CityMag dropped in to a ceramic studio for a chat with the artist about valuing crafting as a career, making functional art and why everyone loves a good mug.
Ashlee Hopkins comes from a long line of women in craft.
“You know, the great crocheters and stitchers and quilt makers,” Ashlee tells CityMag over a coffee delicately poured into a mug that she made.
“It’s something that sort of sat in the back of my mind, that there’s all these sort of crafts that women in the generation before us were doing that was kind of viewed as a hobby and this thing that they did in their spare time.
“They didn’t work, but they were at home making craft, which was something that was really highly skilled and still is and there was this, I feel like, this real undervaluing of that.
“I think it’s important to remember that a lot of people take on a craft as a hobby, and sometimes it’s great that it stays as a hobby, but I think it’s important we recognise the skill that people that hand make things are a really important part of culture and society.
“So it feels really special to be to come from a long line of craft women and be making a living off of my craft.”
Ashlee is a potter with a studio on the sweetly named Honeysuckle Lane behind Prospect Road, where she creates, sells small batch ceramics and teaches workshops.
And yes, she’s heard “endless” Ghost-jokes, a hazard of her profession.
No Swayze’s were involved in the making of these pots
Given the crafty women that came before her, she figured she’d get into textiles when she began a Bachelor of Visual Art.
“I really did not like ceramics, I thought it was the worst,” she says.
“I had to take the class because it was the only thing left on the schedule for an elective and I was just really disorganised, so that’s what I ended up with.
“Then I had to get good enough to pass, and in the process, realised that I really liked it and so here I am, nearly 10 years later still making pots.”
This work was produced with First Nations artists at Ngapala Arts, a program Ashlee works on with Ku Arts. They were sold at the Tarnanthi Art Fair in October.
Ashlee says she doesn’t remember firmly deciding on a career as a potter, she just followed the opportunities that came, like making a batch of cups for McLaren Vale roasters Dawn Patrol and training with JamFactory and then staying on with them as production manager of their ceramic studio until 2021.
Since 2021, Ashlee has worked with Ku Arts, the SA support organisation for Aboriginal art centres and artists, to facilitate workshops in remote communities.
Her work has a strong landscape influence taken from her travels.
“There’s a lot of foraged clay and foraged oxides that I’ve collected on walks or on travels, so those places that I’ve been are literally in some of the pots, which is, I think, really special.”
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Getting close to the pieces that line the studio shelves, you can see the details of the work in a way that the pictures on her website can’t quite convey.
“You know, online shopping is great, but these are things that you want to like touch and feel and hold so I’d rather people have the opportunity to come in and buy.”
As CityMag takes the last sip of our coffee we pay attention to the mug Ashleigh’s made it in, passing it from one hand to another and we know exactly what she means.
“Out of all the things that I make, the mugs are the only thing that goes on to spend lots of time in your hands, everything else kind of sits on the table or on a shelf somewhere.
“So it’s something really special about a cup or a mug, so I feel like I spend a lot more time thinking about those.”
Ashlee, holding the mug in question
Ashlee’s small-batch ceramics include vases, bowls, mugs, and her take on a takeaway cup, and she says her range is “probably 90 per cent function”.
“I think that that’s a big part of what did draw me into ceramics is that it’s a medium that I can make really functional things that can also be beautiful, but then I can also step into something a little bit more conceptual and talk about other things through the work,” she says.
“So most of the work that I make is made for you to use, and even though it might be a little bit fancier or nicer than other counterparts in the cupboard, I’d be really disappointed to hear that people use it only on a special occasion or something.
“I think it’s so silly. Life can be really short, and what’s the point of having nice things if you not using them?”
Ashlee’s pottery studio is based at Prospect. Her next workshop, where visitors will create two cups and a jug, is on November 9. Book a workshop or find out more on her website.
