I’ve been following Amanda on instagram for a while because I enjoying watching her create beautiful ceramic pieces. One day it dawned on me….Bikes or Death coffee mugs! I came to her with the idea (my only contribution being the Ride Your Damn Bike message on the bottom) and what I got back was more than I could ever imagine. I’m beyond stoked on how they turned out and even more stoked on the kindness of a stranger. You can tell she took great care with each one! After receiving this beautiful gift I had to know more about Amanda Amann!
Tell us a little about yourself, where do you live, what pays the bills, what pays the feels?
Oh I’m just a little suburban Panda mum trying to find herself and raise decent humans, all while bringing smiles to the universe. The bills get paid by a paper factory, a newly found position actually that I love with the hopes of ceramics starting to pay them too. The feels….c’mon bikes duh! Although all I really know is how to pedal them. Bikes, ceramics and the great outdoors is what gets my panda fur ruffled!!
What was the best bikepacking trip you’ve been on?
Well I’ve only been on one trip so far so naturally that’s my favorite but I imagine it will always be my favorite. Cause come on now, do we ever forget our first?! I did a rail trail in my area called the Great Allegheny Passage which then connects to another in Maryland called the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal ending in Washington D.C. Originally I planned to go with another but they backed out and honestly I’m happy they did. I was able to do the trip how I wanted solo taking as much time as I wanted so instead of doing this one way I decided to yo-yo it and camped out along the way. Honestly the best experience in my life and I recommend anyone who can to also yo-yo this trail. You can’t imagine the different things you see coming from both directions. Took me a total of 8 days, 4 of which were rainy ones to complete a total of 609 miles and I wouldn’t change any of it. Absolutely amazing and I still think about it daily.
What was the hardest?
Honestly the hardest part was just getting started, to have the motivation to just pack up and go. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a complete wreck prepping everything to leave. I was doing this solo, leaving my kids and animals behind for however long it took me cause I really didn’t know. I even post-poned my start date by two months cause I felt I wasn’t ready and even after that I had waited to the last few days to grab some major supplies. I actually listened to episode 54 of BoD a few days before that ended up helping me through my trip. Katie’s mantra growth is greater than comfort was on my mind the whole 8 days, I even slept in a porta potty my second night like they had on their trip lol. That day was a total nightmare, I remember coming to the third tree that had fallen across the trail after I fell off my bike rolling down the side of the Canal twisting my knee, I got stuck in between the trunks lifting my bike with 30lbs of gear over landing right into a puddle up to my calves and I just started screaming at the top of my lungs fuck. I didn’t feel like I had any more energy to lift it over all the branches and trunk I was literally tangled up in as my knee was throbbing but that phrase came to my mind and I just started repeating it to myself growth is greater than comfort growth is greater than comfort, you can do this Amanda come the fuck on already. And well, I did. I do hope to actually have some bike repair knowledge the next trip I make but surprisingly I had no issues with my amazing Salsa Journeyman and chubby tires.
How long have you been making pottery?
I’ve been doing ceramics for 3 and half years now but just recently got invited to a private studio where I have unlimited access and no weird rules to follow. So up until October 2020 I was only going once a week for 3 hours which really limits how much you can learn and grow.
Why/how did you get into it?
This is a actually a sappy story haha. My mother is a very talented artistic lady and for as long as I can remember I kept searching and trying different art outlets to find my skill with never finding it. But growing up she use to take me on antique outings and I always loved the pottery pieces we’d find. Fast forward to 2014 when my father passed away unexpectedly and I fell into a dark place. Finally 2018 I decided enough was enough I needed to pull myself together and I stumbled upon these two very talented ceramic artists on Instagram who reminded me how much ceramics interested me. So I begin looking into schools around the area that taught it and my good ol trusty mum had found a local studio who gave classes. She said hey let’s go tour the studio and see what you think. So we went and the girl Natalie who gave us the tour was so sweet and friendly I fell in love. My mum was like well I’ll set you up with the first semester and see how you like it. I chose to do classes on Wednesday as that was the day my father passed and I still literally struggled daily to get out of bed. I thought doing this then would force me to get up and turn Wednesdays positive again. Well let me tell you, it did that and sooo much more. In a way, the pottery community saved me from myself and finally showed me the hidden artistic skills I’ve had all this time.
How long does it take to make one mug like the ones you made for BoD?
That’s a multiple answer question! To physically make the mug anywhere from 4-10hrs over a week’s time cause you can only do things in certain drying stages of the clay. Once the mug is fully assembled and decorated it then takes a few weeks for the kiln to be fully filled to fire. So all together 4-6 weeks!
I know a few of them got a small crack. I imagine that is heartbreaking. What causes them to crack?
Ceramics can be a very heartbreaking hobby unfortunately. Sometimes you even ask yourself why am I torturing myself like this haha.. Things can go wrong in almost any stage of the process which in my opinion keeps it thrilling until the last moment. You can throw a beautiful piece with no issues but everything comes into factor once your piece is created down to even the weather. You’ll hear ceramic artists refer to the kiln gods ALOT and that’s because once you get it in the kiln it’s out of your power really. If it heats too fast you can have warping and/cracks, if cools too slow similar issues can happen or possibly your glaze has issues with the kiln heating/cooling process. You definitely need patience when making ceramics which can be challenging at times, at least for me cause I get so excited about my pieces being finished.
What is the hardest part of making mugs like these?
The mugs I made for you were actually bottom less cylinders then I connected slab bottoms to them so I could stamp the message on the inside of them. Anytime you connect pieces you have a higher chance of said pieces coming apart in the kiln firing which is what happened with your mugs. So I’d say that was the hardest part as it was the first time I tried anything like that. But I think it went well!
If people want to order something are you set up for that?
I am just beginning all of that! I do have an etsy shop that I opened and adding pieces to as I have them available which can be found at www.etsy.com/shop/PandaWaresStudio or just contact me on Instagram panda_wares
