Rae Dunn- Ceramic Artist

What is the first thing you do when you start your work/studio day?

I always like to ease into my day very slowly. I have tea or coffee in bed, go for a run or do yoga, and then I play the piano. All before diving into work. We don’t allow phones or electronics in the bedroom so I don’t even check my emails until I am good and ready and very awake.

 What’s a word or phrase people use that you just can’t stand?

It bugs me when people start a sentence with the word “honestly” or “to be honest.” I would hope that they were always telling me the truth without having to announce that they were!

 How honest are you?

I am quite honest.

What are 3 things you have faith in?

1. where there’s a will, there’s a way.
2. kill them with kindness.
3. there is someone for everyone.

 What was in your mailbox today?

A pile of wedding invitations from people I’ve never met. I love that some people who follow my work will invite me to their wedding. One day I hope to actually attend one of these weddings. It would be fun to be at a wedding and to not know a single person there!

What is your next major deadline?

I don’t have a major deadline but I do have a major goal: to learn how to play the cello. I’ve been wanting to learn how to play the cello for over thirty years and I decided that this was the year to stop talking about it and just do it! I started taking lessons this year and I am completely and utterly obsessed. It is such a difficult instrument to play but it’s so rewarding. I love being an adult beginner and I think it’s important to always keep learning new things. 

What are some good deed ideas?

My favorite good deed is putting money into someone’s expired parking meter.

 What childhood toy did you long for and never get?

When I was in the fourth grade I really wanted to play the drums. I remember so vividly my mom taking me to the music store and telling the man, Ralph, that I wanted a drum set. He said “NO. She is a girl and too small. She needs something little like a flute.” Sadly, my mom heeded his advice and we walked out with a flute. 

 What is the best age?

For me, the best age is always the age I currently am at the time. Life just keeps on getting better and BETTER.

 What is your cringiest fashion faux pas?

My two cringiest fashion faux pas were shoulder pads and a spiral perm (imagine them together. YIKES!). But I think one of the cringiest fashion faux pas in general, which I had the sense to never partake in, is stirrup pants. To me, it looks like grownups dressing like toddlers!

Rae Dunn is the artist behind Rae Dunn Clay in Berkeley, CA - fine handmade pottery that is sold nationwide. See her work at http://www.raedunn.com/

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