Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Loeffel.
Hi Adam, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started doing ceramics with my mother when I was a small child and that led to studying ceramics at the University of Memphis, which led me to Seize The Clay in 2001. After serving as the studio manager for Molly Norfleet, I purchased the business from her in December 2009 and have been the owner ever since.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Owning a ceramic studio has not been as easy as many people think it would be. I feel very confident in my artistic ability, but even to this day, after all of these years, I still struggle with the business end of it and have found it crucial to have solid, strong relationships with partners like a bookkeeper, and accountants to keep the business moving forward.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
After studying fine art at the University of Memphis I was nervous about how I would support myself as an artist. It was said to me by many of my fellow students and instructors at the time that they felt I would excel in teaching, but the traditional model of teaching in a school was not something that I felt I would be very good at. Seize The Clay has afforded me an opportunity to teach people how to do all of the ceramic techniques that I enjoy and value while still working and developing my own skills within the ceramic world. It has been incredibly rewarding, seeing people from all different walks of life create something they didn’t think they could do
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
All of my teachers from all years of my education. I have had so many wonderful teachers throughout my life. Some of them were art teachers, but many of them were not. Through all of these individuals I learned how to move through rooms with people from all walks of life. I really credit my ability to do that with the guidance that I received from all of these wonderful educators. I started elementary school at Saint Ann Catholic school in Bartlett and there I found a wonderful, close knit community of people that really gave me an opportunity to explore different ways of learning and doing. From there I went to high school at Germantown high school and studied fine art With Mary K VanGeison, who was and still is very much an influence on the way that I think about art and approach art. It wasn’t until I began a fine art degree at the University of Memphis. Did I start to learn the real technical aspects of creating pieces out of clay. Nancy White was my instructor and is a great inspiration to me. Through her own work and encouragement I made some pretty big discovery on the type of art that I wanted to do and the types of messages I wanted to convey in that work. I also have to give credit to the ceramic artist I discovered online. And I have to thank my parents for letting me explore and try things even though I know there were many times that what I wanted to do made no sense to them. So, I have so much respect and admiration for them and their ability to not stifle my curiosity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.seizetheclay.net/
- Instagram: @seizetheclay
