Meet Matthew Eames

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Matthew Eames. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Matthew, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

My work ethic comes from a deep-seated drive to always do my best. From a young age, I experienced small moments of disappointment like not receiving the grade I hoped for on test or doing a project and not having it turn out exactly the way I wanted. These moments pushed me to work harder to achieve the goals I set before myself. Through trial and error, I began to experience the joy of success. That joy was infectious and I realized if I was persistent and focused I could experience the sense of joy and satisfaction on a more consistent basis.
I believe hard work has such incredible value but by it very nature is a struggle in itself. Believing in the end result and the vision behind any project makes the effort feel worthwhile, sometimes even more valuable than the final outcome. My work ethic comes from the passion I feel everyday for the things I do and the choices I make in a endless cycle of hope and perseverance.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My career began in high school with an afterschool wheel throwing session that redefined my understanding of clay. I was hooked almost immediately. I became fixated on the wheel and wanted to keep pushing myself to get better and better. Clay became an active and daily exploration that I didn’t realize was becoming a permanent part of my life.

Fast forward 25 years, I am a working artist, educator and the Operations Manager at the Carbondale Clay Center(CCC). Each of these jobs provides a different sense of fulfillment and excitement in my life. Putting them all together within an average week is something I hoped for as a young adult but wasn’t ever sure I would get the opportunity to achieve such a thing. Being able to take the passion I feel not only with clay but art as a whole and share that with others everyday is truly a privilege.

I am currently working on a few different projects between the CCC and my personal artistic career. In March, I am curating a show of artists at the international ceramics conference known as NCECA. Within this curated space, I will also have a solo exhibition of my artwork, entitled Trial and Error. As I am making parts and pieces for this show, my coworkers and I are working on a larger project to expand the Carbondale Clay Center to fulfill the growing demand and interest in the offerings this non-profit provides. This is an incredibly exciting endeavor considering the limitations we can have within our existing space. It is our intention to alleviate many of these struggles and provide more services to our entire community.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

As artists, we are an amalgamation of skills that we learn and apply to different areas in our lives. There’s a significant level of resourcefulness that has to exist for success. The ability to think quickly and creatively when times get difficult has definitely shaped my career into what it is today.

My dedication and willingness to work hard are two qualities that are often lumped together. They seem to balance each other in a way that drives our minds crazy and yet produce results that seem sometimes impossible. With them, I have pushed- and continue to push- myself to improve my skills and expand my level of knowledge.

Each of these qualities is accompanied by deep passion almost essential to support the choices an artist might make. It is our passion that guides us along the paths we take in pursuit of our goals. We are hopeful with our passion while often learning quickly that it can also lead to failures. The following decision becomes how can we keep our passion alive even if we have to pivot out of necessity.

My journey is no different than anyone else’s other than it is my own. It is unique because of how I have made choices and how I have been affected by them that brought me to where I am today.

Anyone who might be looking towards any type of career would benefit from knowing whether the path they chose is a good one. If they might weather the storm and find success in their field. I am not the first person to say it and I won’t be the last. The journey isn’t easy. If you can remember that during the difficult times then hopefully you can find the joy of traveling to your desired destination.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I have found that focusing exclusively on your strengths will only go so far before you will more than likely need to improve upon other areas in your life.

My strengths allow me to do what I am capable of every day. My weaknesses challenge me to do better in each area of my life. Sometimes we need to focus on our strengths because the opportunities they provide are incredibly important to our life goals. Sometimes we should invest in improvement in hopes that with this growth we improve ourselves as a whole and better our odds for success.

I know that I have chosen to build a career in the arts and education. Teaching others is a great way to learn more about yourself but I couldn’t have learned these things if I didn’t teach. I have been actively focusing on my mental health for several years. It is something that pushes me to work on myself and deal directly with any shortcomings in my life. It can be an incredible struggle for me each and every day. Yet I know that I am better today than I was last week or last year. My strengths still exist and are still being worked on throughout this process. This conscious duality is where I have found some of greatest life growth and better successes in my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mattheweamesceramics.com
• Instagram: mzeartist
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.eames.12/

Image Credits

Ian Edquist
Petr Wiese