November Vendor Spotlight: Atelier Argilewood

My name is Rania. I have been doing pottery for a few years now, started with a hand-building workshop, and immediately fell in love with everything pottery. Currently, I work out of my home studio, which I absolutely adore, it gives me great joy to have access to my creative outlet any time of the day.

What inspired you to start a business? Lots of my friends and family encouraged me to make more and share more and I started getting requests for items and voila!

How did you come up with your business name? I am interested in both natural elements of clay and wood and fascinated by their transformation into functional pieces, I wanted to integrate both into my business

What is your favorite thing that you make and why? My absolute favorite thing to make is mismatched mugs because I think every mug needs to have its own unique personality and find its person

Tell us about the progress you've made since you first started It’s an ever-evolving skill to do pottery, I love to meet and learn techniques from other potters and reconsider my own process and improve as I go

Describe your creative process It always starts with a feeling, how the clay feels that day and what I envision it becoming, sometimes as I'm wedging I decide if it will be a wheel day or a hand-building day

What is the best part of being an entrepreneur? The freedom to do whatever you want! I don't do bulk orders, I am interested in doing small batches of unique pieces where I can express my process in every piece

What is the hardest part of running your own business? Getting exposure and reaching the right people

What is your favorite glaze? Turquoise, makes me think of the beach!

What is your favorite clay? Speckled, it’s so adorable

What is your favorite season? The fall because I love the foliage

What are your business goals for the future? Eventually, I'd love to run my own workshops