I’m Erica, a New Orleans-based artist and small-batch potter. I’ve always been drawn to making things, but for years my primary medium was acrylic paint. I loved working with color, texture, and movement, and the process of building a painting layer by layer. Eventually, I found my way to ceramics through a neighborhood community studio just a few blocks from my home.

Clay gave me a way to explore many of the same ideas I loved in painting, but in three dimensions. Instead of creating movement across a canvas, I could create it through the shape of a vessel, a carved surface, a layer of glaze, or a cutout that lets light pass through. It also brought a completely different challenge. Clay has a mind of its own, and working with it requires patience, attention, and a willingness to let go of some control. Learning to work with that rather than against it has become one of the things I enjoy most about pottery.

In the studio, I like to experiment. I work with a wide range of clay bodies, from porcelain and standard white clay to speckled, red, and brown earthen clays. Each behaves differently on the wheel, and part of the process is learning what each one wants to do. I blend mason stains into clay or slip, then carve through the surface to reveal the layers underneath. I often layer glazes in deliberate combinations, knowing that the kiln will have the final say. Some experiments work exactly as I imagined. Others turn into something completely different—and sometimes much more interesting. I like that uncertainty.

Not everything I make is meant for a shelf. Some pieces are purely sculptural, while others are bottles, bowls, plates, mugs, and other objects meant to be used every day. I love seeing a piece move from my studio to someone's kitchen or dining table, where it becomes part of an ordinary moment. There is something particularly satisfying about making an object that is both functional and distinctly handmade.

Today, I’m a small-batch potter, working between a community studio and a little home studio she-shed in my backyard. My husband has been an enormous part of making that possible. What started as a creative outlet has gradually grown into a small business, and he has supported—and often helped build—so much of that journey along the way.

For me, that is one of the best parts of making is the community. In New Orleans, art, food, craft, and community are constantly intertwined. A handmade bowl can become part of someone's dinner. A vase can end up on a friend's table. A piece made in my backyard can travel a few blocks and become part of someone else's home.