QUIRKY, PRETTY POTTERY

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Introducing ink.oasisnowflake or “INKO” for short! 

ink.oasisnowflake is a small business, creating quirky handmade pottery, and other merchandise such as stickers and plushies surrounding the original character; Kamotaro which means Chonky Boy Duck in Japanese. INKO started creating pottery in 2020, and really grew thanks to amazing support and love in 2021, and will continue to create throughout the years. I am highly inspired by creative artists such as Amii Ceramics, Forest Mori, and Mai Accents! 

 

The Creator Behind

Hi, folks! My name is Nadya Hertanto, the creator of Inko. I am a small business owner by day
and a freelance graphic designer by night! I am a 98’s kid, and a LEO at heart! I graduated
RMIT University Melbourne in 2021, Bachelors of Design in Animation and Interactive Media.

I am and always have been a dreamer, but without the right support those dreams would still be just
a dream. My sister has always been one of my biggest inspirations, she has supported me endlessly and pushed me into turning my dreams into a reality! So with a lot of encouragement from her,
in 2020 I took a pottery class at “The Wheelhouse Studio” and fell madly in love with ceramics.

 

Talking with The Mastermind

Passion kamu apa sih? Momen apa yang bikin kamu sadar kalau itu passion kamu?
My passion is simple: ARTS. Any form of arts really! I love to draw, create, sing, and dance!
My parents told me started singing before I could talk, and started doodling before I could write.
I knew since I was a kid that in this life, I am meant to create something.

My dream is to create a character so influential like Mickey Mouse, or Hello Kitty, that can instantly bring a smile to people’s faces! It brings them joy and a sense of comfort, and that is what I want to continue to work on in the future! Hopefully Kamotaro can bring that sense of happiness to your days someday.

Awal belajar keramik dimana dan bagaimana mendapatkan resource yang kamu butuhkan?
I took a 4 weeks course at The Wheelhouse Studio in Melbourne. Between classes I would practice some hand building at home, using home tools that I have like old cards, used sponges, and toothpicks. I would always buy my clay at Northcote Pottery Supplies, and also have my pieces
fired there as well since I don’t have access to my own kiln!

After that, I moved back to my home country Indonesia during the pandemic to be with my family. Before moving back, I did some research on where to buy pottery supplies in Indonesia and found very little suppliers and classes around Jakarta and BSD. I managed to find some classes and very kind mentors, and took a 4-weeks class at Tanakita Ceramics, a 2-Days class at Hoxton and Tate Ceramics, and 1 Day class at Ceramicastudio, all to deepen my knowledge of wheel throwing and
I learned something new, things that worked and things that didn’t every single class.

Around mid-year, I started practicing and decided to invest in my pottery wheel and my electric kiln. But realizing the lack of access to pottery supplies here, my partner and I decided to make pottery more accessible and available, especially for beginners and created “Anatoly Art Supplies”. We sell everything from different types of clay, pottery tools, glazes and even electric kilns, and now I have unlimited resources for pottery here in Indonesia!

 

Boleh share karya-karya favoritmu dan sedikit inspirasi/makna dibaliknya?

Halloween Cauldron Mug

I’ve never really made anything Halloween themed before,
I’m not a big fan of that time of year since I’m scared of spooky things! But Kamotaro Cauldron version caught so much love and attention
from a lot of you guys and it became one of my proudest moments when I got to share him in my first offline market ever at Kumulo BSD!

 

 

 

Kamotaro Valentine’s Day Cupid

Inspired by the day of love itself, I made this baby cupid
Kamotaro to be as sweet as possible. He is filled with so much
detail that I was only able to make a very limited number of Cupids!
He has adorable little wings and a heart arrow with some xoxo
carved to the back side, and I hope people were able to spread
the love with gifting this mug to their loved ones!

 

 

Kamotaro Christmas Mug

Christmas is probably my favorite holiday! It’s filled with so much laughter and beautiful snow all around, and I wanted to convey
that with a Christmas Tree themed mug. I used a very special green glaze with beautiful white speckled details, and topped it off with a thick snow-like glaze on the top. Perfect for hot choco in winter time! 

 

 

Ceritakan sedikit dong tentang proses pembuatan keramik!

First, I always sketch out my designs. Whenever an idea pops into my head, I grab the nearest piece of paper, or even sketch it out on my phone and it always excites me to start creating my designs with clay.
In the mornings, I will jump onto the pottery wheel and start by building my base shape. Sometimes it succeeds, but sometimes it doesn’t and the challenges are always different every day!

After it around a couple hours or sometimes day, depending on the weather, I can trim the body shape to a better, more refined shape. After trimming, I can finally sculpt the face and other features onto the pottery, and it starts to come to life. My emotions sometimes articulate into the pieces I make, where a Kamotarō may look angry or really happy depending on my mood! I always feel like I put a part of me into every single piece I make, and I feel more connected to it when I can sense their individual personalities start to take shape.

After around 1-2 weeks, the clay will start to dry or what we call “bone dry”. That’s when it will be ready for the first round of firing aka. Bisque firing which takes about 8 hours to fire, and 2 nights to cool. Afterwards, I will sand, clean, and glaze the pieces, taking the time it needs to be even, and always apply 2-3 coats of glaze. The last step is glaze firing which takes 10 hours, and 2 nights to cool. Every kiln opening is like opening a present, you never really know what the result looks like, which can be exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time!

The photoshoots are always such a fun part. I get to create a scene and make each character come to life even more. Then I prepare each baby to be sent out to you, and always hope they find a good home where each quirk and imperfection of theirs is loved.

Boleh minta tips buat mereka yang mau belajar keramik di Australia?
There are always so many classes available, be sure to check out classes at The Wheelhouse Studio, Northcote Pottery, Ceramiques Elsternwick (always sold out so quickly, so plan and book ahead!),
and a lot of other places you can try!

Between classes, try to purchase some clay and create something at home, even without a wheel.
Try to remember the feel of the clay. You must make friends with the clay to get them to work well with you, so spend some time familiarizing yourself with clay in between weeks.

You really never know what might happen until you try it, so don’t be scared to give anything a go! There are more than enough resources on the internet now to even learn at home, so all you need is the will to create, and you can! [IM]

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