Desirae Garcia Ceramics

What’s the meaning of your business name?

Well I originally named my business Sew and So pottery, a play
on words from sewn goods like simple bags and vintage inspired wrap
skirts, and my little face pots who are my so and so’s. I eventually
decided to Use my name instead, so the branding can shift and evolve a
little easier.

Tell us about how you got started -

I began learning Ceramics while working towards my BFA in
Pueblo, Colorado. The craft eventually pulled me away from my
painting emphasis, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I began studio
assisting for a friend at the Sangre De Cristo art’s center in Pueblo, CO,
which taught me so much that I use now, to operate from a tiny studio at
home in Lahaina. I’ve been working on functional pottery for around
eight years now.

What are your favorite materials right now?

I’ve just begun to play with Terra Cotta, which is a fast growing
infatuation. there will be some new (to me) fun silhouettes for plants in
the near future! My first love is Laguna Clay’s B-mix. It has porcelain
vibes, but is a simple white stoneware clay, that wears color really
honestly.

When did you decide to become a designer/artist?

I feel like art chose me pretty early in life. I was encouraged to,
and happy to, explore creativity just like most youngin’s. I just kind of
couldn’t put it down. I definitely surrendered to the call around 2007,
when I started a folk band with a partner/friend (a little over a decade
long venture), and upon returning home from our first tour, started to
explore art in college more seriously.

Were you encouraged to follow your dreams and create for a living?

I was! My family was full of creatives and I was pushed to
discover my voice through art.

Is there a single purpose that keeps you focused?

I feel like my biggest motivator to create, is to process and
release all those feelings that don’t want to live outside of me. With
music, it's a tone or vibe, and with clay, it’s a quiet and confident
playfulness. With both, I hope to connect with people and their own
unspoken feelings.

What about your medium makes you keep going back? What makes you
stick with it?

I think I stay hooked on clay because it never stops being
challenging. no matter how much I improve in any given time, there is
always something new to learn or discover in front of me. It's both
gratifying and addicting to keep pressing on.

Is there something that the world should know about you and/or the
work that you do?

That I create using my whole heart in all that I do, and hope the
marks I make help to move other people’s hearts too.

What’s your biggest challenge as a maker?

Discovering and owning a value for something that’s made for
the sake of making.

What’s on your current music rotation while creating?

Kurt Vile, Wilco, Erin Rae, Bill Calahan, and Bahamas... to set a
vibe.

View all of Desirae's work