Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Lowry.
Hi Julie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In 2014, my mother-in-law and I discussed our love of crafting and how I’ve always wanted to learn more about ceramics. As a holiday gift she gave me a class at a pottery studio in Greenwich Village, as I was living in New York City at the time. I chose to take a hand-building class, and after pinching my first bowl, I was hooked! (I still have the bowl sitting near the desk in my studio.) I took class after class until the end of 2018, when I moved with my husband and our two kitties to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a job opportunity. I immediately signed up for a class at the Grand Rapids Pottery Studio. I became an official studio member later that Spring, and that’s when I started to explore my own ceramics voice.
The job was going well and after a few years in Grand Rapids I was asked to move to Ann Arbor. My husband and I agreed that we should look for a house where we could each have a home studio. Once we found the magical space we were looking for, I started hunting for equipment to set up in my studio. I bought my first kiln and acquired some essential tools from a couple of pottery friends. I kept building up the studio and dabbled with new ideas as time permitted.
In the Spring of 2023, the company that I was working for was unexpectedly under new management, and my department was eliminated. This was the first time I had ever lost a job. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and I was certainly not prepared. I always dreamt about pursuing ceramics full-time, but I never believed it would be possible because I would never have quit a well-paying job. I was doing what I thought I should do in life – work, get paid, have insurance, and weekends were for hobbies. Being laid off ended up being the biggest blessing in disguise! After spending some time thinking about what I wanted to do with this life, and after an entire career of working hard on other people’s dreams, I realized I should be working on my dreams.
I signed up for my first pop-up in July, 2023 in Grand Rapids. I had zero expectations but hoped, at the very least, I would make some gas money back. I used our kitchen table and some vintage books as table risers for a display. I ended up making more than my transportation costs, and ended the day feeling like I was headed in a promising direction. Before going home I dropped off the remainder of my pottery to sell on consignment at a store in Grand Rapids. When I heard I sold my first piece in a retail setting I cried happy tears.
Upon returning home I got to work! I joined the West Michigan Potters Guild, became an LLC, participated in more pop-ups, started working on my website, and custom orders started to trickle in. I was also accepted into some established art fairs for the upcoming year.
Over the years, my mother-in-law took me with her to the West Michigan Potters Guild shows. I remember thinking that one day, I hoped to be a part of the Guild, so she could visit me at my booth and see how far my craft had developed since that first class she gifted me. Unfortunately, she became very sick and passed away last summer and was never able to visit me at a Potters Guild show. Still, she is 100% with me in spirit every time I set up my booth. I’m so grateful I was able to be a part of her life and for the amazing world of ceramics she opened up for me.
2024 brought me a ceramics residency, more pop-ups, Guild shows, art fairs, custom and wholesale orders, and a holiday season of web sales.
I’m overjoyed and thankful every day that JL Ceramics, this “little business that could,” as I call it, is growing. I can’t believe what I’ve accomplished, and I can’t wait to look back on 2025!
My hopes and dreams are to continue with ceramics and find additional ways to use my skills for other creative projects. Not all of my ideas translate well to ceramics alone, but I keep collecting them, knowing they will find their purpose. I would love to collaborate on projects with other artists and businesses, and have a gallery show one day. I’ve realized that good things will happen if I don’t give up.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Finding and making enough time to propel JL Ceramics forward is my current obstacle and challenge. I want to accept more opportunities that come my way and execute additional ideas that have been swimming in my head, but building all of my designs by hand versus using a pottery wheel is a longer process. I put as much love and attention into the first piece as the last one, when in production mode. I’m not willing to sacrifice attention to detail or give up making pieces by hand, so it comes back to how and where I’m spending my time and finding a better balance between being an artist and a small business owner. I’m hoping to hire an assistant soon so I can let my husband, who’s been playing the role of an on-call helper, get back to his work.
I know my challenges are not unique, but I understand the struggle. I would not trade any part of this experience for another office job. I’ve received so much encouraging support, and I’m so thankful for every bit of everyday that I get to keep doing what I love.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am 100% a ceramics hand-builder through and through. The wheel just never felt like my path. When I was taking classes, I did give working on the wheel a good effort, but my mind always wandered off, and I longed to be back at the table. I was a puzzle and LEGO kid growing up, and to this day, I love finding and making pieces that fit together.
I primarily utilize the slab construction method, but I also love dabbling with coils when I need a little break from being so precise. My coils are still created with the slab roller – my favorite tool!
My design ideas, in the beginning, kept getting more detailed, and one day, when I was still working out of the Grand Rapids Pottery Studio, I was asked why I spent so much time drawing intricate designs by hand and trying to tape them off perfectly. It was suggested that I could be more precise and save time by using a vinyl cutter. A genius idea, and I never looked back.
It’s funny to see photos of older work and compare it to the work I produce now. The level of detail and ideas have jumped leaps and bounds by incorporating just a little technology into my work.
I stick to a minimal amount of glaze per piece and keep to a minimal glaze palette because I like the tactile look and feel of the speckled stoneware. I want the clay to be enjoyed just as much as the designs I create. I’m always working towards how to have a more well-rounded sensory experience with my creations.
I have always been inspired by my late grandparent’s mid-century house in Southern California. They maintained the house and decor versus upgrading to what was new and trendy. My grandmother was an artist and DIYer who did a lot of traveling with my late grandfather. They took great care of the mementos picked up from their travels, which still remain in the house today. I spent a lot of time with them as a child, and their style and DIY spirit really seeped in!
Along with the mid-century nods, the designs you see in my work mesh together my love of folk art, prehistoric art, architecture, objects, and textile patterns with what my husband and I have collected on our “off the beaten path” travel adventures.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I have always benefited from writing down my lessons learned in list form. I figured out that as a list I can soak up the important parts of what I’m trying to remember, versus getting too carried away with the details of the story. I feel this muddies the point.
Below is my list of lessons learned since starting JL Ceramics. These are in no particular order, nor are they original, but they are important to me.
– Go with your gut if it continues to tell you the same thing more than once because the gut and the head work together behind the scenes.
– Manifesting ideas are real if the work is put into them.
– Not everyone will see your work the way you do, so stick to the ideas that matter the most to you and don’t dilute them. Your people will find you.
– Confidently go in the directions of your dreams. Without the confidence you’ll stay right where you are.
– Corporate jobs and self-employment have seemingly brought on the same amount of stress, but working this hard on your own goals will bring more happiness!
This next lesson comes to me from my mother-in-law. She wrote herself a note on the back of a dessert recipe that we found together while going through her notebooks. It lives on the wall in my studio now.
– “Quality is the ultimate goal and the core of everything we do. Quality is never (or should never be) out of mind, nor out of our sights or visions.”
– “Let’s start here.” – Yachty
This last note is actually from a poster I discovered when unwrapping Lil’ Yachty’s album “Let’s Start Here”, which I purchased on Record Store Day shortly after being laid off. This phrase makes me giggle when I read it because it’s so simple and true! To share why this is a lesson learned, I will provide some context. I struggle with anxiety and have for as long as I can remember. Without a focus, I’m all over the place mentally, and frozen physically. Sometimes it just takes the simplest of phrases to bring me back. When I was laid off, I also briefly lost myself in the anxiety of the experience. When I pulled out this perfectly designed uncomplicated poster, I was able to start moving in a direction again. Sometimes, you just need to start right where you are. Thanks for the advice, Yachty!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jlceramicsco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julielowry/
