From Pencil to Clay: Agnes BR's Creative Journey

Today I'm happy to host Agnes BR, a Vilnius-based ceramics artist, here on the blog. She's sharing her journey from finance to ceramics, and the story behind her studio and work.

I came to ceramics unexpectedly, when I took my daughter to her first pottery class. After graduating in finance and economics, I realised that office work wasn't for me. I had always been very interested in jewellery and drawing in small formats.

My teacher, the renowned ceramic artist V. Juškaitė, saw potential in me, gave me some clay and said: "Try drawing." And so, little by little, drawing found its way into ceramics. Working with gold to decorate my pieces is also a kind of reference to jewellery, which I had once dreamed of creating.

When I'm not drawing on ceramics, I draw on paper. I love working with details and hiding small elements within my drawings. This is how stories emerge within a single image — when the viewer discovers those details, they can create their own story and interpretation. I draw postcards as well as larger pencil drawings, and I have even held an exhibition of these works.

I like it when creativity comes from the heart. I don't want to plan everything in advance — sometimes I draw, shape something and simply let the work unfold on its own. My pieces often emerge quite unexpectedly, and music is a great source of inspiration. My favourite collection, "El Mar," was born while listening to ZZ Top — a collection about the sea and freedom. It has since found admirers in Italy, the US and France.

Imperfection is important to me. Ceramics remind me that clay is part of nature, it isn't perfect, and its irregularities are what give a piece its charm. I no longer strive to create perfectly symmetrical vessels; I deliberately leave the marks of my hands. At the same time, I can happily spend hours working on a drawing where every single fish scale needs to be painted. I think this attention to detail is something that connects my drawings and my ceramics.

The place where I create also inspires and challenges me. My studio is located in one of the buildings of the J. Tiškevičius manor complex in Trakų Vokė, where I am an artist-in-residence. The surroundings constantly remind me of elegance and subtlety. Perhaps that is why people are sometimes surprised that my ceramic studio is not quite a typical one: you are greeted by the scent of incense, an old piano and conversation. The pieces need to be "tried on" :)

Sometimes clients come to create an entire tableware collection; sometimes they leave with nothing more than an idea for a single cup, which may take several weeks to bring to life. But these objects eventually become part of the rituals of the table. To slow down, to enjoy, to experience — that is my philosophy of the table and of tableware.