Check Out Jill Spawn’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Spawn.

Jill, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised in Indiana, and I was always the crafty and artistic type. I found ceramics in college, and after my first throwing class, I was hooked. I graduated from Ball State University with a BFA, specializing in Ceramics, in 2000. I had always dreamed of living somewhere with nice warm weather, so shortly after graduating I followed a good friend and moved to Phoenix.

After moving, it was important to me to continue my ceramics practice. I started looking for a community ceramics studio where I could resume my relationship with clay. I found the Desert Dragon Pottery Studio in North Phoenix, owned and operated by Michelle (Mishy) Katz. I’m a bit of an introvert, so finding a studio community where I felt comfortable was a huge step.

I still frequent the Desert Dragon studio regularly. Besides glazing my own high-fired work, I mix glazes for myself and other studio members and help out with other tasks. Some of my pots are fired in reduction to cone 10 in one of their gas kilns. A few times a year we do a wood firing in the small wood kiln named Puff, which we built in 2017 under the direction of ceramics artist John Manley (of Washoe City, Nevada). Wood firing has been a fantastic adventure!

Over the years I built up a nice home studio where I make and fire my work. My husband and I moved into a home with an extra-large garage in early 2020, and my studio space tripled. My studio occupies the back section of the garage. My 2 electric kilns sit on the back corner of the property and are easy to access from the studio or the house. And we have a room that I primarily use as a gallery, displaying all my pottery.

I’ve always loved the rich depth of atmospheric-fired pots, so my large, manual electric kiln was originally acquired with only bisque firing in mind (my pots are bisque-fired, then glazed and fired again). I intended to continue glazing and firing at the Desert Dragon. But I got curious and began experimenting with cone 6 glazes and firing after I purchased a smaller electric kiln around 2016. It’s been a slow journey, but I’ve taken so much joy from developing my cone 6-color pallet. I have a lot of love for vibrantly colored pots!

I’ve been casually selling my pots online and by word-of-mouth for many years. I do a yearly Holiday event at the Desert Dragon, but otherwise, I have not participated in many in-person sale events – with a full-time job, it just didn’t make sense for me in the past. Since I left my job last fall, I’ve worked on expanding my online sales with my website (jillspots.com), and I plan to participate in more markets and craft fairs in the future.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Of course, it was not a smooth road, but in life overall, I’ve had it pretty well! Having a full-time career unrelated to ceramics while trying to carve out time to pursue ceramics was a huge challenge that I faced for 20 years. I left my corporate job last fall, which often demanded more than 40 hours a week and took much of my mental energy.

I did enjoy aspects of my previous career, but there was always a voice in the back of my head reminding me how much I’d rather be in the studio. I’m a pretty practical and realistic person, and like most couples, my husband and I relied on our 2 paychecks. I wasn’t willing to abandon my printing career to pursue my dream full-time until it was financially feasible.

Since leaving my full-time job last fall, I’m becoming, in some ways, a different person. And that’s never a smooth road, but it’s interesting and scary, but mostly wonderful. I can really immerse myself in my ceramics practice, and can still carve out a little time for myself and my home and family.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I seem to have a deep need to make things – pictures, pots, baskets, a meal… I will find a way to express myself by making something, using whatever materials or equipment are available to me. That’s the unexplainable aspect of it, and probably something I have in common with many artists. It’s just infused into my personality.

I’ve really had a 25-year love affair with clay, and it only seems to grow. I love how clay feels in my hands and on my fingers, I love how a slip-loaded brush feels sliding over a wet pot, and I even like how clay smells. I love working on the wheel, and I’ve always been attracted to spirals and swirls and curved edges, and Clay works so well in creating these types of forms and lines.

I adore the practicality of pottery. When I first began making pots, I began fantasizing about having kitchen cabinets filled with tableware that I had made. It’s so thrilling to me that a meal or a dessert or a drink – even a cup of water – can be enjoyed out of a vessel that I made, and that simple vessel may enhance the experience it is delivering.

The need to make things is authentically me. The love of clay and pottery came later and became authentically me. Somehow doing these things – making these things – helps me feel happier in my own skin. And by sharing those objects, I hope I am also passing along a sense of that comfort and joy. Something I’m proud of is my consistency over the past few decades.

I established my adult life here in Arizona and re-established a ceramics practice a little over 20 years ago, Over those 2 decades, I consistently made work despite working full-time in an unrelated field. That was hard to maintain, and sacrifices were made. Progressing my work in the ways that I thought best was always top of my priority list. Even when that progress felt stagnant or slow, I knew the best way forward was to learn from the failures, get in the studio, and try again.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
There is a very vibrant ceramics community on social media, and I suspect it will only grow. And mostly I think it’s a wonderful thing. You can share your studio practices and show fun pictures or informative videos and send them out into the world. There’s a dark side to social media of course, but it does provide everyone an opportunity to share their art.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jillspots.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillspots
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JillSPots