Meet Tamara Gentuso | Clay Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tamara Gentuso and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tamara, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Work-life balance is a tricky thing to pull off. For me, as a creative whose mind seems to shift into overdrive whenever given a chance, I have implemented several practices to keep the parts of my life in balance.

My first practice is that I do not generally allow myself to physically create artwork at home. When I am at home, I want to focus on the needs of my family as well as my own needs: our refreshment physically, mentally, and spiritually. With a six-year-old, there is a lot of play/pretend happening, and life is very busy at home–thankfully, this is a good, happy kind of busy.

My second practice is to make exceptions to the first practice a rare occurrence. When it does happen, I include my little girl in the creation process. This choice gives us both great joy–she is quite the little artist–and makes for fantastic learning and also presents us with natural opportunities to share what is precious to us. Not always an easy lesson for littles, by creating multiples of whatever together (for us, it is usually a big batch of my little ceramic houses which are called Wee Littles), it is a bit easier for a kiddo to pick out one to share for special occasions.

My third practice is to limit the mental creating/planning/exploring going on in my head when I am at home. It is pretty easy to zone out and not actually be a part of my husband and/or little girl’s day otherwise. If an idea overtakes me, I send myself a text or link or photo so I can then focus back on living life with my family– you know, be in the moment–without the ridiculously tempting concept luring me back.

My last practice is really simple: I set timers for myself. If I didn’t do this, I would work on through the day into the evening and wouldn’t remember to eat, pick up my sweetie pie after school, make supper, go to an appointment, get the sleep I need, etc. The narrowing-in of focus that comes with creating makes other things pale and go quiet for me so this practice has become a life-saver for me.

The balance that I currently have in my life feels very good. Could it take a little nip or tuck? Probably, but I am going to let life work on that for me and not fret about it. There are too many things to create and too many memories to make with my family to let organizational anxiety or mom guilt creep in and spoil!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a clay artist. Since my desire is to lift spirits and encourage those who look upon my art, I make bright, colorful, happy work. Home and childhood are frequent themes running through my pieces. The reasons are many but most especially having the privilege of raising our granddaughter (reflecting my hubby’s Italian heritage, we are Nona and Papa) fuels much of what I create.

I am most proud of the Nashville Clayscape. It is a handmade ceramic tile mural here in Nashville, and it measures 8′ high by 25′ wide. It is a folk-art-inspired depiction of Nashville’s iconic and not-so-iconic sights, buildings, parks, etc. (there are more than 1300 of them!). It took three years to research and make and was installed on the Clay Lady’s Campus in 2021.

I have worked in clay for 12 years now and took my first class on the Clay Lady’s Campus. Getting where I am now has required time dedicated to building my skill in working with clay. I spent the first 2-½ years learning to use a potter’s wheel; after I reached the point where I could make whatever I wanted to my satisfaction, I allowed myself to begin sculpting and hand-building. I knew from the outset that this was what I wanted to do but thought it would be a shame not to learn the wheel when I had the chance. haha

The challenges I have faced came (and continue to come) on two fronts: mental health (a loved one’s) and physical health (mine). I’ll share briefly and you can delve as deeply as you want!

A family member struggles with mental illness, and our relationship has been one of the few relationships in their life to persist despite the hard times. Time creating in the studio has a healing power for me in this arena. As a part of this whole side of life, my hubby and I find ourselves privileged to be raising our granddaughter. I wouldn’t trade this for all the money in the world–or, all the clay and supplies, in my case. It is part of who we are as a family, and its influence is clearly seen in much of my studio work.

Having had Lupus for more than 25 years, I have been familiar with adjusting goals and changing my lifestyle based on the ebb and flow of a chronic autoimmune disease. This was all compounded when I found out I had heart failure due to it a few years ago. Once again, I find myself modifying life as needed. I’m pretty good at it by now, I must say!

My most exciting thing in the studio right now has to be a series of sculptures I am doing which are based on children’s literature favorites. So far, I’ve created sculptures of The Hungry Caterpillar; Where the Wild Things Are; Mr. Popper’s Penguins; The Victory Garden Vegetable Alphabet Book; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and Go Dog Go. It is SO SO SO MUCH FUN to do these–I can hardly wait to get back to the studio each day, honestly!

Lessons? It is all just clay. You can always start over. Just give it a little dunk in the bucket and be patient. Test tiles really are a good idea and actually do save a lot of time and disappointment in the end.

One of the things for which I am most known is my series of handmade little ceramic houses. These are ½ to 3″ tall and every single one is unique. I use no molds and oftentimes use scrap clay from my larger works to make them. They are bright and happy and if you’re lucky, might just have a rainbow, too! I make them one at a time but glaze them hundreds at a time so I can have a lovely rainbow of wee houses. You never know what someone’s favorite color is so I try to cover quite a few. I call these Wee Littles and have collectors who bless me with their support.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My tastes are pretty simple here, and so are my friends! We’d spend some time in the studio, playing with clay and glazes and whatnot. We’d bike the greenways — we ride a tandem bike with a trailer hooked up on the back for our sweetie — and hike the trails nearby. Long Hunter Park, Edwin Warner, Percy Priest, etc.

Food? We’d hit Nectar Urban Cantina, Edley’s, and First Watch (on the Donelson side of town). Five Daughters’ donuts would be a necessity, and coffee/tea at Caliber Coffee or Starbucks couldn’t hurt, eh? And for a quiet night, we’d end up with take-out from Vui’s or Steam Boys.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Definitely I would have to list the good folks at the Clay Lady’s Campus here in Nashville, TN. Of particular note, Danielle McDaniel and Tami Archer, the co-owners/founders of the whole Clay Lady’s Campus. They have encouraged me more than I can list–everything from being my first clay instructor to financially/emotionally/educationally supporting my vision of the public art tile mural, the Nashville Clayscape. Their continued support is a huge part of my ability to create.

Website: https://studiogentuso.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tammygentuso/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammyg-of-studio-gentuso/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tsgentuso/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-clay-ladys-campus-nashville

Other: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@tammygentuso Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tsgentuso/

Image Credits
Tamara Gentuso