Wheel on a Whim
By Olivia Bertino
Staff Writer
In an unassuming garage at the back of a property near Augustana University’s campus, a ceramicist is busy working away in her own little studio. She’s either throwing a set of mismatched bowls or decorating coasters that she’ll sell on her website. Whatever it is that she’s making, the piece is full of whimsy and balances both structural purpose and a sense of spontaneity.
Mattie Tschetter
Originally from Rapid City, S.D., Mattie Tschetter moved to Sioux Falls to attend Augustana. She knew coming in that she wanted to find a way to make ceramics her career.
“The classes were so small, and it was very hands-on with the professors,” Tschetter said. “They were very focused on each individual student. And you very much got to meet them and be around them all the time.”
It was at Augie that Tschetter began a deep dive into the world of fauvism and impressionism work. She made pieces that incorporated the more abstract styles into the physical, often functional form of ceramics.
“I’d use color blocks and different brush strokes and techniques,” Tschetter said. “Then put that onto a physical form that you hold and maybe drink out of or use.”
Tschetter graduated last spring with a BFA in art and a minor in business. That’s when she got a huge surprise from her family. Her dad gifted her a wheel and a kiln as a graduation present, but that was just the start. Both sets of her grandparents took on the task of converting the garage at the back of Tschetter’s house into a pottery studio.
“ It's just this little safe haven back there, and it's so quiet and I have all my stuff in there,” Tschetter said.
There was a lull between Tschetter graduating and her studio being finished where she wasn’t able to work on ceramics as often as she had during college. Once she was back up and running in her home studio, she was playing with clay as much as she could and testing out new styles. She developed a new process, which she combined with her history in fauvism and impressionism.
“ No thoughts, just put it on the pot, and the only process part is making the form,” Tschetter said. “Everything else of the surface decoration is very on a whim. Just put it on there.”
Some of her favorite pieces she’s working on right now are a set of mismatched bowls. A local ice cream producer, Katz Creem, commissioned her to make a total of 100 unique ceramic bowls.
“ It's the best kind of commission,” Tschetter said. “I can just do whatever I want.”
Tschetter also makes pieces that she sells on her website. A friend of hers helped her to revamp the site so she can expand her offerings and list large drops of pottery at a time.
When she’s not working on her own art, Tschetter works for Dakota Potter’s Supply either in its storefront on Madison Street or at its warehouse in Hartford, S.D.
“ I actually get a lot of experience for my own personal stuff working for them because they make me do all of the things that I would be doing myself for other people,” Tschetter said.
She also teaches classes at Mosaic on Tuesday nights, and occasionally she helps out one of her friends and former coworkers at Smudge Studios, a pottery space in Tea, S.D. That studio has inspired her to potentially open her own space someday.
“I'm not sure where that will be in the future, but I want to have another space for people to come and create and collaborate and meet new people,” Tschetter said.
Looking forward, Tschetter and her boyfriend are considering a move out of state. If that happens, she still expects to have a hybrid career where she can make and sell her own pieces while still working in the art world in another capacity.
“ I realize that I get to do this, and I'm not sitting at a desk all day.” Tschetter said. “I get to play in mud and have a way to put out my creativity into the world, and people enjoy it. The best part is people liking it and getting praise from it. That's kind of what makes it worthwhile.”