We had the good fortune of connecting with Nichole Vikdal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nichole, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
As a ceramicist who has chosen a rare art form, I’ve learned that risk is a captivating facet of life and is intricately woven into everything we do. Each choice we are faced with in a day will always have a level of risk associated with it. From small choices like deciding whether to bring a jacket when going out to contemplating the leap from a steady career to starting your own business, each option presents its own set of risks.

My personal affinity for risk stems from the realization that without it there are possibilities that will remain unexplored. Through my years of taking risks, I’ve come to understand that to increase the odds for success, risk must walk hand in hand with three other companions: work, determination, and failure. While education and foresight can minimize risk to a certain degree, the inherent possibility of failure needs to remain in the equation. This is because genuine success happens in part through the education that is gained from failure. This combination of elements transforms blind risk into educated risk. I’ve also witnessed how personalities play a pivotal role in determining one’s willingness to take risks. For myself, as a dreamer and an optimist, I especially find risk both inevitable and desirable. The ability to jump into the unknown is because of this crazy hope individuals like myself have.

This characteristic has significantly shaped who I am today. Twenty years ago, my life long love for pottery reached a crossroad where risk became the key that transformed my hobby into a career. I learned about a method that I was told was too risky to try. Crystalline glazing was only for the few and brave, it’s too risky they said. What they didn’t know was this very comment triggered my optimistic dreamer’s response: Challenge Accepted! After much research, learning from failures, and multiple attempts, I opened my kiln one morning to discover stunning crystals adorning my pottery. That was a monumental day. What other’s deemed too risky, became my triumph. A decade later, I’ve expanded this method into exquisite forms that have brought joy to people around the world—an achievement made possible only through embracing risk.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Mud is in my blood. As a young child I loved playing in it. Squishing it between my toes and feeling its grit as it slid through my fingers. Those carefree summer days in my small childhood town were spent fashioning worlds in my backyard, armed only with a hose and a pile of dirt. When I was nine years old I was walking home from school and I saw something that would change the course of my life forever. A woman was in her garage working on a potter’s wheel. I witnessed for the first time the magic that happens as she transformed a lump of clay into a beautiful pot and my young heart leaped. I vowed that I was going to try that someday. Years later, during my academic pursuits, I finally fulfilled that promise, and took a pottery class. The moment the clay glided through my fingers, I was back home playing in the mud. That semester I spent every open lab hour there I could. I had the opportunity soon after to live in Spain for a year and a half. I always kept a sketch book with me to sketch pottery I was inspired by, and my desire grew. When I returned home, and soon after married, I shared all this with Mark who recognized my great desire to get my fingers in the mud yet again. With his support I began to become a serious ceramist. I found I loved throwing pottery on the wheel, but quickly became bored by the glazes. I wanted something more. I moved from stoneware clay to porcelain clay and the first time I used it on the potter’s wheel, I thought I had died and gone to clay heaven. When I learned about the art of Crystalline Glazing I knew I had found the final piece and I dedicated the next fifteen years to learning this beautiful form. Crystalline Glazing is a process where crystals are grown in the glaze during firing, in a way similar to how geodes and gems grow in nature. It’s not a glaze that can be purchased and has to be made from scratch; therefore, is unique to each potter. Each piece needs to be fired to above 2300 degrees Fahrenheit to create the environment necessary to grow the crystals. What makes it beautiful is also what makes it so challenging. Because there is no way to predict where and how the crystals grow, each piece emerges from the kiln completely unique; however, the success rate is much lower for this glaze than others, often resulting in poor color, no crystals, or breaking under the intense heat.  And a challenge it is indeed! As I progressed in the art form, I met many people who told me how they tried it but didn’t like loosing so many pieces. I understand that frustration completely; yet, decided the loss was worth the reward. Over the years I have accumulated a graveyard of pottery failures, each piece a testament to the pursuit of this beautiful, unpredictable art form. To an artist their work is like a child, their own creation; therefore, to cope with my loss, I have a sign at my art shows that reads: “For each piece you see displayed here today, there were pieces that didn’t survive. I dedicate this show to them. May they rest in peace.”

When I started throwing pottery in the corner of my dining room all those years ago, I did not begin with the idea to sell my art and establish a name for myself. Even as I was creating my first crystals the thought never crossed my mind. I just wanted to play in the mud, and create beauty. What changed everything was the electric bill. It was creeping higher and higher each month as I increased my kiln usage. I finally realized I had to make a decision: either stop doing the art form, or find a way to pay for it. In my mind the former was not an option, which led to my first art show. Talk about the scariest moment in my life! For the first time I was putting out something I created for the world to judge. It felt equal to cutting open my body and showing the world my soul. I lost sleep. I lost hair. I lost my appetite. I put everything out on display, the show opened. And…I sold my first piece of art. Then I sold another, and another. The feeling that someone is willing to pay for something I created was incredible! I began to sell at more art shows and the earnings went right back into purchasing clay (and paying the electric bill). I now had funding to pursue my passion. I was able to buy more ingredients and create new recipes.

Two things increased at this time: the opportunities, and the challenges. Opportunities came for more shows, exposure and to meet new people. Over the years my art started finding homes in areas as far away as Norway, Turkey, New York, and France to name a few. I met people who my art inspired, and they inspired me in turn to keep creating more art. One experience in particular stands out. One of my series I’m most passionate about I call my “Dancing Ladies.” The forms are inspired by the image of women in paintings and photography captured in a frozen moment of dance or movement. There is something beautiful and alluring about this form. When I finish a successful piece, I observe it and when I see its story I title it accordingly. One particular piece I saw in it was a strong woman silently weeping. When I shared this with a lady at my show, she was moved by the beauty of the piece and its story and began to weep. She said, “now there are two women weeping.” I then began to weep at how touched she was. We both shared this beautiful moment together, all because of a piece of art I made.

Where there are opportunities, there will always be challenges. Especially when you want to be an artist; yet, the world still needs to rotate around the sun. There are the usuals: kilns break a week before the big show or electricity goes out in the middle of an important firing. Rain falls on your outdoor display or your cat decides it hates your plate and knocks it over. To add to this, I also wanted to have a family and I raised two amazing daughters which was a full time job in itself and came with its own set of challenges too long to list, yet any mother knows. There have been others too. My husband fell off the roof of a house he was working on and broke 19 bones two weeks before a big show. In his kindness he begged me to still have it, he didn’t want to be the reason why I canceled. That was a difficult show to do, but I promised him I would and with the help of family and friends we pulled it off. Through the challenge of having a family and an art career I discovered a silver lining. As a family we all helped each other achieve our goals. They supported me in my art, I supported them in their school and work. We celebrated for each other in our successes, mourned for each other in or losses, and encouraged each other in our challenges. One time I had a man come up to me during a gallery show and tell me my art was at a level where I needed to divorce my husband and leave my children if I truly want to be a successful artist. I told him he was wrong, that the very people he was telling me to leave were the entire reason I was standing there that day. Yes there are challenges when someone wants to pursue their passions; yet, I have learned that the very challenges we receive in the long run end up becoming our greatest blessings and the very key to our successes.

From the first crystal that emerged from my kiln fifteen years ago to this moment I have come so far and learned so much; however, I have only scratched the surface of the potential of this miraculous glaze. I can’t wait to see what the next years will bring.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My personal idea of a best time is when the city is far enough away to where you can only hear the distant drone of vehicles, or better yet not hear it at all. The only times I’ll face the city is when I have to go through it to get to the ocean. I am an avid hiker and kayaker. I don’t care where or what time of year as long as I’m outdoors in nature. When I can hear the crunch of the trail under my feet and smell the fresh air, that is when my mind clears and I receive my greatest inspiration for my art. I have made the desert of Southern California my home and discovered many wonderful areas. If a best friend were to visit, our first day would start with stopping at Luna Sourdough Bakery for a fresh loaf of their bread to pack in our lunch. We then spend a beautiful sunny day in Joshua Tree National Park hiking through the rocks and the unique Joshua Trees. Our evening would not be complete without quenching our hunger with a delicious sushi roll at Aki Sushi. Day two would start with a quick drive up the mountain to the small forest town of Idyllwild to hike the Ernie Maxwell Trail, and if we are feeling really adventurous that day another hike up to Tahquitz Peak. We follow this with a relaxing dinner on the patio at Ferro Restaurant where we watch the chef cook our individual pizzas in their beautiful brick pizza oven. Day three is a drive to the ferry that takes us to Catalina Island, one of my favorite places in Southern California. There we would spend our day hiking up and around the stunning town of Avalon to see the top of the island and the 360 degree views of the ocean around it. On our return to town we enjoy a Hawaiian burger right on the bay and stay in one of their cute hotels. The next morning we take kayaks down the to the shore, packed with our lunches and snorkel gear, and paddle to one of the several solitary beaches that are only accessible by kayak. We spend the afternoon snorkeling and relaxing on the beach before heading back to town. Our final day is back to the desert with a trip to historic Pioneertown. And guess what, another hike! To my favorite hike in the area, the Indian Loop Trail, with quiet canyons and an amazing view of the entire Mohave Valley. We will find ourselves wrapping up our week at Pappy and Harriets to enjoy good food and drink with live music under a blanket of stars.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wholeheartedly dedicate my journey in pottery to my husband and greatest friend, Mark Vikdal, who is the cornerstone of my success. Early in our marriage, I described my early experiences with pottery to him and expressed my hope to one day continue it. For my first birthday as my husband, he surprised me with a potter’s wheel. He quickly recognized that a corner of the dining room where I kept the wheel was insufficient for my creativity and he went on to construct a dedicated studio along with adapting the garage for my initial kiln. When I expressed my interest in pursuing Crystalline Glazing he backed me up completely, assuring me of my capabilities when I experienced doubt, and right next to me as I navigated the learning process.

Mark, whose love is in real estate, specifically renovating neglected homes, deliberately found a house for us with the potential for an expanded studio to help me advance. He tirelessly remodeled and created the exquisite space where I continue to create my art to this day. From welding frames for my fountains to maintaining my now seven kilns, he serves as my art show pit crew and unwavering cheerleader. Mark is my backbone, the love of my life; he is the reason I’ve evolved into the artist I am today.

Website: www.crystalsbynichole.com

Instagram: @crystalsbynichole

Facebook: Crystalsbynichole

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