
Marks of the Maker
- April Adewole
- Aug 5
- 1 min read
Updated: Aug 6
Every week, there's a new gadget, a trending tool, or a must-have supply that promises to make life easier in the studio, streamline production, guarantee consistency, speed up the workflow. And sure, I’ve tried a few of them. But the more I work, the more I return to the same tool over and over again:
My hands.
In a world constantly pushing us toward convenience, automation, and perfection, I choose the imperfect, the personal, the soulful. I shape each piece by hand without molds, jigs, or templates, not because I want the work to be harder, but because I want it to mean more.
Each fingerprint, each slight wobble in the rim, each spontaneous curve holds a story. A reminder: this was made by a human. Me. Not a machine. Not a factory. Not a formula.
Uniformity has its place, but not here. When everything starts to look the same, I start asking deeper questions. If it could be mistaken for something from a big box store… what am I saying with that work?Who am I trying to become?
I’m not here to mass-produce. I’m here to make pieces that carry a pulse, a presence. A vessel should not just hold something. It should offer something. A moment. A texture. A memory. A feeling of being connected to the earth, to the artist, to the self.
When you hold something I made, you’re not just holding a bowl or a cup. You’re holding a conversation. You’re holding time. You’re holding the mark of the maker.
And that, to me, is the real gift.
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