Rising up, many people would possibly keep in mind being enrolled in golf equipment, athletic groups, or courses that didn’t captivate our curiosity. Nevertheless, when Cape Cod native, Amy Eldridge, was enrolled in a pottery class across the age of 5 by her mom, she had a way that it could be one thing she’d actually take pleasure in.

Throughout her childhood, Amy lived in Connecticut for the college 12 months and spent summers on Cape Cod. Her father was a instructor, and he or she lived on a prep-school campus together with her household till she was 9 years previous. There, she started taking neighborhood artwork courses, the place she loved honing her creative expertise by way of illustration and printmaking. She continued to pursue artwork up till school, the place she shifted focus to her research and, later, to beginning a household.

Amy started working for a marine electronics firm, C-Map, on the Cape. She grew to become immersed in fishing and boating, attending exhibits and exhibitions as a part of her job. Nevertheless, Amy’s profession wasn’t her preliminary introduction to this way of life; fishing had been in her household for a very long time earlier than her childhood summers on the Cape.

As a instructor, Amy’s father was within the Eldridge heritage, and traced their roots to settlers of Chatham, Massachusetts, lots of of years in the past. Her ancestors have been fishermen, as have been many households residing in coastal colonies across the mid- to late 1600s. In an effort to get in contact together with her ancestral roots, Amy additionally started fishing. She was within the patterns and colours of fish, appreciating them in a completely totally different trend than her fishing-fanatic brother, who most popular to fill the cooler.

Now a full-time resident of Cape Cod, Amy lives in Falmouth and has returned to her roots in pottery. She enjoys hands-on, immersive types of artwork and far of her present work consists of pottery mixed with drawing or printmaking. She describes her present items as “practical artwork,” and her physique of labor is filled with mugs, platters, and different types of pottery that convey sensible use and nautical themes collectively.

Right this moment, Amy continues her work right here on the Cape on the Meetinghouse Clay Middle, the place she has a studio. She showcases her work primarily by way of Instagram relatively than spending her time creating stock for a web-based retailer. Throughout the neighborhood, Amy participates in native artwork exhibits and occasions that convey her publicity. She is consistently creating one thing new, whether or not it’s a collection of striped bass mugs for an upcoming artwork present or a veggie-themed platter she plans to make use of for finger meals throughout household gatherings.

The pottery course of will not be a short or easy one, and Amy’s illustrations on high of the finished objects perform as a second layer of artwork, giving her work an excellent larger depth and aesthetic appreciation. She doesn’t at the moment settle for commissions as a result of she believes creativity can’t be pressured—it should happen naturally, the way in which the stripers know when to swim south.

Observe Amy on Instagram: @eldridgeceramics