Friend of NAMAI, Nicole from Wild Bower Studio, opened her art studio to the public this past weekend as a part of Upstate Art Weekend! Before everyone arrived we had the pleasure of joining Nicole in her space and talking all things art and sustainability...keep reading for the full interview..

What do you hope people take away from the experience of being in your space during your open studio?

We've been working in our Mountaindale studio for about 6 years and this will be the first time that we're opening our space to the public by joining UAW's Open Studios It's exciting to wake up the studio after the winter and thrilling to finally see all of the projects that I've been working on come together. This last year I've been creating with a wider variety of materials beyond just clay. Most of those new to me materials are found, thrifted or taken from the garbage. The greatest take away that I hope whoever visits my studio is a new sense of curiosity; to look at the materials with more of a 'what if' perspective rather than this the only way for it be. 

Something else that I am really proud of and hope others think is cool is that we're solar powered and we only use rain water. Our neighborhood has some water issues over the years so I've always maintained that my studio would work with rain water only. With a medium like clay that typically notorious for using a lot of water our method of washing with rain water allows us to use significantly less.  

Your studio is your creative space, what does it feel like to open that up to people? 

Kind of thrilling and also a little bit scary. For the most part I work alone and these new pieces have felt so precious to me that I've been a little sensitive to how they might be perceived in an algorithm so I haven't shared them yet. But It's very exciting for me to see how people experience the studio and see what they are drawn to. What moves them to ask questions or dive into deeper. 

How would you describe your relationship with art? is it a practice, a lifestyle, something else entirely?

Since as long as I can remember I've been an artist - it's just in the way I think, see and imagine things. Even in the moments that I tried to find another career path that need to make art was always right there at the top. Recently I took a few months off from making ceramics and got heavily into sewing. First I was sewing very simple things just learning the basics and then I got bored and decided to see how far I could push my sewing machine. There is a pretty immediate outcome in sewing that I love which doesn't happen with ceramics. I felt less precious in sewing - one. because all I was using was thrifted fabric and two. it has more immediate results and that was incredibly very freeing. Now I think of sewing as another medium for me to make art with. 

I think there is a big part of being an artist that is practice - from learning your materials to how to communicate about your artwork to running an arts business. For me it's been a long journey of knowing that I was an artist but having to practice pushing through discomfortable to keep moving forward in my art practice. The new habits that I needed to build in order to do that took a lot of practice which was not always very easy and never a finished process. 

How does working with found or recycled materials shape the creative process for you?

I have wonderful childhood memories of digging in the trash in my home town's recycling center with my Dad. Over the years I've found doll houses, trunks, clothing, art, furniture... most of these things were in perfect condition. Some of these things I still have some 25+ years later. I guess I've always seen the magic in trash, garbage, discarded objects etc but I never thought about it as recycling. It was more like treasure hunting with the potential that these treasures could be turned into art when the spark hits I would have my supplies. Sometimes a piece of trash will set off a little alarm in my head that it's special and shouldn't be left behind. 

I've had a collection of plastic bags that I feel too guilty to throw away so they just get shoved into boxes or corners or drawers. Most of the bags are from clay so some are stained others full of clay dust some even have mold on them. I clean the bags out and let them dry then I've started melting them together to create doll houses. What was once a source of guilt has become this experience of joy and curiosity. I wasn't quite sure why I was interested in making doll houses especially ones out of plastic trash but they have this otherworldly quality about them and the way they glow in the sun is so dreamy.

My relationship with creativity and art has very much changed over the years because I've changed very much over the years. I trust myself a lot more which has given me the courage to be incredibly curious, playful and experimental. I pay closer attention to how I feel when I'm working with a new medium or on a new idea. I focus less on any thoughts of doubt that come with the process and more with journey of retraining my mind to not fear this part. I don't hold myself to trying to be the best or better than but rather of just existing with. I adjust and make room for different parts of life. 

Do you think sustainability and creativity are natural partners? 

I guess it depends on the person and what they are drawn to. For me it has been very easy to marry those two things together because I get an immense joy from keeping things out of the landfill. To work in sustainability focused art/creativity you've got to be curious about where the things you consume come from and where they go after you've used them. I recently learned a new skill on how I can fuse plastic bags together which opened a whole new world up for me. 

Do you have a creative uniform or something you always reach for in the studio? 

There's a part of me that really likes the idea of a uniform but when it comes to making ceramics or really any of the art that I make it's so hard to keep my clothing clean. My studio outfit is normally whatever I find most comfortable at any given time. But when I'm not working you'll mostly find me in jeans and a silly T-shirt. I love denim - the variety of colors, weights, washes. I've mended a lot of denim jeans and any that I wasn't able to save I've cut down into squares to one day maybe make a quilt? There's something so comforting and nostalgic about denim especially one thats been loving worn in. 

Check out more of Nicole's work at her website Wild Bower Studio.