belarteSTUDIO x Fanny Schultz
Meet Ceramicist Fanny Schultz
What have you been doing lately?
We are currently undergoing a major move from Stockholm to our house in the country in Sörmland, so lately I have mostly been busy with planning around it. In my working life, I work on a new collection that will be released this early summer, where I focused more on color and details but also more utility goods than I did before.
When and how did you become interested in clay and ceramics?
I went to an art school a long time ago where I learned all the basics of ceramics where a seed was probably sown. It was so exciting that the material was transformed from the wet clay into an object that was so different from the original shape. The process is exciting and created a curiosity that became difficult to stop. But it was only a few years later when I started sculpting and buil- ding in clay that I found the passion, it was a technique that suited me. Then I knew that this is a creative form that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The passion to create in clay establis- hed itself in me during the summer of 2018 when I was pregnant with my first daughter. Bored and overheated, I bought a large lump of stoneware clay with me and went out to our summer croft. That's how it started.
What do you think about the wallpapers, the new collection and our collaboration?
I think it is a very exciting combination. At first, I had a hard time imagining what it would be like at the beginning of the process and was a little worried that it would feel unnatural. I'm always looking for a kind of obviousness when I create, but I have to say that when I saw the test prints, I felt the opposite - that it was two melodies that worked very well together. I rarely feel that way about something I myself have been involved in and created, so it feels so incredibly fun to have had the opportunity to develop a wallpaper pattern. I think they feel luxurious and playful where they will fit into a home with natural materials such as stone, solid wood objects and soft natural fabrics.
Where do you find your inspiration?
The most difficult question but also the one you usually get in my profession. Short answer is that I do not know! But probably by working, daring to fail and constantly brainstorming ideas. I can see a color combination on type a cap that I get the urge to pick into my work. So, yes, by being aware of your surroundings and kind of knowing what you want to do, the inspiration can appear a little bit anywhere.
What do you use for different techniques and what are these called?
In clay, I sculpt and build the most. I often combine different clays and think they are most beautiful in their original nature. In this collaboration, all clays are raw burnt and I have only burned them without any glazing except a transparent one on a pattern.
What are your best tips for matching your works? How do you work fit in different homes?
I try not to think it like that. Each person and each home is unique and has different conditions. I try to create works and goods that will evoke warm feelings, pieces that should be shown and granted, that comes along even when you move homes and goods that do not stow away when the trend is over. I hope that my passion for each handmade item transferres to the person who buys it, even if it is a small dish or a sculpture.
What is the most difficult thing about what you do?
Maybe to be true to what you create. Not to be guided too much by trends and what you see on social media. To sit down and if you have a quiet period to try develop your own abilities and ideas. Focus on finding a sense of security in what you create yourself and believe in what you are doing .
