OUR STUDIO

Everyday Clay is a one-woman-run, eco-conscious pottery studio in Healesville owned and operated by Amanda Ng, also known by her artist moniker ‘Reishi’. Our studio focuses on small batch functional pottery and specialises in hand-building methods of making, which is the slow art of using our hands as the primary tool for creating something beautiful.

  • Established in a small room within a share house back in 2018, Everyday Clay was founded on the vision to celebrate and showcase the artistry of hand-building techniques, at a time when wheel throwing was rapidly gaining in popularity and interest across social media platforms.

    Our practice has since grown, expanding and creating impact in ways that we couldn’t have imagined when we first begun. Hand-building is our preferred methodology woven into all our designs. Some of our products may additionally incorporate slip casting techniques using basic moulds that we make ourselves, which has enabled us to sustainably grow our in-house production capacity without burning out.

    The slow, handmade nature of our craft is ever present in our making. All of our pieces go through many steps involving a minimum of 10 direct encounters with our own hands, to evolve clay’s raw state into durable pieces that can last a lifetime. We pride ourselves on never outsourcing our production processes, so you can trust that the commitment to quality in all our work is always ours.

    Our practice is also firmly founded on ethics and sustainability as a basis for making decisions. We reclaim leftover clay, safely process and recycle hazardous glaze waste, package with plant-based materials, and have been shipping carbon-neutral from day one.

    But we don’t just create pottery, we share what we know and love about the ceramics world with businesses and communities. Dreaming big, we embrace our mission to make the art of pottery accessible to everyone, operating as a fully-equipped mobile studio ready to host workshops anywhere in Victoria.

AMANDA REISHI

Shaping raw earth with my hands is about freedom, flexibility and slowing down. Creating each piece by hand, rather than machine, affords an extended contact with clay that deeply grounds my experience in the ever-changing present moment.

As a Creative Arts Therapist, I value all forms of artistic expression. But if I were stranded on a desert island and could only take one thing, that thing would always be clay and here’s why.

  • There are many reasons why I am drawn to this pliable, stretchy, sometimes gritty and difficult to work with material. One that comes to mind is how clay has helped me work through my perfectionisim, hardened from years of training as a former competitive dancer. Pottery honours the Japanese philosophy, wabi-sabi, of finding beauty in imperfection and impermanence. Creating with clay lets my perfectionism slip away.

    Clay also has my heart because it continues to humble me, every day. The slow pottery process of making, drying, surface decorating, firing, glazing, firing again, sanding, and polishing has taught me a great deal about patience and perseverance. I can’t rush the process, each stage of making takes time and moves at its own pace. Through this I am learning that slow is human, slow is productive, and slow is needed.

    When it comes to firing clay, there is an inherent unpredictability built into the process. No potter on this planet can ever be sure how a piece will turn out, even if they have made it a thousand times before. My kiln has been a mentor in the art of trust, letting go, welcoming nature’s role, and learning from the unexpected.

    The knowing that pottery has a value beyond its practical purpose is shaped by my formal training in psychology, disability support, and creative arts therapy. I bring my professional experience in endless amounts to my artistic and teaching practice to provide a fresh and unique take on ceramics; one that bridges the gap between therapy and fine arts practice.

    I embed an integrated wellness perspective in everything I do, from producing pottery and nurturing customer relationships, to hosting small group and large-scale workshops and events. My teaching style facilitates mindful, embodied presence to the handmade process to allow its therapeutic potential to be authentically felt, sensed and explored. Through this integration of pottery and therapeutic approaches, it is my hope to offer meaningful experiences at Everyday Clay, whether through my products or services, that bring tactile connection, inspiration and play to the mundane, the ordinary, the every day.