Case studies: Ceramicist, potter, sculptor: Josh Redman

Josh Redman has a degree in pottery and ceramics and works as a self-employed ceramicist, potter and sculptor...

I always wanted to be an artist in some way or another. After a couple of false starts doing other creative things, I had the choice between becoming an apprentice for a wood worker or a potter. I chose pottery for some quite arbitrary reasons - I didn't like the tone of the belt sanders in the wood workshop, and the pottery workshop was more spacious.

My apprenticeship lasted almost three years (making garden, kitchen and tableware) and I then went on to do a BA in Ceramics at Cardiff. It was a great opportunity to learn how to make my own kind of work, and learn all sorts about glazes and firings. I also discovered that in order to gain wider recognition as an artist, 'Josh Redman' should be seen as a brand rather than just me.

After graduation I went straight on to help with running a pottery course at Wobage Workshops, where I had helped as a student the previous year. I had managed to get a first at university, but this felt insignificant outside of education - nobody pays you just for getting a grade. After a few months I was invited to carry on at Wobage as an individual maker with my own workspace. It is not a paid job - I am self-employed and need to make money from sales and occasional teaching.

I would say that only a fifth of my time is really spent making at the moment, and the rest is spent in setting up my website, promotion of my work, administration, organising workshop space, etc.

I particularly enjoy the flexibility and creative freedom in my job. I make pots that are mostly functional, but the main objective is to get across a feeling that I've got inside me. Making the kind of work that I do, I manage to take really big risks and push thoughts and possibilities in whichever way I want, like a kind of amorphous fantasy without significant boundaries. And because this is art and not everyday life, I can walk away from the studio unharmed, and live a simpler and more peaceful life without feeling trapped by the normality of it all.

Money is almost always an issue for ceramicists - it is a very low paid career. It can also be difficult to stay positive when only a handful of people really understand what I'm doing as a maker. My work is very niche, so the audience is relatively small but appreciative of what I am doing.

My career aims are to sell more work through increased promotion and marketing, and to exhibit more purely sculptural pieces.

My advice to other interested students and graduates is to only get into creative ceramics if you have an unstoppable desire to be an artist of some kind. If you enjoy a technical and creative challenge every day, becoming a ceramicist will fulfil that desire. It is a financial challenge as well as a creative one, so a secondary source of income that doesn't take up all of your time is very useful.