izzett design

My Story

My journey with clay began in 2019, but my story starts a bit earlier...

I actually dabbled in pottery in Year 8 at high school during art class, but it was after I finished my degree in Interior Architecture, that I finally signed up to to a pottery class at Canning Arts Centre. 

Once I started doing my pottery class I was hooked!!  It was so exciting and fun and there are just SO MANY things you can do with clay.  After a year and a bit of classes, COVID-19 made it into WA and classes were cancelled indefinitely.  I still wanted to make pottery though and was fortunate enough to acquire a wheel through a friend of mine’s sister.  This was the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for me: making pottery at home.  Up until this point, I had mostly kept the clay out of the house…  

 

 

Now I had access to a wheel so that changed things.  I could now make pottery but how do I fire it?  I found a really crappy kiln on Gumtree and went to have a look at it with my Dad.  This could be the start of something truely exciting!!  But alas, it was not meant to be, however it opened up a world of possibility to me and my Dad posed the question of me buying a new kiln: 

Do you have the funds for it saved? – Yes.  

Do you want to keep making pottery? – Yes.  

Do you want to sell your pottery and grow a business? – Yes!  

These were huge questions at the time. A time when I had not sold a single pot and hadn’t quite reached the point where I was happy with the level of finish and the quality to sell it. 

 

 

With some very careful thought, I decided to look into buying a new kiln!  Dad already had a workshop and 3 phase power, and generously donated a corner of his workshop to me so that I had a space to house my kiln (isn’t he a champ?).  I took the plunge and paid the deposit for my new kiln around about the middle of 2020.  When it finally arrived it took me a little while to really get going with using it.  But I have finally reached the point of selling my work and being able to fill it with my work, something that seemed so far away when it first arrived.  

 

 

Since the kiln arrived in 2020, I sold my first few garlic graters around Christmas 2020, then some more in about February of 2021 when i got my website up and running.  And finally at the end of 2021 I did my first ever market.  It went so well and was such an exciting day filled with lovely people, tasty food and stellar Spring weather.  I am so excited for what the future brings with my little business.  I hope you follow along for the ride.  

Thank you for reading my journey so far!  

Kirsten