How I Found a Truth Train
Driving Creek was the net that caught me after a long period overseas; a nest for getting in touch with my creative voice. When I arrived at the residency, it’d been over a year since I’d used a pottery wheel. I’d been thinking about art a lot, but I hadn’t had the chance to make much.
One afternoon, I was peacefully making petals in The Sump, an artist studio at Driving Creek named after the massive waste oil sump that once occupied the space. The oil was collected from local garages and used to fire the big brick kiln below, a process that took two days and consumed gallons upon gallons of fuel. Copper wires once ran from The Sump down into the kiln on the lower level, connecting the two spaces like some kind of industrial ecosystem.
I’d been a train driver at DCR when it got converted into a studio before I went abroad, and I remember how the smell lingered for months. The Sump studio was built on top of another oil sump that still lies beneath it, and is made from a combination of adobe walls and wooden planks – with ceramic sculptures, paintings and trinkets lining its rugged windowsills, decorated by artists in residence that have occupied it.
So, I was there in The Sump, making a large vase adorned with clay petals as the afternoon sun streamed in through the dusty windows. When I sat back to look at what was coming out from my sculpture, I was struck by a surge of inspiration, like a lightning bolt.
A grand feeling of freedom and joy bubbled up inside me, as what I saw, at last, was that I was making exactly what I’d hoped it would be. For the first time in a long time, I felt proud of what I was creating. That moment of creative freedom made me think back on how long it had taken to get here.
For over a decade I’d been consistently art-making and, for the majority of that time, I didn’t feel very connected with my work. I had a lot of borrowed ideas – shaped by what surrounded me rather than what came from within.
When I first started drawing, my art was all about anime. That was my entry point into creativity. Later, as a Tumblr-era internet kid, I absorbed a lot of mainstream online aesthetics and trends.
In art school, my work became more complicated as I tried to fit into ideas of what I should be making, and in the mix, I absorbed the belief that pottery, as a craft, wasn’t as valued or important as other art forms. I was still unlearning that when I first came to Driving Creek in 2022, onboarded first as a pottery tutor and then later, a train driver.
Whilst I’d been overseas, things began to shift. I’d taken a break from sharing or scrolling art on social media to try and clarify what it was that I really valued making. In Spain and Morocco, I was moved by the incredible craftsmanship I saw everywhere – pattern and intricate detail, in the streets, in sculpture, on doors, plaques, buildings, and furniture, made with devotion, skill, and cultural depth. I’d moved to the Iberian Peninsula for a relationship, and although that didn’t pan out, I’d instead rediscovered this part of myself – a way to honour the maker who values skill, the handmade, and the beauty of craft itself.
Finally landing back into art-making, I was filled with a playful, joyful character, and my clay sculpture was mirroring that aliveness. I got up to find Rosy and Rich, two other resident artists, eager to share what my mind had just opened up to. I told them that, having experienced this euphoria, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t want to do anything else but develop my creative language. “That’s the artist’s curse”, said Rich, with a smile.
In that moment, I realised that the pure joy of creating something alive and true meant far more to me than any external reward or recognition ever could.
My artwork is a map of all the things I have been, and the journey that I am still on. I feel relief in no longer pressuring something I love to be something other than what it naturally is. There is so much reward from creating work that honestly reflects my inner world. Through sculpting, I become.
I think that after many years wondering what the ‘right’ thing is to pursue, my heart has recognised what was always meant to be fulfilling. Without a doubt, Driving Creek has, over the years, been a foundational part of my journey, giving me the time, space and network to rediscover my joy for making.
I am excited by the depth I could take this, by dedicating myself further to artistry. My grounding guide now is simply to continue to give myself the opportunity to make high-quality artwork that’s connected to being authentic, expressive, and true to me.
bestpotterintheworld.com
bestpotterintheworld@gmail.com
Instagram: @bestpotterintheworld
Words by Madison North Cowper
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