Nathalie Royston

Ceramics is, enjoyably, a medium in which I have direct contact with the materials. From me it asks for a practice in patience, mindfulness and letting go, and to me it gives the opportunity to create bespoke handmade objects. Since the first moment I first touched the clay, it was like coming home. I knew this was the work I had to commit myself to.    

 

Nathalie Royston is a ceramic artist living on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. She is a native of Massachusetts, having been raised in and around Greater Boston. A self-taught artist, her focus is functional tableware and home accessories designed for daily use. Her pieces are thoughtfully made to feel comforting, function well, and fit in with home décor. 

“The first pot I ever made was in summer camp. It was thrown on the wheel, about 2 inches high and 3 inches wide, and weighed 2 pounds! I remember how much I loved working with clay but back then it never occurred to me this was something I could do for work.” That realization came much later, after working in human services, then as a project coordinator for diversity and inclusion, consulting to a variety of sectors including the visual and performing arts. It was in the early 2000s when she took her first ceramics course that as she describes it, “When I first touched the clay, it was like coming home. I knew this was the work I had to commit myself to.”

Since that first class she has transitioned into a career in the studio arts. In addition to her work as a studio artist, she has taught ceramics at Boston Center for Adult Education, Feet of Clay Studio, and a professional development course at the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts, Harvard University. She's also assisted artists in fabrication and installation, and helped in the coordination of gallery shows.

Nathalie’s work has been shown at the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, the Harvard Ceramics Program, Allston, MA, Society of Arts + Crafts/CraftBoston, Boston, MA and Boston Sculptors Gallery, Boston, MA.