“Every artist does something more than copy Nature; more comes out in [the] account than goes into the original experience." ― John Burroughs
Mother Nature is the original muse. When inspiration struck the first artists, it wasn’t love or sadness that moved them. It was awe. Pure wonder felt when feeling the connection between the wide world without and the universe within. To explore one or the other is a joy of life. To pursue both is close to nirvana.
Painter, poet and potter all know this to be true. How many strokes of brush and pen have paid tribute to the world’s natural splendor? How many statues of sylvan deities have been carved? The awesome power of nature is that of creation, one artists borrow to manifest their own vision. For Cheyenne Mallo, the creative mind behind Cheyenne Mallo Pottery, the Earth itself is both muse and medium.
“Our pottery features topographic maps of hiking trails, mountains and rivers. We like that they can serve as a reminder for an adventure someone has been on or an outdoor experience they’ve had that was significant. To remind them of this special place.”
Artistic Inspiration
The artist’s path is invariably one of discovery. Exploring the vision of our mind’s eye in order to share it with the world is a journey. Some find their voice early on, surrounded by familiar places and faces. Others must range wider. They temper themselves as they experiment with modes of expression. Cheyenne’s artistic odyssey began as an undergraduate student in her home state of Wisconsin.
“Early I was just a broad area art major, so I did a little bit of everything. It was a couple semesters of ceramics, a couple semesters of drawing, a couple semesters of glassblowing. We had a really robust art department. Clay was something I loved and just kept doing it every semester,” Cheyenne recalls, sitting in her upstate New York garden. “Before I was a potter, I was more interested in a career in printmaking.”
Through her printmaker studies, the budding artist found passion at the intersection of art and craft. Cheyenne was drawn to, “the nerdy, hands-on kind of printmaking.” Taking particular pride in her etching and intaglio processes, the idea of making something that would, in turn, be used to create something else appealed to her. To ignite a cycle of creation.
“I feel like I’m the most satisfied in life when I can create something. That draw to make a thing. And, I really enjoy ceramics because you can make something that’s functional, that you can use.”
This desire to create functional art was the genesis of Cheyenne’s magnus opus.
“I guess you would consider this an intentionally developed body of work,” she says of her cartography-themed pottery line. “I found this internship through Women’s Studio [Women’s Studio Workshop; Rosendale, NY] that was a little different. It was more hands-on and they also had a ceramics studio. So, it was like, ‘Let’s just move to New York! Why not!?’”
Like countless artists before her, a change of scene stoked Cheyenne’s creative fires. New friends and new worlds to explore provided the seed for the vision she carries today.
“When I was interning at Women’s Studio, they had a really robust ceramics community that was very supportive. The new ceramics studio manager [WSW ceramics studio manager, Ruth McKinney Burket] started her job there the same exact time I was starting my internship. I just felt really empowered by the community to really explore that aspect of it a little more.”
Bolstered with confidence lent by her WSW mentor, all Cheyenne needed was a subject. A closer look at her new home in upstate New York was all the inspiration she would need. Already an avid outdoor explorer, the rugged Catskills location offered a landscape very different from the rolling hills of Cheyenne’s native midwest. As is often the case, a fresh perspective was the key to unlocking inner pathways.
“I just fell in love with the area, the topography,” Cheyenne says of moving to the Catskill mountains. Then, artistic epiphany. “I had this, like, ‘Oh!’ moment. ‘What if I put the hike I just did on my pot?’. It looked really different at the beginning but that was the inspiration.”
Feats of Engineering
Artists and engineers are kindred spirits. They share the common dilemma of how to manifest their vision. How to make real what exists, at first, solely in their own imagination. Surmounting this challenge is what compels them to create monuments and masterpieces. Even for the prodigious, though, skill and talent aren’t enough. Just as in nature, time and change are key ingredients of creation.
“I originally started designing this line around 2013,” Cheyenne says of her first days working on the project. “I had a separate body of work I was developing that looked wildly different. This felt a little bit more true to my nature.”
Tinkering and experimenting with techniques is the artist’s way. Even in printmaking or pottery, where consistency is key, each project is unique. Designing pieces that are both beautiful and functional is art and engineering in harmony. Using her ceramics as a canvas for maps influenced Cheyenne from the beginning.
“Our pots are very simple forms. They’re really just a vessel for a surface design to go on to. A surface design is very printerly.”
“There is deciding which topographic lines to incorporate. Which ones to not incorporate. What's gonna look good at the line. There is an artistry to it. We have an aesthetic we're going for,” Cheyenne says of the raised cartographic designs. “The Devil's Path is one of our big maps and we put it on a lot of pieces.”
A decade after her inspiration, Cheyenne finds herself throwing clay full time to keep up with demand for her work. As a result, she’s no longer a one woman show. Her partner, Zac Schiff, began working in the studio as a helping hand for the 2018 holiday rush. They’ve worked together since. Being a novice potter didn’t deter Zac from embracing a challenge of his own. “I was totally uninvolved in the art world before I met Cheyenne,” he reminisces, “So, she was really my inroad.”
Now, five years later, the pottery line that bears Cheyenne’s name is a truly joint effort, “It really does take both of us now. Each piece that comes out of the studio, we both had some hand in creating.”
The cooperative spirit goes beyond working materials. Zac and Cheyenne both conceive of new pieces to go alongside their most popular items like mugs, bowls and dishes. Crazy ideas are apt to form where chemistry meets collaboration. When the mixture is just right, creativity abounds.
“The pieces that we dream up, always end up being a challenge. ‘Okay, so there's some really technical component that's new. This would be really cool if we did that.’ You need to learn something new in order to make that progress. You kinda learn about yourself as you're learning how to conquer it.”
With learning comes frustration. Figuring out how to design for functional appeal presents its own challenges.
“Butter dishes were hard,” Cheyenne remembers. “You have the tray and then you have the top. It feels like anything with a top is really challenging. We don't make that much stuff that has two pieces involved,” she laughs.
Not every idea makes it to the kiln. And those that do don’t always find a home outside Cheyenne and Zac’s Olivebridge, New York studio.
“I cannot throw a pitcher that pours well to save my life. That's, like, my future end goal, before I retire,” jokes the potter. “With things that pour, you can make it pour just fine, but when you tip it back, you'll often get like just a little, tiny dribble. If you can make the liquid jump back up into it, not dribble a little...that's it.”
In the end, it’s those small details that are the hallmark of fine craft. To create something that functions precisely as intended, as effortlessly as nature herself. It’s here the artist and the engineer become one.
“We never thought of it as engineering, but I think a lot of what you do is trying to solve a problem with materials. I guess you'd call that engineering.”
A Crafter’s Life
Turning a block of clay into a mug or a dish requires creative talent. Making a living from the same requires something different; a crafter’s skill. An overlooked aspect of Cheyenne’s design process is the need for replication. From craft shows to online sales, quality and consistency of the final product is key. “Between ceramics and print, the idea of making multiples is very cohesive,” she says of her journey as an artisan. Cheyenne’s personal blend of techniques means each piece is as unique as the landscape that inspired it.
The mandate for mass production means there’s a balance between stoking the creative fires and using that same energy to turn out pots by the dozen. “The ideal batch of a mug, for example, is six to twelve. That's when it's fun,” Cheyenne laughs. “That's rare though. Usually it's throwing and trimming more than that. It's usually more like 20 to 30 mugs.”
Crafting ceramics by the kiln load is where Cheyenne and Zac’s teamwork shines. She does most of the potter’s work; wedging (kneading) the clay to make it workable, throwing (shaping) the pieces and trimming the final forms. Zac works on extruding mug handles and etching map designs onto each piece.
A few special touches complete the signature style. Contours etched from the map design are traced in black slip, liquefied clay with coloring added. Different colors of slip are used as accents. Blue glaze fills bodies of water. Each element is designed to withstand multiple rounds of firing, glazing and sanding. Including a neat detail which brings full circle Cheyenne’s journey from Midwest printmaker to upstate New York potter.
“We are, actually, silk screen printing the location labels on our pots,” says Cheyenne. “We have handmade black ink that we use. It's made from ceramic material. So when it goes in the kiln, it stays on the piece, it doesn't just burn off. Normal ink would just disappear. And the recipe we're using is actually developed by the ceramics studio manager for Women's Studio.”
When Cheyenne and Zac showcase their wares at New York fairs and expos all over, it’s easy to see the skill and creativity at work. It’s hard not to find a piece that resonates with you in some way. It’s easy to forget this batch of mugs took a week to make. It’s harder to see what Cheyenne and Zac have really created with that time; a life worth living.
“It's not about making a lot of money,” they say of their ceramic making routine. “It allows us to have a lifestyle we can really enjoy living now instead of squirreling it away till we retire and waiting.”
It seems fitting, then, the two use the humblest of ingredients to craft their livelihoods. Earth, water, air and fire are all that’s needed.
“We're not living a luxurious lifestyle, you know. We're not raking in the money, as it were. But we like the balance we've found between working for ourselves, doing something we enjoy and being able to work creatively.”
The creative urge is human nature. Lucky are those whose talent allows them to pursue that need with vigor. Luckier still are those who find fulfillment in that daily work. Artist, engineer or any scope of occupation are all afforded the same opportunity. To learn from today. To take another step along the path. To be both the sculptor and the clay. To be an intentionally developed body of work.
Cheyenne Mallo Pottery is located in Olivebridge, NY. Their wares can be found on Instagram @cheyennemallo, online at cheyennemallo.com and on Etsy!
