues and I started making work that manifested my anger and frustration; this opened a door for me to be more candid about womanhood in my work which I am still exploring to this day. In 2020, my mom died after a long fight with leukemia; in response, I made a series of pieces of her in different phases of her life, which helped me cope with my loss. I also began using a red bird motif in my work, which originated in an old belief that cardinals are messengers from loved ones who have passed and are watching over us. Now I put a tiny red bird sculpture in a lot of my work as a nod to my mom.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
The most inspiring thing for me is to see other artists’ work, either in galleries or on Instagram. I am very lucky to live in a part of the world where ceramic artists are plentiful, and everyone is very supportive of each other. I love going on pottery tours in the western Wisconsin and St. Croix Valley to see what other local artists are up to and to chat. I also enjoy going to the annual, national ceramic conference, NCECA, to see what tools and tricks I can bring back to help my practice.
Contact Info:
- Email: teaspottery@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.nccshop.org/tricia-schmidt
- Instagram: @teaspottery
Image Credits
Crystal Liepa
