How One Ceramicist Turned Her Creative Calling Into A Full-Time Dream Gig!
After working out of her home studio for around five years, ceramicist Arcadia Scott took the plunge and rented out a shared warehouse space in the early months of 2020. Little did she know… But as the pandemic picked up pace, Arcadia’s ceramics practice grew, and in between lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, her business blossomed, to the point where she needed to take over the whole studio! She now makes ceramics full time from this bright, plant-filled space in Coburg North. Take a look inside!
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
How One Ceramicist Turned Her Creative Calling Into A Full-Time Dream Gig!
Studio Visit
The glorious sunny studio of ceramicist Arcadia Scott. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Working at the bench, surrounded by plants. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
The glazed earthenware is available in planters, mugs and tableware. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Arcadia handcrafting a piece at the wheel. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
The volumes in this studio are incredible. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
All the ceramic mugs in the fluted series lined up in a row! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Arcadia handcarves the rivers on the surface. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Shelves stacked with finished pieces. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
A pup to keep her company! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Originally, Arcadia was sharing her studio but as the business grew, so did her need for space. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
A nook holding books and a collection of pieces by other ceramicists. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
Arcadia herself! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.
In 2015, Arcadia Scott took a six-week class at Northcote Pottery Supplies, and decided she had found her calling. She’d spent the years preceding following ceramicists on Instagram, collecting pieces she liked, and dreaming about one day doing something like that itself.
‘On a whim, I attended wheel throwing classes and felt an immediate reconnection to that creative energy I had spent so long quashing,’ she says. ‘To this day I pinch myself that I get to do what I do and immersed in an industry that I have long yearned for after all these years.’
Attending steiner school throughout her adolescence and growing up with an incredibly artistic mum and grandmother, a nourishing creative environment was what Arcadia was missing in adult life.
‘After that I just spent every spare moment I could practicing and honing my skills and making many, many mistakes,’ she says.
Unshackled by formal study, Arcadia creates pieces that are textural and intuitive, realised in earthy hues and blushing pastels. Her mugs, planters and tableware found an immediate audience in the local creative community.
Arcadia spends each day in her glorious studio at the wheel, glazing pieces, or hand-carving the surfaces of fluted pieces. It’s her dream gig!
‘Despite the smoke and mirrors of Instagram, it’s not always sunshine and happiness running a creative business so I am truly grateful for the support I receive from the community,’ says Arcadia. ‘It has taken me a long time to realise that being creative is my happy place and I hope that always shines through with my pieces.’
It truly does.
Shop Arcadia’s pieces here.
