Meet Stephanie Grace

We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Grace recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

It’s a bit of running joke that I was a feral child. It was hard to keep shoes and clothes on me. I loved to run wild through woods and just be gone on my own for hours. You develop a strong sense of self, how to do things, how to get out of situations you got yourself into when you’re the only one out there and you are the only one you can rely on.

I grew up in a pretty rural part of Vermont working alongside my father in our garden, killing ducks and chickens and making dinner with him. In the summers we fished a lot and I was free to take the boat on my own, again, as a very young child. My father had no problem explaining to me how to handle a knife at a very young age and then handing me that knife. He didn’t just have me working alongside him though, he always explained the logic behind things. It was so important to him that I not only be physically capable, but that I was able to think critically, independently and problem solve.

Childhood in my family was not about entertaining us or preparing us for college. We were little humans being prepared for life on our own. It would never cross my mind that I couldn’t do something. Anything.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I spent the first 20 years of my career as an art dealer. It was something I was told repeatedly I would not have success in. I was reminded that I did not have the degree or the pedigree. Quite literally. Looking back on it now, I find it hilarious. I didn’t even understand those concepts. I could do quite literally anything.

Four years ago, I had a Great Pyrenees named Rex. My dogs are pretty much my life. Rex had become paralyzed in his back end. I got him a custom wheelie but he wouldn’t use it. We had a good thing going with me carrying his bum around!! When he was first diagnosed, I was told he would have 2-3 months to live. I looked the Vet square in the eye and said, “That’s your story, not ours.” Rex & I used to winter in Florida but about 2 years into his diagnosis and me carrying his bum around, I decided he needed to stay in Vermont where he had a chiropractor, acupuncturist and shiatsu therapist.

I, however, am NOT a winter person and knew I would need something to do to keep me from going insane. At this point, dementia had started to set in with Rex as well and his routines were very important to him. He would eat his breakfast, go outside to take care of business and then head straight for my station wagon. I had filled the back with memory foam mattresses and would keep the hatch open, driving the car around the yard to chase the sun all day. It was, in essence, Rex’s mobile kennel. Still. I needed something to do and decided to take a clay class, ONLY because the time fit into Rex’s morning routine and I could park where I could see him and attend to him as needed.

My Rexy, the love of my life, died shortly after. I thought I would never go back to the studio but found that because it was the last happy place we had together, I was drawn to be there. Working with clay got me through one of the deepest bouts of grief of my life. I couldn’t NOT make. Getting lost in the clay, in my head… it sounds so cheesy but it was my salvation.

Then things just started to happen…

As I was taking the very first piece I made out of the kiln, it was taken right out of my hands by someone who wanted to buy it. I had a friend who had a shop and I would show her things I made, she told me to leave them in the shop to sell. The first thing I left was 12 hurricane lamps. The next day she called me, they were sold out, she wanted 12 more.

I started going to the studio 30 and 40 and 50 hours a week. I was totally addicted. And the crazy part is, I had always said, I was an art dealer because I couldn’t make anything!

I think what I’m trying to say is that this wasn’t a path I chose. It unfolded in front of me. I just showed up and trusted.

I am drawn to art because of its powerful ability to connect people. The artists I met as an art dealer taught me how to see the world through many lenses.

As an artist, creating is an expression of what it means to be human.

I believe that everything has an energy. That energy transcends time and space. It is in the materials, transferred to my hands and back again into the objects I create.

I pursue making in search of meaning and as a means for creating connection.

My hope is that I can create every day objects that elevate our ordinary experiences. Work that doesn’t easily fit in boxes and breaks down barriers, broadens our definitions and crosses boundaries…

Like fine porcelain on an old beat up farm table.

Like the cashmere and Carhartts I wear most days in the studio.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Curiosity. Drive. Failure.

An innate curiosity about why things are the way they are will take you a very long way. When your need to understand outweighs your need to succeed, you will have found the sweet spot.

You have to be entirely self motivated. I don’t know how one develops that. It is an exceedingly innate character trait in me. I started running when I was 9 years old. I can look back now and tell you it was a way for me to handle stress in life. I didn’t know that back then. It led to a lifetime of running marathons and doing triathlons. I wasn’t good. But running was good for me and so I showed up every day. I had a running partner who is now my best friend in life, she would call some mornings, “Steph, it’s pouring rain, we have 20-mile hill repeat scheduled. Do you want to do it tomorrow?” And I would say, “Could be race day. We run.”

You have to be willing to fail, and fail far more times than you succeed. And fail BIG. And fail HARD. And fail OUT LOUD!!! I think in some ways, you have to be willing to allow the failure to consume you completely. I use the word “failure” because I think it’s a word people understand. But it’s not entirely accurate. Failure is not an “F” word to me. I define achievement by how much I’ve learned. And I believe it is in the “failing” that we learn the most.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

I alluded to this already by I am eternally grateful to my father for a wild and free childhood where I was allowed to be off on my own exploring, getting dirty, falling, getting up, hurting myself, getting back up and where I was taught life skills like how to clean a fish and build a fire to cook it over. I was free to chase my curiosity and that gave me an almost stubborn sense of awe and wonder about the natural world which in turn is the thing that feeds my soul entirely.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stephaniegraceceramics.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/stephaniegraceceramics

Image Credits

portrait credit: Lincoln Gap Photography