Meet Niki Shelley | Ceramicist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Niki Shelley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Niki, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’d always wanted to be an artist growing up. I loved all mediums but, perhaps even more, I was gripped by this romantic idea of the artist as someone who not only made art but who created a thoughtful and beautiful world around them – who lived an artful life. I studied art in college (I have a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from the California College of Arts and Crafts, which has since become the California College of the Arts.) but after school I really wrestled with the question of whether or not one could actually make a living as an artist. And so I did a million other things while continuing to make art on the side quietly. And then my daughter was born. Her arrival was so world-inverting. I would look at her and think: “What a miracle you are!” Her very existence was this beautiful gift. It was in this moment that I understood my task was to build this thoughtful and beautiful world for my child and, by extension, for myself and those around me. I’d been a bit of a creative dilettante up until this point but finally I told myself that it didn’t matter what I chose, all that mattered was that I chose something and did it as well as I was able. And that’s how it started. It’s grown very slowly and organically over the years and I’ve tried to be as intentional as possible.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The most important lessons that I have learned in regards to having a creative practice that I make my living from are to act with integrity, say no to things that do no serve you, be rigorous in your work and take care of others. That’s what I want the world to know: Take care of one another!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m probably the wrong person to ask about the most fun and exciting things to do! My idea of a good time is a picnic in the park!

I live in Berkeley, surrounded by an absolute abundance of the most delicious food and most breathtaking place on earth! My ultimate dream would be to fold them into a beautiful lake trip we make every summer to Leonard Lake in Ukiah where the children roam free and we share delicious meals with one another punctuated by lake dips and campfires.

If we were staying closer to home, we’d get coffee and the Persian breakfast at Bartavelle on San Pablo Ave, lunch from Fava on Vine in North Berkeley and have drinks at the Rendezvous on MLK. Dinner would obviously be a sprawling collective affair at someone’s house with everyone taking turns playing records, treasures from the Temescal Farmers market and some bottles from Redfield Cider on College Ave. We might take a day trip up the coast to hike in Point Reyes and get oysters in Tomales Bay and invite ourselves to studio visits with friends like the brilliant artist Zoe Dering in Sebastopol.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are a million ways both big and small in which numerous people have held me, believed in me, fed me, cared for me, and just generally modeled what being a loving person in the world looks like. I wish I could praise them all from the rooftops. I praise you all!! Maybe I’ll write a book someday in which I can adequately honor each one. The truth, however, (and maybe this sounds uninspired, I don’t know, it is what it is!) – is that the person who deserves the most credit is my daughter, Rilke Ochs Keenan. No other person has come crashing into my life and broken so many things that needed breaking, planting the most sublime gardens in their place. I hope she gets to see her name here, she’ll be so delighted! Rilke, you deserve all of the beautiful things in this world! I love your generosity, your kindness and your fearlessness in speaking truth to power. I love you!

Website: http://www.manueveryday.com

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Image Credits
All photos beginning with “MANU-Fall-2022” should be credited to Molly DeCoudreaux