Open Studio #10... Ashlee Hopkins
JamFactory’s Production Manager and Ceramicist, Ashlee Hopkins in her JamFactory-based Studio.
Ashlee Hopkins is a true craftsperson. An acute RSI saw her take a break from studying music and led her to pursue ceramics, a craft she admittedly ‘hated’. Five years on and Ashlee is now the Production Manager of JamFactory’s Ceramics Studio, and a favourite potter amongst Adelaide’s restaurateurs, creating work for the likes of Hentley Farm, as well as a recent collection of servingware for jam Australia. Salt of the earth and a perfectionist in nature, Ashlee has put in the hours to get to where she is today, and it shows.
Photos by Vanessa Heath.
How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up I always wanted to be a musician. By age 18 I had been playing the flute for 11 years, and was studying at the Adelaide Conservatorium of Music. Six months into my degree I developed acute RSI (repetitive strain injury) and took a break from playing. I had always said that if I couldn’t be a musician I’d become a librarian, but somehow ended up enrolling in a visual arts degree instead. One semester I left my enrolments late and ended up having to take a ceramics course… I hated it. But the perfectionist in me couldn’t let my dislike of something get in the way of a good grade. So I practiced and practiced and practiced the wheel throwing with the same rigour a musician would coming up to a performance, and somewhere within the course of a semester accidentally fell in love with this new craft. I went on to graduate from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Ceramics), and was then accepted into the JamFactory’s two year Associate Training Program. I spent these two years honing my craft, making work for local restaurants such as Hentley Farm and Anchovy Bandit, working short stints at the remote Ernabella Arts in the APY Lands, and working at JamFactory as a production thrower and teacher. I completed the program in 2018, and then stayed on as a studio tenant where I could continue growing my practice and working for JamFactory. In 2020, after only having touched clay for the first time five years earlier, I was so excited to be appointed the position of Production Manager of JamFactory’s Ceramics Studio.
You occupy Studio 10, the smallest of JamFactory’s studios. Tell us about your space…
Studio 10 has become a quiet little space for me to escape to when I’m not working for JamFactory’s Ceramics studio. Surrounded by pieces of recycled furniture made by friends, rows of tools collected on travels, and 35mm photographs taken on adventures I have space to throw or hand build works. Buckets of glaze line the back wall of my studio, while small vessels I can’t bring myself to let go of yet sit in my treasured pigeon hole shelving. Being a small space, it can fill up quickly and I often find myself stepping over rows of pots that fill the floor…
Tools of the trade.
“Foraging for food, growing my own, or shopping at farmer’s markets to cook up a spread for friends always excites me. I wanted to create a collection of work that would complement this experience…”
Ashlee admits she sometimes drives around with pots in her boot for weeks, waiting to find the perfect spot and time of day to capture them on 35mm.
Quiet corners in the studio.
Being the production manager of JamFactory’s Ceramics Studio, as well as running your own practice, you must spend a lot of time making! What does a typical day look like for you?
I usually try to split my week up. Currently a typical Tuesday working as Production Manager involves a 9am start. First I’ll check on all the kilns to make sure nothing unusual has happened overnight, grab a coffee with the gang in my favourite Hannah Vorrath-Pajak mug, and then double check my to-do lists for the day against product orders and kiln schedules. The day then usually involves lots of glazing, kiln packing and unpacking, always some cleaning, and sometimes some prototyping for new products. By 5pm I’m ready for a cup of tea and a snack before teaching the Handbuilding and Surface Decoration short course for JamFactory at 6pm. In contrast, a Friday in my own studio involves some quieter making time. Usually a few hours of throwing at my wheel, something delicious for lunch with Kerryn [Levy], Connie [Augoustinos] or Zoe [Grigoris] who all have studio’s down the hallway, and some time spent decorating new vessels that I’ve been working on. I’ll then rush off around 5:30pm to try and make it to a yoga class to let my body rest after a busy week.
“I think the aesthetic of my work has gone through some huge changes in such a short time… after trying what felt like a thousand different things, I’ve settled back into an earthy vibe with predominantly wheel formed work.”
How has your aesthetic or style of making evolved over the years?
I think the aesthetic of my work has gone through some huge changes in such a short time, and in a way has come full circle to where I started. I’ve explored all the colours of the rainbow and there was a solid 6-12 months of pastel coloured works. I’ve also explored a wide variety of making methods which affects the vibe of the work so much too. After trying what felt like a thousand different things, I’ve settled back into an earthy vibe with predominantly wheel formed work. Rusty reds/burnt oranges (or shino type glazes for the potters out there) feature heavily, along with some softer glazes layered over a variety of slips for subtle colour and movement.
What was the inspiration behind the Sage Servingware pieces you designed for the new jam Australia collection?
Foraging for food, growing my own, or shopping at farmer’s markets to cook up a spread for friends always excites me. I wanted to create a collection of work that would complement this experience: forms that were simple enough to highlight the food, but organically beautiful on their own. Each of the pieces in the collection were designed around things I could imagine serving up on the dinner table – a small dish for olives, long platters for sesame glazed carrots, a large shallow bowl for serving up a pilaf or pasta.
How do you like to wind down or spend your time when you’re not in the studio?
I love anything to do with food – growing it, shopping for it, cooking it, sharing it. I also try to fit in a few hours of yoga a week – my new (and healthy) addiction. I love taking walks in forests, and when the season is right foraging for mushrooms and other herbs along the way. And if I’m lucky I’ll find a special patch of dirt full of iron or clay that I’ll collect and take back to my studio to try and make use of in the surface of a pot.
Stacks of Sage Servingware preparing for firing.
