At Home with Katie of It's Ok Clay

Hello! It’s been a while since our last At Home feature, but I’m excited to share this one today with clay icon Katie Maciocha of It’s Ok Clay. Katie and I met a few years ago through the DC arts scene when she was just starting to explore clay. Now she’s a full blown ceramic artist with a collection of work that keeps evolving and awing me. Get to know her, her home studio, and more in this feature, and come visit the studio this Saturday to see her work in real life during Clay Festival at the Arts Walk!

Who are you / what do you do / why?

Hello! I'm Katie Maciocha, the ceramic artist behind the pottery brand It's OK Clay. I make functional and wearable pieces meant to be used every day. I'm one of those minimalist lovers with maximalist tendencies. I'm drawn to beautiful, austere, black and white spaces and design my pieces to be an unassuming focal point of the room. I also make a ton of statement earrings. They're too meant to work with a pair of faded black jeans and a white t-shirt. It's all about the pop in the room, or on the body.

What inspires your work?

I am a fanatic of modernism, specifically abstraction, which is where I find my inspiration. My work is handmade, mainly on a pottery wheel, though I also enjoy handbuilding and slip casting. Generally, I make severe shapes and angles, then using that as my canvas, I hand-paint each piece.

How has home changed and evolved over the last year and a half?

Oh dear, thank you for asking! I had a shared studio space in Northeast Washington, DC that I treasured, though I had been outgrowing it for sometime. Pottery is my main job so when everything shut down in March 2020, I was in a bind. I decided to turn my house's sunroom into a pottery studio. It's right off of my living room, so it is in the heart of the home. It's mostly been incredible because I actually have more space to spread out to create, with additional space for a small gallery of my collections. I am such a visual person that I need to have my works in progress along with finished pieces out and visible so I can constantly tweak, edit and improve. Also with my studio being right at my fingertips I tend to work morning, noon and night. That of course has its downside because it's hard to separate work from relaxing. I am a huge extrovert and learn so much from being around others. I miss collaborating in-person. As we march our way out of the state of things, I do hope to partially move back to a shared space, but I am still figuring out how to do that with my production schedule.

Does your pottery find its way into your daily rituals?

My work, along with the creations of my dearest potter friends surround me at all times. Specifically mugs, wine vessels, beer steins, toothbrush cups, match strikers, and a different pair of earrings for each day of the week! I have two elementary aged children, a cat and a dog. I make my work to be used constantly! I like to tell everyone that everything that I sell has been tested hard, washed a million times and worn before I make it for the public. All this testing has taught the family that nothing is truly infinite and therefore all objects and things should be treated with care.

What are you looking forward to / appreciating more these days?

I've gained a deeper appreciation for the outdoors. I've always been fond of hiking, but the last year and a half has shown how beneficial it is to be outside as much as possible. I've never been an extreme exercise addict, but I started going on hikes as much as five times a week and I feel like a new person! As cliché as it sounds, fresh air and nature do wonders on the soul. I am also grateful that my children are back at in-person school! We are a house of extroverts and have rediscovered the cherished joy of being around new people. Going forward, I am eager to travel and participate in more art shows. I just adore meeting and connecting to the people who collect my work.

Thanks so much for sharing, Katie! Come see Katie’s work in person at Clay Festival, Saturday, September 25th at the Brookland Arts Walk! You can also follow her on Instagram for all the good clay vibes.