What does a day in your studio look like? 

I usually start my day slowly drinking two back to back coffees at my kitchen table, I do my emails, make catalogs, photography, editing, etc, when 1pm hits its studio time until early dinner, I then often return for a couple of hours after the rest of the house is sleeping, i just love being alone with the work, the thought of interruption really irritates me. My studio is in the basement of our house and I make my daughter and husband text if they plan to come down to say hello. I need complete focus to keep complex ideas in my head, when I'm interrupted it's like the whole thing comes crashing down and then I have to rebuild it in my mind again.

I am a mom and a wife so I adjust my schedule to be present for them. If I was single I would likely stay up in the studio way too late every night. If I had my way I would be working even more than I do now which is already way too much.

I don't have any consistent way of working in the studio, sometimes I will build a few vessels at once and others I will build one vessel and immediately glaze the greenware and do a single fire, I am an incredibly impulsive and impatient person. Sometimes the building of the form is the art and the therapy. Sometimes I will push and build a form simply to have a canvas to put an idea onto.

Feels Like Home Sasha Court Shop now >

Siren's Garden Candle Sasha Court Shop now >

Do you have any studio must haves? A podcast? Playlist? Snacks?

It's so annoying that my process requires my hands to be dirty at all times so snacking is annoyingly hard. I take snack breaks while waiting for layers to dry. My go-tos are white cheddar popcorn and coke zero.

When I'm glazing I listen to music. Sometimes I'll get into a trance and play the same song for hours until a piece is finished. I am literally moved by my music.

I tend to have distinct moods that definitely show up in the work. For example, 90's RnB is going to produce more playful, charming, seductive work. I listen to A LOT of sad music. I just love it. My heart beats to melancholy melody. It's my baseline. I have curated playlists for my many moods. When I'm building I do podcasts, I have been loving Amy Poehler's Good Hang. That woman is a GD icon!

Many artists and creators consider the place where they create as important as the final artwork. Do you find that your studio is a haven that inspires you to produce your best work? Why or why not? 

Yes! Where I am is really important to me. It helps me get in the zone faster if I don't have to first acclimate to my surroundings. I hate the thought of being interrupted and quite frankly I hate people in my studio even when I'm not working, it's mine :)

How would you describe your artistic style in a few words? 

My work embodies the tension of opposites. Raw yet refined, fragile yet strong, strength and fragility, clarity and ambiguity, containment and release.

You had a successful corporate career in tech for two decades before transitioning to ceramics full-time. How did this analytical background influence your approach to hand-building, and how have you evolved into the artist you are today?

I am naturally inclined to think analytically and am constantly deducing for clarity or resolution but I don't think my time in corporate influenced how I make forms and create. I think if anything my time in corporate disconnected me from my creativity and finding clay was a way to come back home to myself and fully realize what I had been missing in my everyday life because I was so devoted to building my career. I climbed the corporate ladder and with every advancement I was even more uninspired by what the work became. One thing it has helped immensely with is the strategy for getting my work out there which is one of the most difficult aspects of building a sustainable practice. I wanted to make art that was seen and felt and connected me to like minded people and my time in corporate helped me do that part.

Hearts Aglow Sasha Court Shop now >

Time Comes in Roses Sasha Court Shop now

You exclusively use the coil building technique from bottom to top - could you delve deeper into this method and tell us why you chose this traditional approach over other ceramic techniques?

I am not a fan of anything perfectly symmetrical, and so the wheel never interested me at all. I never once thought to buy one and try it, I don't care for the results personally. It's not me, it's not my art. I love how with handbuilding you can make anything and there is such an honesty in it, intentional imperfection, the slow unfolding helps me see what is mine to make. It allows me to show the nuance of what I find to be beautiful.

I also hate the idea of creating in a step by step process. I love making without a plan. When it comes to creation, venturing into the unknown is my favorite trip to take, it's where I thrive. Where I come alive.

I start with an impulse, I look, I see, I respond. That is my process reduced to its core :)

Music seems to play a significant role in your work - you named a piece after Weyes Blood and another after Chappell Roan. How does music influence your creative process and the naming of your pieces? 

I am so comforted by honest and true artists. They make me feel less crazy for being pretty weird. Their art gives me permission to make mine. I start every studio session by first picking the music that aligns with my mood. If I can't find anything that feels right I will work in silence or wait. My glazing process is also quite melodic, I make an absolute mess and throw glaze at my forms in sync with a perfectly selected song. My absolute favorite album to glaze to is Kosmo by Bremer/McCoy. It's my fall back when nothing else feels right. It's just perfect from start to finish. The album was a recommendation by a follower on Instagram that I am so grateful for.

Although my work is visual it is more of a feeling that I try to infuse in the work. Inspiring music helps me get there. To me music is the most powerful art form. I strive to make an art work that hits me like a favorite song.

I Can Imagine Sasha Court Shop now >

I'm Just Having Fun Sasha Court Shop now

Your pieces have such a signature and quality look to them. Besides ceramics, what other materials are you curious about bringing into your studio?

I have been working on my painting practice and am making progress! I have to really be in the mood or have a lot of time because I am not the kind of artist that can start something without finishing in one go and paint takes so damn long to dry. lol I have a few recent acrylic paintings that I am really proud of. Besides painting I have been avoiding a strong impulse to work with textiles. I think that might be my next love affair or at least an exciting fling. We'll see.

What are your favorite inspirations you find in the natural, everyday world that really transform your art? 

I love wild beauty. Finding a beautiful composition in nature is like crack cocaine for my brain and heart.  Moss growing in the cracks of concrete tile work really get me, my husband is always cleaning it out of our walk way and outdoor fireplace and I'm like but don't you find it beautiful lol the tenacious nature of life is just so inspiring to me - the moss found its way through, I think that's so beautiful. Also have you seen moss? It's so luxurious! 

I think I am just so moved by beauty finding its way despite all odds, the suffering, the resilience, it hurts me and somehow heals me at the same time.  Give me a field of wild flowers over an arrangement any day, I don't like things too over done or too perfect or too pretty, I like things to look like wild miracles and that is the feeling I strive for in my work.  Anything that reminds me that I too am nature hits me hard. Beauty to behold in the ugly truth of what it means to be a sentient but impermanent being.  We are all going to die, you know! 

I am obsessed with our impermanence on this earth and the passing of time. 

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