So, why should you invest in my pots?
The pieces that I make are ideas and curiosities of mine. These pots are little obsessions that I release into the world, and that I hope have been imbued with a little of my spirit. When you hold my pots, I want you to feel something. Sometimes it’s comfort, curiosity and warmth. Other times I gravitate to discomfort and complication. Sometimes I want my work to be easy for you-a handle that fits just right in your palm, perhaps. Other times I want to make something a little bit more difficult to love-the open mouthed gape of the fishface staring at viewers on a wall trophy, that maybe makes you smile as you pass by it. Sometimes not quite understanding why a piece is compelling is the best, isn’t it?
When you buy one of my pots, I’d love for it to add some meaning and a thread of connection to you and your world. You’re getting a little peek to the inside of my mind. Let’s rejoice together with handmade pottery; these wonderfully imperfect physical manifestations of the makers mind that is ceramics. I want you to see that my work was done slowly, thoughtfully, and one-at-a-time.
A little more about me…
I create pottery in my home studio in San Diego, CA using stoneware & porcelain clay. There are many aspects to the act of making in clay that draws me to the medium. I love to get lost in the zen act of throwing, that’s when I’m solving the worlds’ problems. Or not thinking at all! Once the pieces come off the wheel, I alter it, molding it into the finished form of the vessel. For the most part, I’m attracted to functional work – I’m interested it how the piece will be interacted with, how it will be touched and used. What its final purpose will be.
I like to let the use of the piece be how it shines, so I use a simple palette of glazes.
My name is Alex Carter. I named my pottery business using my middle name, Catlin…it’s a much less common name (man, are there a lot of Carter’s out there!), plus, c’mon, Catlin Clay is pretty fun to say!