Today we’d like to introduce you to Rye Maldonado.
Rye, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I took my first pottery class a few years ago because I’d gotten a steady 9-5 job that was not what I’d call “intellectually stimulating” but had really regular hours and paid me enough that I could afford a new hobby. Throwing on the wheel was challenging and made sense to me in an artistic way that painting or drawing or any 2D mediums never did. It didn’t take long for a little voice in my head to start whispering “this is what you’re supposed to do.”
It took a few years before I was in a spot where I could go full-time into pottery, but at a certain point that voice stopped whispering and starting screaming. So, I quit my job to do an unpaid apprenticeship at Penguin Foot Pottery, so I could learn all the inner workings of a studio and haven’t looked back since.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t know that any small business owner/maker doesn’t deal with struggles. To make ends meet, I worked four (yes, four) part-time jobs in addition to Set Fire To It while I was first getting it off the ground. I am a fairly “Type A” person who has a large color-coded desk calendar and tends to do my best work when I’m at about 105% of my capacity but realized after about a year of absolute grind that it’s simply not sustainable to never, ever take a break. I got super burned out and had to take a step back and reevaluate/reprioritize my entire life.
I have a much better work/life balance now. I make work and I teach classes/help manage Penguin Foot Pottery, so I have a perfectly symbiotic relationship between my ‘day job’ and my business, in that there isn’t really a line where one ends and one begins. But I think when your creativity is also your livelihood, it’s hard to ever really turn off the “work” brain. I’m always searching for inspiration or thinking about where my work can go. I think a common misconception about makers is that making is the only aspect of our job, but I’d say that running Set Fire To It is maybe 40% studio time, and 60% doing things that are not pottery. Making pots is easy, in that it’s my favorite challenge in the world. Taking care of every other aspect of running a business is a totally different challenge.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Set Fire To It – what should we know?
My company is called Set Fire To It, and I make ceramic tableware, planters, and other home goods. I specialize in pieces that are both beautiful and extremely functional. Planters with built-in drainage trays; mugs with really cozy, comfortable handles; bowls that stack neatly and feel great on a table or in your lap on the couch. I tend towards fairly clean lines with really vibrant colors and visual textures. I often hear that my work reminds folks of landscapes and sunsets, and I am always proud to hear that. I believe in great design but also quirk and beauty; I am not much of a minimalist.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Oh goodness, probably too much to mention. The most obvious person would be Chris Busse of Penguin Foot Pottery, who taught the first pottery class I ever took, offered me my apprenticeship, and continues to this day to be the best mentor I could ask for. He’s been in my corner since the beginning, and quite literally I couldn’t have done this without him. He even trusted me to run his studio this summer while he was on paternity leave!
The greater community at Penguin Foot has also been instrumental. My fellow instructors are always there to lend expertise or creative counsel, and the folks who come in learn pottery from me and the other instructors are a constant source of inspiration. Working at a teaching studio sometimes means longer production times and even occasionally losing a piece because a seven-year-old’s dinosaur sculpture explodes in the kiln, but the support and collaboration I get from it is totally worth it. I am consistently blown away by the amazing community that Penguin Foot perpetuates.
I also have a close group of friends who help me set up for big shows and that is no small feat – pottery is heavy! I have a really outstanding circle that is an absolutely necessary part of making all this work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.setfiretoit.com
- Email: rye@setfiretoit.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/setfiretoit
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