My vocational journey has had many creative stages. Since childhood, I’ve known that craftsmanship and aesthetics were vehicles for expression and brought me a great deal of joy. I studied graphic design in college, but never actually worked in this field. During my studies, I worked in this beautiful patisserie as a barista which eventually led to becoming a pastry chef, over the course of 6 years. That time came to a close with motherhood, particularly because I wasn’t passionate enough about making sweets. Being both a baker and mother wasn’t gonna work for me, but I adored working with my hands.

As I reconsidered my career I decided to combine my love for photography, with my experience in the professional kitchen and started working as a food stylist (before instagram, if you can imagine). It was so satisfying to create a small world of aesthetics for a photoshoot and I learned a lot working with professional photographers.

To make a long story short, in 2016 my husband was relocated by his work to California, so we packed up our Israeli life and 2 kids for an adventure. Making a new life, in a new place became the mission.

After a year of getting more comfortable with the culture here, I realized I had the option to jump for my dream of becoming a ceramicist. I took 4 semesters of ceramics courses at Saddleback college and realized how much there was to learn.

I started Feelceramics 2 years ago, and feel like I’ve finally arrived home. I’m so grateful for the ability to do what I love every day, and for the amazing material clay is, allowing me to express my passion for the little details in life that I find so beautiful.

Goodness, I find inspiration in so many things. I love photography, and it’s always inspired me. Truthfully inspiration can be everywhere. From a beautiful architectural space, to the ornate details of a wooden chair, a ray of light on a branch, garden fresh ingredients, a combination of textures and forms in nature, and so on. One of my biggest inspirational experiences lately was visiting Casa Luis Barragan in Mexico City. I still carrying the impressions of this amazing space with me, especially it’s huge window that overlooks his wild garden. Those kinds of moments fill me up for a long time.

After journeying through other fields and being a mom for 10 years, it felt like the best time to turn my passion into a business. In the beginning, I realized how much there was to learn and that it’d be more beneficial to stay focused on creating specific objects while learning from the process. My love for photography gave me an eye for composition and ability to frame my work, which helped in attracting an online audience. Maybe because of my age, I had the patience and the understanding that everything takes time and that not everybody will like what I do and that’s ok. I guess there really is some good in getting older (:

There’s so many things to be done in a pottery studio. From cleaning to reclaiming clay, making glazes, and so on. Every day begins with getting into the studio and taking a moment to plan the day. Most days cover me head to toe muddy smears, which I love. Pottery is a very slow craftsmanship that requires many steps, between them the clay needs time and I need patience. The process begins with wedging, weighing the clay, throwing, trimming, bisque firing, glazing, glaze firing, taking and sending photos, editing photos, uploading them to the internet, ends with packaging, all to start the process again. There are certainly some marketing steps to do in-between, and time to stop and plan ahead for what I’d like to create next.

To be honest, I don’t have any daily rituals besides opening my big bedroom window every morning. This window opens to a beautiful tree that changes according to the seasons. I do have a weekly ritual of making homemade sourdough bread, I’ve done it for years, and it’s become a true pleasure. I’ve found that cooking and baking share similarities to the joy of clay, and cherish spending time in the kitchen making things my family loves and appreciates.