Life & Work with Amy Jo Gelber

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Jo Gelber.  

Hi Amy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In middle school, we had a ceramic artist named Cely Chicurel come teach a week-long workshop, and I grew interested in learning about pottery. In college at UNC, I tried to get into a few clay classes, but it was a small program and no space. I started to find mentors and worked for a few semesters with Dogwood Pottery in the evenings while I finished up my double major of Studio Art and Psychology at UNC. After graduating, I moved up to the NC mountains and worked in a slip cast factory for 2 years while I waited to get into Haywood Community College – Professional Crafts Clay Program. Once I got into the program, I fell in love with clay. They have one of the only programs in the country that teaches both the business side (photography, marketing, bookkeeping, small business loan application, applying to juried shows, and building a show booth) and the craft of making pottery. We had access to the Southern Highland Craft Guild and learned how to sell our wares professionally. It was at Haywood that I met my lifelong mentor, Sarah Rolland, who was also an alumnus of HCC from 20 years prior. She is a fountain of skill and wisdom both with the craft of making pottery and the art of selling and marketing. I spent a year working in her home studio and was able to fine-tune my craft and learn the process of firing her gas kiln. She had never mentored anyone before, but that year shifted her professional clay career and led her to open a creative community and education center in Asheville, NC, The Village Potters Clay Center. It is a space filled with creativity, diversity, and life. While she was creating a beautiful community, I had gotten married and moved to Greensboro, NC to open my small pottery business. My husband went on to get an International IMBA which took us to Japan for two years. I was able to live, work and study at The Shigaraki Ceramic Institute for 8 months in Japan. I was able to help fire some of the oldest wood kilns in the world with some of the most amazing ceramic artists from around the world. This love of the wood fire process is still a passion of mine 15 years later, and I am so thankful to able to fire with Crawford Horne from Thistle Glen Pottery in Hillsborough, NC. Currently, I make functional gas-fired ^10 reduction pottery in my kiln and have started making sculptural wood-fired woodland animals in the wood kiln. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge is that Hurricane Matthew hit NC in 2016 and flooded my basement studio in our home. I didn’t realize the extent of the damage because we were out of town when it happened, and our in-laws wet-vacuumed the water out of the basement. We ended up with a serious mold problem that was invisible to the eye but hidden behind the perfectly white drywall. I was the main person in that space, and I became severely ill and unable to walk or work. By 2017 I was covered in sores and itchy rashes and had no clue that we even had a mold problem. We had two little kids that also started getting sick, and that alerted us that it was the house and not just my mysterious illness. We have since remediated the house, and the kids are now teenagers and seem fine, but I still have lingering issues with histamine and extreme sensitivities. Dust from the clay is also an issue, so I work to keep a very clean space when I work. I am going much slower these days and have moved to making more carved and detailed sculpture pieces and less “production” pottery. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Most of my artistic career was making production pottery, where I made 20 of the same pieces at a time. I made mugs, lidded jars, vases, bakers, and a variety of bowls. My work was mainly thrown and altered with attachments and feet with an Art Deco design. I still make some of that work today at a smaller scale. During the pandemic, we traveled to the beach, and our friend let us stay in her mom’s condo at Emerald Isle. She collected bunnies, and we counted over 120 bunny sculptures in her home. As a thank-you gift, I made a bunny sculpture for her. People started asking me for bunnies, and I got a number of commissions for bunnies in 2021-2022. I honestly couldn’t keep up with demand. I created a 4-part press mold and have figured out how to make the form in sculpture clay and then add carvings and details after I remove it from the press mold. Each one is unique and different, but they are all “related.” I have expanded the “Woodland Collection” to other animals like owls, bears, and foxes. Most of them are about 6 inches tall, but I have received commissions for bigger animal sculptures which has been such a fun exploration process. The animals seem to come alive, and it is really a thrill when I finish a piece and see it with their new owner. It has also been my great honor to make animals to commemorate people who have passed away. When my animals end up in a memorial garden, it really feels like I am fulfilling my purpose as an artist. Touching hearts and adding a healing salve during a difficult season. 

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My idea of success has been shifting, especially with the pandemic. In 2020 all of my shows and workshops were cancelled and I couldn’t see a way through with my business. With the help of my Husband, Eli, we built an online store on our website, and we have pivoted to more internet sales. People really supported artists during the pandemic, and we did more in sales in the next year than we ever had in the past. For me, success isn’t just about the sales. Success means the ability to really connect to my customer on a deeper heart level with the new work I am making. Success is creating a space of joy and comfort with my art- shifting the atmosphere with my whimsical work. Success is making a child smile or giving someone’s Grandma some solace. 

Pricing:

• My pricing ranges from $45 to $3,000

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amygelberpottery.com
• Instagram: amygelberpottery
• Facebook: Amy Gelber Pottery

Image Credits
Amy Gelber