Spotlight: Summer Brendlinger, Ceramic Artist

Summer Brendlinger found her way back to clay after years away, and it feels a little like coming home. Her pottery is made to be useful, beautiful, and part of everyday life, with each piece carrying a sense of warmth, history, and joy. In this interview, Summer shares how slowing down and making for herself helped her find her creative voice.

Do you remember the first time you worked with clay?

I absolutely do! I was 14 and took a ceramics class in high school. I was hooked from the first time!

What was it about that experience that made you want to come back?

I came back because of the challenge and because I felt like my life as a creator so far was building up to this medium. I loved to make things, but I always wanted to make things that had a purpose. With functional ceramics, my desire to make and desire to have the things I make useful in others’ lives blended so well.

What did clay give you that you weren’t finding in other creative activities?

I believe it was that I could make something that I could use in my day-to-day life. Useful art!

You stepped away from clay for a number of years while you were teaching. What did you miss about it? And what did you come to understand about yourself while you were away?

I missed the peace that working with clay gave me. It is meditative and relaxing. I also missed being creative with a medium that felt like working with a long-lost friend.

During my time away from clay, I started sewing (less big machines to make it work) and loved that outlet while I had to pause on clay, but once I did make it back to clay, I felt like my soul was home.

Was returning to clay simply about getting back to something you loved, or did it feel like finding a part of yourself that had been waiting for you?

I think a little of both. I love it. It is a part of me. Getting back to clay felt necessary and essential for my mental health and for helping me move through this world authentically.

Your work includes functional pottery, but each piece has its own personality through shape, texture, color and surface design. When did you begin to feel that your work was becoming distinctly yours?

Honestly, very recently (the last three years or so). It has taken A LONG time to find my particular voice. I often get so excited by new techniques and trying new things that I would start down a path of authenticity in my work but would quickly pivot into something else that felt like fun.

I believe all of those pivots helped me find my creative voice.

How would you describe the qualities that make a piece feel like a “Summer Brendlinger” piece?

It feels like home, like a little bit of our past, the connections to our history, like an heirloom that has been lovingly passed down.

My work weaves its way into the lives of those who own it and their day becomes embraced by moments of using their pottery in mindful and loving ways. (I hope that makes sense…it’s my take on what I hear from many of my customers)

Is there a piece you have made that taught you something important about your own creative voice?

I think all of my pieces teach me something about my creative voice.

I think, in a way, coming back to my work and discovering a little bit of detail that I had forgotten was painted during a painting session reminds me that I am in the flow when I work and that flow creates things that even amaze and tickle me when I come back and discover them again.

Take us inside your studio. What does a typical day of making look like for you?

Well, there are so many processes to making with clay, but most of my days in the studio start with a walk first…I walk in the mornings to clear my head and energize for the day. Then, once in the studio, I will put on some music, a podcast, or an audiobook. Then, I light my favorite incense, and I take a deep breath.

Sinking into my space gives me the energy I need to create with intention.

Most of your work is made on the wheel, but you also enjoy hand building. What do you love about each process, and when does one feel right instead of the other?

Both are such fantastic ways of working with clay and each have a time and a place in my studio.

I love throwing because it is so immersive. I cannot think of anything else when I am throwing. This is the most meditative space in the whole process for me. I love how just a light touch can deeply alter the way a thrown vessel will look. I love the throw rings that pile up the side of the vessel when I pull, and I love feeling the clay fall into center. It really is like magic!

But, in contrast, handbuilding allows me to play a little more, to view a slab as something entirely different as I work with it. My vision changes, additions are made, clay is taken away. It’s slow and steady with handbuilding.

And, to contrast the two, handbuilding has a certain handmade quality to it that is harder to achieve on the wheel- not impossible, just harder. One uses a machine, and one primarily uses just my two hands.

Do you have a favorite part of the pottery process: preparing the clay, throwing, trimming, decorating, glazing, loading the kiln, or opening the kiln? Why?

Throwing, hands down! I love throwing the most. I believe I love it the most because it is the most meditative. But honestly, after all of these years, I have learned to love each and every stage for the challenges and beauty they offer.

Have you ever had a piece come out of the kiln completely different from what you expected, only to realize you liked the surprise?

Yes, recently even. I mixed up a glaze that I LOVE, and while I was making the glaze, I used an ingredient that was labeled the same as the ingredient I needed, but it was different in color.

I researched it and found it should be fine…should be…, but when I pulled my tester out of the kiln, instead of creamy white, I had glossy green! I was shocked and then happily surprised. It was a happy accident!

Your philosophy is about creating handmade objects that bring beauty and joy into everyday life. Has your idea of what makes a meaningful life changed as your creative practice has grown?

I think my idea of a meaningful life has changed with my growth and experience in life in general.

I find more beauty in the small moments, the daily tasks, and the slowness of appreciation. I always felt this way, but as I age, I feel them more deeply, and they become more meaningful for me.

Where maybe I quickly made a cup of tea, enjoying the mug I was making it in…I now slow down and mindfully choose my mug, pay attention to the box that holds my tea and the spoon I scoop it with, while also appreciating the bowl I choose to make my oatmeal.

Pottery is infused into every step of my day.

You have talked about choosing passion over production. What does that mean to you in practical, everyday terms?

For me, when I tried to be a production potter, I quickly lost my love of the art. I was successful, shipping mugs all over the country to be sold in some really amazing stores, but going to the studio became a chore, something I was trying to avoid. I did not like living this way.

So, passion over production, to me, means that I make because I love it. I make to sell, but not as a bottom line. I make for me, and I hope that others will see the beauty I see in my work and want to welcome my art into their homes…and guess what I am realizing as I type this…the timing of me realizing this and finding my own voice are directly linked! Ding ding…making for myself helped me find my voice!

How do you protect the part of making that is joyful when your creative work also becomes your business?

Look at the answer above. And I quit taking specific, detailed custom orders because it was difficult to make those orders as passionately as I make my other work. Also, having a part time job that pays well and a SUPER SUPPORTIVE husband helps me protect my creativity and passion.

What does working with your hands give you that thinking, talking, teaching or even looking at art cannot give you?

An incredibly immersive experience, and I can pour my soul into my work, knowing it will find a home that values it.

Do you ever wonder where one of your mugs, bowls or other pieces will end up years from now, or who might hold it after you are no longer the person who made it?

Oh yes, I do, and I am lucky enough to even hear about their journeys from time to time. I see my work in friends’ homes, work from decades ago, and I love knowing that it is standing the test of time.