Today we’d like to introduce you to William Eggleston
Hi William, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started making pottery my last year in college because of the influence of my roommate, who was a fine arts major. I moved to Florida in 2001, and I paid for studio space and kiln space from The Artistic Hand in Oviedo. Del and Barbara Seaman, the owners at the time, encouraged me to pursue working with pottery professionally.
I continued to dabble for a decade, building a home studio slowly. About 7 years ago I did my first market, a small endeavor that my kids’ school put on. It was OK, and I received a good amount of encouragement to continue.
For several years, I only did that market once a year, only doing a small amount of production each year. I improved my skills slowly and always felt like I needed my pottery to be finer in order to be happy with what I would sell. My wife, Jessica, constantly encouraged me to set up a business and start selling at markets around the Orlando area.
In 2023 I set up Red Mud Pottery LLC. and stepped out to sell my pottery. Over the last year, I have become more confident in my pieces, seeing them as fine pottery and being happy with what I produce.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest struggle, as my wife will tell you, is that I lack confidence in my wares, expecting everything I sell to be perfect. I hesitated for so long to start selling because I felt that my pottery wasn’t good enough to ask people to buy it. Even when I would see other pottery that was equal or inferior to mine being sold consistently, I always felt that my work needed to be a little bit better before I let people see it and buy it. I still struggle with this, rejecting pieces for flaws that are apparent to me, but not to anyone else, including my wife who has a great eye for quality.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I call my work “fine, functional pottery”. The idea behind this being that I want all the pieces I sell to be used and loved by those the buy them. But I also want each of them to be a piece of art that the buyer owns. I define art as something that is better and more beautiful than it needs to be. When someone buys a piece of pottery from me, I want them to have something that brings them joy and that is art that they use enriching their lives.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Pottery is an ancient craft and art, most of the techniques I use were used by potters for thousands of years. Recently, there have been advances in 3d printing with clay, allowing people to design and build pieces without ever handling the clay by hand. At this point, such pieces are rough and tend to be thick and heavy, but as the technology improves, so will the quality of the products. Much like all other art, the new technology will probably take over the production aspect, mass produced identical pieces. As the “handmade” label becomes rarer, it will be incumbent for the artists to produce pieces that are unique, beautiful and finer than the mass printed pieces that will be cranked out for almost no cost.
Pricing:
- Coffee mugs – $40
- Steins – $50 4 for $175
- Cereal bowls – $35 4 for $120
- Tea sets – $100
- Ramen bowls – $50-$70
Contact Info:
- Website: https://redmudpottery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redmudpottery/profilecard/
Image Credits:
William Eggleston
