We chat to Fran Stassen, a ceramic artist, who turned her hobby into a business called Fran Made.
What do you do?
During the day I’m part of a dynamic business informatics and software services company called CloudStrength. After hours and on weekends, I am a ceramic artist and teacher.
When and how did your pottery journey begin? What inspired you to embark on this journey?
My friend, Chaneé, invited me to a pottery class in 2019 and that’s where it all started. I was obsessed from the beginning.
I’ve been attending classes by John Steele since, and in 2022 I started teaching at the Claystation-za studio. I’ve always had many different creative hobbies — crocheting, sewing, pyrography, drawing, so I was naturally interested to try pottery.
What prompted you to start selling your work?
I started posting photos of my work on social media and started receiving requests from individuals and businesses.
When a batch of items is complete, I usually post it on social media to either showcase or sell. I generally make functional items for myself first, to try a new shape for the first time, and if I love it, I make more to sell.
What are some of the biggest pros and cons in your line of work?
Most of the cons are probably some of the operation stresses, which I am luckily enough to have master potter John to take on. He makes sure all our items are fired even during the struggles of load-shedding. We must often change class times and delay kiln firing due to load-shedding. There are many pros but If I must pick one, it must be the feeling of achievement when you finish something.
What skills are important for someone to have when doing pottery? What tips are important to keep in mind?
Patience: clay needs to go through a long process before it becomes a piece of art or a functional item.
If you stay patient, you will reap the rewards of taking home beautiful unique items. Don’t get attached to your items because they can break at any point in the process, but if you persevere, you will succeed.
What do you enjoy most about creating pieces with pottery?
The whole process is really, even the parts that take a long time or are quite difficult. There is no better feeling than forming something out of clay. It feels like magic to take a blob of clay and change it to something functional and beautiful for you or for someone else. Every single item is unique which I think makes it super special.
What are some of your goals this year and going forward?
I’ve reached a big goal of becoming a teacher, so for the year ahead I just want to focus on refining my style of ceramic art and getting my items out to market in East London and beyond.
What advice or tips do you have for someone who is interested in a similar line of business?
Find a pottery teacher you admire and respect and try and learn from them as much as possible, spend as much time as possible at a studio in classes or at home playing and making. Spend many hours failing before you can succeed in developing your niche.
How can our readers get hold of you?
Follow the studio social media pages – Claystationza Classes on Facebook and @claystationzaclasses on Instagram. Or find me on Facebook: Fran Made.
