The Story of a Jazz Singer Turned Ceramicist.

Hi Åsne! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your work?
I produce ceramics, but I wouldn’t exactly call myself an artisan. I only began experimenting with clay about two years ago, so I’m still relatively new to all of this and I definitely have a lot to learn. Before starting Reinrosa, I worked as a jazz singer for many years and mothered my five children, but I reached somewhat of a standstill in 2014. This led me to rethink my career as well as the choices that I’d made.

I’ve always been interested in the creative fields, especially arts and crafts, so I decided to try pottery. In 2018, I bought all of the equipment and taught myself how to make ceramics. I started with the turntable, which was very difficult at first, but has now become my most-used process. I compare it to learning how to ski – first the turntable has control over you, but eventually you learn to use it to your advantage.

What does your typical day look like?
My day typically starts at 6:45am and ends at 9:30pm, I’m an early riser! We always have a big family breakfast in the morning, during which time we talk about the day ahead and listen to music on vinyl. After breakfast, the children get ready for school and my husband leaves for work. I have five children between the ages of 8 and 22, four of whom still live at home. Once everyone is out of the house, I clear the breakfast table and begin my workday in the basement.

Each day of producing ceramics is a little bit different, and I may work more or less depending on my energy that day. I like to listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I work, which gets me into a productive working mode. I eat lunch around 12pm, some days I can’t wait for a break and other days I simply forget to eat. I never make a hot lunch, usually just coffee and crisp bread, or whatever else I find in the fridge.

The children come home from school at 3pm, so I shower to wash off the clay and make dinner. Working with ceramics is dirty! We eat around 4:30pm and then we have family time.

Given the current corona situation, we play a lot of board games, sometimes watch movies, and often listen to music – mainly Nordic jazz and Afro-American music like Duke Ellington and Aretha Franklin. When I’m alone, I listen to a lot of improvisation music.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Between work and family, I actually have very little time for myself. That said when I’m not cooking dinner or checking homework, I love going for walks in the mountains and being around other people – having a cup of coffee with a friend is always the best!

Do you have any advice for those who just started working for themselves?
That’s a difficult question, but what I did was jump in without thinking too much about it. In order to do that, you have to be willing to sacrifice certain things and give the process your all, or at least a whole lot. I think it’s important to work hard, learn as much as you can, and not settle for half measures. No matter what you are working on, you should always have a good eye for quality, but also allow yourself to play throughout the process.

Who is your greatest love and what inspires you?
My husband, clearly, is my greatest love. We’ve been married for 24 years and he’s my best friend. I feel lucky to have met someone with whom I have such good chemistry, that’s not something you can take for granted. As for what inspires me, I’d have to say a sense of community as well as nature and music – that’s why I especially love making cups and dishware!

What is your relationship with design?
I love minimalist and Nordic designs. Many of the potters I admire label their products as ‘Scandinavian design’, even if they themselves are not from Scandinavia.

These products often have a lot of gray and very little colour, which is the impression that most people have of minimalism and Nordic designs, but I do love a bit of colour too.

Although beautiful things can be found in grays and whites, I personally don’t want to create colourless products. Norwegian nature and culture are both incredibly colourful, which is where I find much of my inspiration. Just picture the beautiful mountains on a summer day in Norway!

Can you walk us through your design process?
Designing a product takes time! When I first started with pottery, I didn’t quite know what to make, so the turntable often decided what it would be. Now I always work with a plan, either a simple sketch or an idea in my head, then I make adjustments as I go. It often takes me six weeks to make a product from start to finish, since I have to fill the oven before the raw glazing step.

When I make a cup, for example, I must feel how heavy it is and how thin the walls are. Then I have to make sure that the bottom is strong enough and also decide what kind of handle the cup should have. More often than not, the finished product is not what I intended it to be, but that’s what makes the process so exciting.

Once I’m happy with the design of the product, I leave it to dry for about a week, though the drying time varies depending on the season. I then place the dry ceramics in the oven, which I set to 1,040 degrees. The temperature must return to 100 degrees before removing the product from the oven, otherwise it may break! This is called firing, a process in which the temperature rises slowly and then comes down over the course of a couple days.

After firing the ceramic cup, I glaze it and fire it one more time… sometimes more. If I want a product with a gold edge, for example, I have to fire it a third time. I currently use ready-made glazes since I focus mainly on shaping the objects, but I may make this myself someday.

Is there a tool that you can’t live without, or any part of the design process that you don’t particularly enjoy?
My hand is definitely the most important tool, so I can’t live without that! Water is also essential. Other than that, I probably use the turntable the most. My least favorite part of the design process is glazing because there’s just so much that can go wrong. You have to be incredibly accurate and make sure that the glaze is not too thick or thin on any part of the product. If you’re not careful while glazing, the products may crack in the oven. Even so, I use this process often since I truly love the result.

What are you currently working on?

I’m fairly impatient so I’m making new things all the time, but right now I’m working on a series of breakfast bowls. In addition, I’ve started designing something called a dripper or pour-over. It’s a method used to brew coffee at home that’s become very popular in Norway lately. Coffee mugs will also be part of the breakfast series, so I’ll be coming out with those soon too.

What are you currently working on?

Can you tell me about the first product you ever made, the product that you’re most proud of, and your favourite product to date?
The first product I ever made was a cup back in May of 2018. I had finally managed to put everything that I’d learned into practice, and it was very rewarding to open the oven and see my finished product. I remember being so excited to share the photo on Instagram and thinking ‘Yes, now I got it!’. Even so, I wasn’t completely happy with how it turned out… I’m a perfectionist!

The product that I’m most proud of would probably be a bust I recently made of my daughter. I’m very fond of making sculptures, and because it’s my daughter, the product has more meaning. There’s also something incredible about being able to recognize a person from a sculpture! The bust took approximately two weeks and it turned out exactly as I had intended, which is always exciting.

My favourite product to date would have to be cups, but I also love making dishware. There’s something so special to me about coming together at a table, which is the reason that dishware brings me so much joy. In addition, I find sculpting to be incredibly rewarding.

What does buying handmade mean to you?
I really don’t buy that much because I’m so busy, and if there’s something that I want, I often think I can just make it myself! That said, it’s clear that drinking from a handmade cup gives you a special feeling, more so than drinking from a mass-produced cup. You may see the fingerprint of the creator, for example, which makes the whole experience that much more personal. I compare it to hearing a song on Spotify versus vinyl – the latter is not quite perfect, but it has far more authenticity and personality.

How does it feel when someone buys your product?
I feel incredibly happy, both because someone finds value in the products that I’ve created, and because I’ve made them with my own two hands. It truly warms my heart.

Have you considered having a workshop and offer classes?
Yes, a workshop has definitely been on my mind, but not right now. Since I currently work from my basement at home, I don’t have room to host a workshop. Perhaps I’d consider it if I worked together with someone, as I do think it could be very exciting! Maybe it would be popular just before Christmas, or during other special events, we’ll just have to wait and see.

What is your biggest goal or dream?
My main goal right now is to be able to make a living from my ceramics. I’m very fortunate that people have noticed my work, but there’s still that uncertainty around working with ceramics and working for myself – I’m always thinking about designing products and acquiring customers. For now, I just want to keep producing and keep learning. I’ve only been working with clay for two years, so imagine how much I’ll have learned in five years!