What Inspires You: Interview with Julie's Atelier

Porcelain Bat Wing Bottle Set

1. Please tell us a little bit about what you do.


"My name is Julie Klein and I am a ceramic artist working in porcelain and porcelaneous stoneware with a focus primarily on vessel making. I am very much motivated by the architectural possibilities in clay. It interests me to create an object with implied utilitarian function such as a cup, vase, or teapot, but also push the envelope of design to elicit debate over whether a piece should be used or displayed as sculpture."

Green Crested Decorative Vessle

2. Form seems to be one of the most important elements of your work. Tell us a bit about your work process: do you let the form come to you organically, or do you sketch and plan your pieces ahead of time?


"I’m not a potter who can sit down at the wheel and have forms naturally develop from my finger tips. I’m a pretty analytical person, so every piece I approach with a plan. I carry around a really [now] ragged 3”x5” spiral notebook in my bag everywhere I go which contain tons of sketches of potential projects. I have probably about 200+ drawings in this little thing. I pretty much start cranking them out when I’m inspired to do so. And by the time objects are drawn on a 2D surface and then translated to clay many moons later, they do tend to deviate a bit from the original design and take on a life of their own."

Oil Slick Iceberg Decorative Bottle Set

3. Keeping our work fresh means constantly seeking new sources of inspiration. Where do you look to find it and/ or what kinds of sources most inspire you?


" I believe there are no more original ideas in art. They all come from somewhere. So most of my work is inspired by other artists or designers but more so from their material (i.e. plastics or metal) or alternative production methods (i.e. casting, prototyping, or manufacturing); I'm really drawn to industrial design. Pushing the limits of what clay can do is part of what motivates me. I feel Eva Zeisel had it spot on (what a brilliant woman). I guess you could say I'm inspired mostly by challenge. "

Sibling Porcelain Bookshelf Bottles

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