No two weeks look the same to Shelley Brigit, a diversity the Dunedin artist enjoys. She talks to Ruby Shaw about the passion project which became a fulltime job.
Shelley Brigit’s projects are reliably varied.
Most of the Dunedin artist’s ceramic or pottery pieces are made on commission and if approached with a request she’s never done before, "I’ll usually give it a go", she says.
"It’s definitely not monotonous in any way."
Her major was electric art — multimedia displays incorporating projection, light installations and video.
"After art school I didn’t make anything for quite a few years," Brigit says.
"I was living in London and I did a hobby, wheel throwing pottery class with a few friends after work and got kind of interested again."
She returned to Dunedin in 2020 and, with an old kiln and a wheel borrowed from a friend, set up a pottery studio at home.
"[I was] looking for something creative to do while the world had gone a bit ... mad with the pandemic.
"[I] kind of got addicted to the hobby really."
Although the studio was initially for her "own amusement", Brigit produced enough pieces she decided to start finding homes for them.
Soon, people were approaching her to make items for cafes or shops.
It is now a fulltime job for her.
Her eponymous business Shelley Brigit Ceramics is run out of her home studio in North East Valley.
Her handmade pieces are sold online and at markets, and most are made on commission.
She works in cycles of throwing, glazing or business administration and has also run private lessons from her studio.
Brigit’s favourite part is the freedom the job brings.
"A lot of creative freedom, and setting my own schedule.
"Being able to try new things — it’s never the same."
She largely makes domestic items or tableware but says she likes to try new things and enjoys making sculptural pieces given the opportunity.
"One week you might make 50 plates for a cafe or a restaurant.
"And then another week it might be soap dishes or big vases.
"I definitely don’t aim for a target quantity in a consistent way but that’s what makes it fun".
The process of making a piece — from shaping it on the wheel to its final firing — can take about a month.
