Meet Jessica Mason | Ceramics Studio Owner and Instructor, Artist

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

Hi Jessica, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
As a family of 5, we have to be extremely intentional with balancing our schedules. Nick own his own General Contracting business in addition to being a crucial part of Make Stuff Masons. With Make Stuff Masons, we actively operate a ceramics teaching studio that hosted over 2,000 guests last year alone. We processed thousands of guest pottery pieces after instructing hundreds of classes and striving to maintain our own artistic identities. When I look back at the massive undertaking that this is, in addition to homeschooling our kids, keeping up with their activities, and holding space for our own mental and physical health…it feels like a lot.

The beautiful part of owning the studio is that we set our schedule. Before we established the business, Nick and I sat down and made a list of things that we would not sacrifice, even if it meant slowing the success of the studio, The first thing on the list was family time. We were not willing to sacrifice being together as a family for the sake of success in business. This meant we would continue to homeschool, travel together in our camper van, and enjoy going on adventures together. With our whole lives being on our phones, this can be challenging. i have to be extremely intentional about how much I work physically in the studio, but more-so digitally on my devices. I set timers on my phone and utilize “do not disturb” features to make sure I am fully present in the non work aspects of life. The second thing on the list of things we would not sacrifice was adventure. We love hiking, backpacking, kayaking, camping, and exploring the world around us. By setting limits with the studio, we are able to fully immerse ourselves in adventure that is life giving for us. When we experience life-giving adventures, we feel more strength and motivation to keep going with our businesses. The last thing we were unwilling to give up was health. Daily yoga, breath work, running, walking, or hiking are essential to helping us balance the mental and physical load of running Make Stuff Masons and Make Studios. We have each established our personal values and values for the studio and this allows us to make decisions with clarity and purpose. Saying “No” is very hard for us but it’s allowed us to life fully and find the balance we need. We still have a lot of work to do, but it feels good to have a rubric for balancing the chaos that life can be.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Nick is a potter and I am a painter by degree. We have each changed and developed our styles overtime finding a niche in pottery specifically. Nick has honed in on a firing method that utilizes deadfall wood from our property and recycled vegetable oil from local restaurants, We use these two things as our main fuel sources for our personal ceramics.

We also teach others how to throw on the potters wheel and create unique pieces via hand building methods. This business stemmed from so many people asking us if we taught classes. We said “no” so many times that we eventually saw the demand for classes and took the chance to open a teaching studio. Being able to share our passion with others has proved to be life giving and sharpened our purpose during this brief time on earth. However, while it is life giving, the challenges have tested our patience, character, and stamina over and over again. The shear amount of work that the operational end of owning your own business entails is mind boggling. Websites, emails, social media, photographing and uploading pieces to sell, writing our own copy, taxes, marketing, licenses…the list goes on and on. This is just the digital side of things. The physical aspects include: staying up late to fire kilns, loading and unload thousands of pounds of clay and materials, teaching classes, trimming, throwing, prepping, glazing….the list is extensive. I think the biggest thing we’ve learned from the past year is that balance is essential. It’s the first thing on the to-do list. Balance enables us to stand by our mission and vision for Make Stuff Masons. Our mission is to develop artistry that is tactile, functional, and aesthetically pleasing while facilitating a studio where the community can find their creativity and separate from the noise of daily life through the craft of ceramics. We have vision that our studio helps reduces consumerism, incite creativity, and inspire adventure. Balance helps us stay true to both of these things.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Not only are we 15 minutes from the Historic Town of New Harmony, Indiana, but our small town of Mount Vernon has some cool small businesses that are helping to boost the economy. In Mount Vernon, we have a Fudgery called “Three Chicks Fudgery”, a floral shop called “The Golden Rose” and a delicious BBQ restaurant called “Hawg n’Sauce”. New Harmony is a must visit with an incredible coffee shop called “Black Lodge”. The whole town was established as an aspiring utopian society back in the early 1800’s and is filled with this history through the whole town.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We took a risk establishing a pottery studio in a small town not known for the arts, but the community has SHOWN UP! We would not be where we are without our social media following and the local community. Also, our Studio Technician Stephanie West is the life force behind our daily operations and we could NOT do what we do without her!

Website: Www.makestuffmasons.com

Instagram: @makestuffmasons

Facebook: Make Stuff Masons

Image Credits
Pounders Photography