Mid Century Inspiration Because it Looks Cool | Liz Cohen

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Liz Cohen | Episode 663

Liz Cohen first experienced working with clay while getting her undergraduate degree in Studio Art from Georgia State University. Liz moved to Denver, CO after school and has been slowly growing a small batch ceramics business outside of other full-time jobs. Liz currently works out of her home studio making functional ware with decoration inspired by mid-century modern design.

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How much does your background play into your making?

So I don’t know if it necessarily plays into the kinds of things that I am making, I think it effects my making process as far as my work ethic and my motivation and my need for perfection. Growing up my dad owned his own business and my mom worked really hard as well, they both still work very hard and they just raised all of us kids, I have two older siblings, they just raised us to be really hard workers and to give everything 100 percent. So I think that helps and helps me keep going. But it doesn’t necessarily influence the kind of work I am making. I am not a very conceptual artist. When I was in college everyone wanted you to make conceptual work and I was always like, I don’t want to do that. I just want to make stuff that looks cool and that’s fun to use and doesn’t have to have a special meaning or doesn’t have to change the world. So that is kind of what I am going for, I think , that’s kind of what I am doing.

Is it okay to make work that just has an aesthetically pleasing look, that it just looks cool. Is that okay?

I 100 percent think that. Because it’s not just about how you are trying to or if you are trying to send a message or make a difference or something like that. You have to think about yourself too. For so many artists, a lot of us are introverts and we internalize a lot of stuff and art is a way to get that out and is therapy in a way so I think it is about as much as it does for your as what it does for everyone else.

Do you find that functional work is more satisfying for you as a maker than knick knacks or sculptural or figurative?

I think for me it is. It satisfies me a bit more and there’s probably multiple reasons why that is. I like making things that other people can actually use and touch and hold and see and use every day. That’s what interests me about pottery. I know a sculpture you can look at every day but you can’t necessarily pick it up and hold it and use it and drink out of it. So the fact that you can have something that is beautiful and use it is awesome. I also think from a sustainable business standpoint I think it makes more sense for me and probably for a lot of people that are trying to grow and run a business. Just because it is more marketable for more people. The crowd that is going to buy an expensive sculpture is not as frequent as someone who wants just a mug. So I think it just makes more sense for me right now.

You have a reviews tab on your website where people can go and write a review. Why do your have the review thing up on your website? What was the motivation there?

So on Etsy it’s kind of a normal thing to have on there. Same for Google businesses and Yelp and that kind of thing. And I know that being somewhat of a new presence and definitely a new website I wanted it to help legitimize my business. Because there are so many scammers out there too, I get worried every little thing so I wanted people to see that there are actual human beings that have purchased from the shop that have been happy with their experience.

What is the plug in or the page that allows reviews to happen?

So I use Wix website builder and I have their shopping platform and it’s just an app through the Wix website. So I just I just searched the apps and searched for reviews and they have a few different options. I just found one I liked and added it in there, it was super easy actually.

Are the reviews something you can curate?

You could delete them, yeah. I don’t know if you can move them around and change the order of them but you can delete them. Which I don’t think is right. I don’t think you should be able to have that capability.

Do you have a time frame for when you would like to go full-time?

I mean, now. (laughter) But for realistic purposes, I know it’s hard with the Covid situation but I was thinking about this the other day, I am hoping, and I think it’s doable, maybe fall of 2021.