Nell BrackenClay, slowly.

One shelf, a few useful pots.

I'm Nell, an amateur potter in Durham, North Carolina. I make things that can hold breakfast, a wooden spoon, or the last three stems from the garden.

Flat profiles of a wide plum bowl, a small chalk-white jug, and a tall plum utensil pot resting on a shelf.
The shelf at home: a broad bowl, a little jug, and a pot for the spoons.

Useful is a good place to start

My favorite bowl is slightly heavy and far too wide for cereal. It is, however, exactly right for washing cherry tomatoes. I keep it by the sink, where a thing I made badly has become a thing I use every day.

I work in short evening sessions at a shared studio, usually after the bus ride home. There is no grand collection here. A month might produce two mugs and a sensible lid, with several less sensible attempts in between.

Take a look around the studio