Meet Daniel Dooreck | Potter

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

Hi Daniel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I first moved to Los Angeles beginning of 2021. I grew up in Santa Barbara where my parents live now, but really had no connections or idea of what LA like, only the tourist idea of Santa Monica and Venice. I have an entire history in working in restaurants and focusing in wine – I started it mid way through University in Montreal and stuck with it for almost a decade. Eventually I opened a small restaurant in toronto, but through Covid and classic partnership issues I split my ties and did strategic retreat to LA. My first few jobs in LA were within wine and food, all through connections I made. Truthfully they weren’t bad, the pay was fair and I held some nice positions at solid places here. But the main reason why I was falling in love with LA, being the nature, travel and leisure stuff, was totally lost with the intense hours of the restaurant industry. So many of my friends were freelance and just living their lives at their own accord, and that seemed so appealing. Long story short, I was doing ceramics for fun the entire time. I eventually found an apartment in echo park with a fairly decent sized garage I initially intended to be a workshop to teach myself how to rebuild motorcycles. That never happened, obviously, because quickly I did a very haphazard ceramics sale on my instagram, at the time only to my fiends and some immediate connections to them. Unknowingly, I sold about 25 vases. I grossed 3000$ and my dumbass didn’t know how to ship anything so it cost me 700$ via USPS. I used my moms credit card at the time and regrettable didn’t pay her back yet I admit haha. That week, with the advice of some of my close friends, I quite my job and launched my brand. I hired my friend Bianca in Toronto to design my logos and stickers and website. I was introduced to a friend of a friend and they were serendipitously opening a retail store in Toronto the following month so I luckily picked up my first wholesale client before I even had a website. I didn’t know anything. Nothing. I didn’t understand shipping, my products, line sheets, or what wholesale pricing even is. I had to learn quickly. The company name “mud shop” was originally a joke. It was a play on old motorcycle shops like “chop shop” or something. I thought it was funny. And I always played with the irony that clay is just mud, nothing more nothing less. It introduced a sense of humility into my work. The carving and illustration that people associate with my works and style actually came relatively recent. I think I carved my first piece December 2021. It was a massively tall vase with a cowboy and a cactus. It took me hours, I had no idea what I was doing. At the time I was really good at throwing vases on the wheel, that’s pretty much all I had. I also worked really hard. This was March 2022. It’s now may 2023, about 13 months into my business. I now have 11 wholesale clients, looking to soon acquire 2-3 more this summer. I own two kilns, one was given to me for free. I’m doing brand collaborations and installations now, on top of attempting to keep a stocked website, custom order fulfillment, and commit to wholesale clients. It’s hard, I’ve never worked so hard in my life, held so much stress but felt so rewarded and fulfilled at the same time.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a potter based in East LA in Echo Park. I exclusively focus on wheel thrown pieces, and put carved illustrations on them. Everything is hand done. I use a variety of underglaze paints to highlight the carving, and clear glaze to seal it and make it food safe or water-tight. What sets my work apart is the fun nature of the illustrations themselves, and the textural components as well. Each carving has different depth and ridges that are exposed in the finished piece.

The journey to where my business is now has been difficult and a battle, but I’ve been supported by the best type of people, clientele and businesses that believe in my work. Back breaking work, long hours and just sticking to what I love stylistically shot me forward.

The readers of this should know that each piece is made by me or touched by me in some way. I work out of a dusty garage with no plumbing or heat, and every piece comes with it’s own story and character. Nothing is the same, and that’s what is artisanal about it. People that invest and purchase know that someone cared about the piece they receive

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A few places I love are Dunsmoor in Glasell Park, Woon, El Prado, Stir Crazy in Mid City, and All Time in Los Feliz.

I love wine and a easy beer. Nothing too fancy or flashy, just somewhere to hang and talk shit and laugh. My good friend just opened up Stir Crazy in mid city and it’s a small bistro focusing on curated wine and cafe culture. The food is great considering their kitchen is the size of a bathroom.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shoutout my good friend Jackie Beale, Brian Chorski, and Jacob Ogden. They are all amazing photographers. Jedediah Jenkins as well for supporting me and giving amazing advice. I have the best clientele in the world, I’ll always commit to that statement. They all have patience and true appreciation for my art, I’ll never get over it

Website: Dannydsmudshop@gmail.com

Instagram: Dannydsmudshop

Other: Tik tok : Dannydsmudshop