Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah McNally-Kamalsky.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been a pretty habitual maker my entire life. I insisted on my mother teaching me to sew as soon as my legs were long enough to reach the sewing machine pedal. I’ve explored a lot of different art forms over the years from fiber arts to print making to watercolor and more. If you can teach it, I want to learn it.
When I was in high school, I became completely enamored with ceramics. I considered pursuing it in college, but it felt impractical for whatever that is worth. I ended up putting it to the side for a lot more years than I had planned to. It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to return to clay, but life kept getting in the way.
Time passed and I became a mom (to the best kid ever!) – when he got old enough to attend a forest kindergarten a couple days a week, I found myself with some free time. With encouragement from my sister and friends, I decided to invest that time in myself and grabbed a spot in a ceramics class at the Dougherty Arts Center and the rest, as they say, is history. I was hooked and this time I wasn’t going to neglect something I loved so much.
What started as a hobby turned into a small business and I haven’t looked back since.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think there are a lot of artists out there that would say this path is an easy one. You certainly don’t make ceramics to get rich – and as a working mom of a now almost twelve-year-old, life sometimes feels like a balancing act.
When considering my options for college (back in the 1900’s), I was accepted to a number of great art schools. It’s hard to explain to people now, but I declined them all and went to my “safety school” instead, a small college in upstate NY.
It was a disaster. I left after 3 semesters and could never quite find my footing to go back to school after that.
I look back on that time and I can see how insecure and nervous I was – how I didn’t think I was good enough to go to art school – even though I got into 3! It’s hard to think about my young self navigating those feelings and making choices that weren’t in her best interest. On the bright side, it led to a great west coast adventure involving a VW bus, love, loss, spirituality… – life found other ways to teach me the lessons I had to learn.
I recently decided to return to school and am hoping to complete my BFA and possibly go on to earn my masters in art therapy. I’m older (much older) and wiser (maybe?) now and can see that while I’m nervous to be back in school at my age… I’m excited to tackle something that has been on my mind for decades. I’m also excited for my son to see me chase a dream and work hard for something I want.
It’s no joke working, parenting and going to school all at once. I feel fortunate that I have ceramics in my life to help me feel grounded and at peace.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in functional pottery. I love the idea of art existing in our everyday spaces and being vessels for the ordinary. Mugs may be a predictable form of ceramics, but I never get tired of them. There is something there that represents the coziest aspect of life and a connection to what you consider “home”. I’m inspired greatly by the Scandinavian concepts of comfort, such as hygge and mysa.
I would say I am known for my nods to nature and magic. I grew up in mossy, pine forests and became obsessed with mushrooms and snails, two of my most common muses. I love to explore the idea of the natural world creeping into our more developed one and that mystical space that lives between the two.
I feel pretty proud that I have found my artistic voice. The confidence you feel when you put something into the world and you know it is representative of who you are – that is something I’ve only found in recent years. It’s something I feel like I’ve been searching for my whole life. It feels good.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Okay, so by nature, I’m a pretty cautious person. I’m careful and I over think just about everything. However, I feel risk is a really important part of life and something you need to embrace on whatever level you are able to. I’m never going to be someone who makes a huge decision on a whim (or jumps out of an airplane for that matter), but I do take risks and some of them have felt pretty big.
Leaving school when I did was a huge risk. I had no plans, no safety net, no next step. But, I knew I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I had to follow my gut.
Years later, I left a successful corporate career to stay home with my son. We missed my paycheck, y’all. We really did. But, the sacrifice we made was incredibly rewarding for me and beneficial to my kiddo. That experience opened me up to a whole new community (the best moms in the world live in ATX!) and eventually led me to creating nature based homeschool co-ops and then teaching at a local art school.
And here I am again, about to take a risk! I’m leaving my teaching job at the end of this semester to focus on my education. I’ll be shifting my art instruction to take place at my home studio in South Austin. I’ll be teaching private and semi-private classes in ceramics, fiber arts, printmaking and more. I’m so excited and I feel like this is the next step in my evolution.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sistermoonceramics.com , www.studiomoonatx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sistermoonceramics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sistermoonceramics/
Image Credits:
Sarah McNally-Kamalsky
