Behind the Scenes of a Ceramic Studio: It’s Not Just Creativity (and Sadly, Burro Doesn’t Help)

When people imagine a ceramic studio, they usually picture the same scene: hands shaping clay, soft music in the background, warm light, a calm atmosphere, creativity flowing effortlessly.

Yes, that happens.

But running a small independent pottery studio like Elisa Ceramics involves so much more than creating beautiful handmade ceramics.

When I say “so much more,” I mean I’m not just a ceramic artist. I’m also the cleaner, the accountant, the social media manager, the photographer, the shipping department, customer service… and probably a few other roles I’ve forgotten.

Oh — and I’m also Burro’s human.
Which, professionally speaking, is not particularly helpful.

The Beautiful Part: Making Handmade Ceramics

Let’s start with the romantic side: ceramic art and pottery making.

Designing new collections, testing glazes, preparing the wheel, teaching pottery classes and ceramic workshops, loading the kiln, and especially opening it, hoping everything survived 1000°C of transformation.

This is the part you see.
And it’s the part I love most.

Creating artisan ceramics takes time, research, experimentation, mistakes, more experiments… and the occasional mini heart attack when a glaze decides to do something unexpected.

The Not-So-Instagrammable Part: Cleaning, Dust, and More Cleaning

Clay is poetic.
Clay dust is less poetic.

A ceramic studio needs constant cleaning. Tables, floors, tools, buckets, shelves, the pottery wheel — every single day. Often multiple times a day.

Running a creative studio means maintaining a safe, organized space for students attending pottery classes and workshops.

And this is where Burro comes in.

Burro loves the studio.
Burro loves lying exactly where I’ve just cleaned.
Burro sheds generously.

He’s not very helpful operationally, but he’s excellent emotional support.

The Administrative Side: Invoices, Orders & Adult Responsibilities

Being an independent ceramic artist also means handling:

• Invoicing

• Quotes and custom orders

• Online shop management

• Administration

• Accounting

• Customer emails

Managing a small creative business in the world of handmade ceramics requires structure and consistency. It’s not enough to know how to center clay on a wheel — you also need to meet deadlines, track expenses, and navigate paperwork.

Spoiler: this is not the most creative part of the job.
But it’s the reason the studio can exist.

The Social Media Side: Content Creation Takes Time (A Lot of Time)

“Your job must be so relaxing — just working with clay all day!”

Well… yes. And then I work on my phone.

Running the online presence of a pottery studio involves:

• Photographing new ceramic pieces

• Filming and editing videos

• Writing blog posts

• Creating valuable content

• Answering messages

• Updating the website

Content creation for a ceramic studio can take almost as much time as making the ceramics themselves.

The difference?
Clay doesn’t ask for revisions.

Doing It All Alone (With a Dog as an Intern)

Elisa Ceramics is an independent ceramic studio and pottery workshop.

And yes — it’s just me.

I design.
I throw.
I glaze.
I clean.
I pack and ship.
I manage administration.
I plan new pottery classes and ceramic workshops.
I try to remember to drink water.

And then there’s Burro, supervising everything from his cushion.

He hasn’t mastered the pottery wheel yet.

Why It’s All Worth It

Despite the dust, the invoices, the hours spent editing videos, and the paw prints on freshly cleaned floors, I wouldn’t trade this work for anything.

Running an independent ceramic studio means building something authentic. Every piece of handmade pottery carries intention. Every workshop creates a connection. Every class brings new energy into the space.

Behind every piece of artisan ceramics, there isn’t just creativity and relaxation — there’s dedication, organization, resilience, and a lot of invisible work.

And maybe that’s exactly what makes it even more meaningful.

If you’d like to learn more about my ceramic studio, upcoming pottery classes, or explore my collection of handmade ceramics, keep following elisaceramics.com.

Burro will probably be there too. 🐾