Four years ago, Angelique Tassistro hit bottom. “The ceramics thing was not working, and I was just over it,” she says. Sure, the Asheville-based artist was making beautiful ceramics (in her windowless basement) and selling them (at a grueling circuit of fairs and festivals) — but she was barely making a living, and she was exhausted. So she quit.
But not for long. The Baton Rouge native, holder of not one but two BFAs (in ceramics and photography) from Louisiana State University, has creativity in her genes, as evidenced by her painter mother and woodworker brother — but she realized she didn’t know how to make it work as a career. So she spent a year working a corporate job, and simultaneously took a course in business fundamentals at Mountain BizWorks. “It literally changed my life,” she says with feeling. It taught her to approach her work not just as a creative soul but also as an entrepreneur running a business. Ever since, her star has been on the rise, with accolades piling up: In 2010, she gained regional exposure as one of WNC magazine’s top emerging artists; in 2011, she took it national, as one of Ceramics Monthly’s top emerging national ceramists. Today her studio — renamed Fly Coop Studio — is located in Constance Williams Gallery in Asheville’s River Arts District, and her work can be found at galleries throughout the U.S.
Sure, her work looks like all spontaneity and fun. Tassistro is probably best known for her playful tumblers, which feature stylized full-skirted figures and stamped-in words of wisdom: Trust Yourself; You Are Loved; Love Who You Are. And her entire line is recognizable for its joyful swirls of bright color — orange with pink, blue with green — along with delicate molded and hand-made flower accents and scalloped or free-form edges. The overall effect suggests, but never quite depicts, overflowing bunches of flowers in ornate picture frames.
But it’s all created through a rigorous, complex process that involves wheel throwing, hand building and use of bisque molds. Pieces are covered in layers of colored underglaze, which is partially scraped and washed away to create organic texture and depth, then further accentuated using pencil circles and dots or borders of dark glaze.
And it’s not just pretty. “For me it always comes back to function. I want my pieces to be functional and to be used,” Tassistro says. Take the stacking trays, or the sake sets: “I love to entertain, so that’s where I got into a lot of the stacking — if you don’t have much space, the pieces can stack when you’re done using them.” And each piece in a set can also be used individually: “The sake cups can hold toothpicks,” she suggests. “The bottle can be used as a bud vase.”
Though she does feel some obligation to her fan base, to continue making the work they’ve come to love, she keeps inspiration alive by exploring whatever imagery means something in the moment. “I usually try something new on one piece, and then it works its way through the entire line,” she says. Recent aesthetic preoccupations include boats, a motif that steers her whimsical chip-and-dip serving pieces (a sign posted in the studio reads: “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for”). The artist has also come to favor images of India, which contribute a distinctly South Asian edge.
Her biggest challenge these days? With demand high, she has to resist the temptation to over-work. One of the main joys of her new studio, she says, is that it’s away from her home, and she’s not tempted to work “just a little bit more” after quitting time. Tassistro smiles at the irony of her situation when compared to the positive messages on her tumblers, which are intended to remind their owners of what’s really important in life.
“Sometimes I wish I had a cup that said: ‘Take a Day Off!’” she says with a laugh — before heading upstairs to get back to work.
Visit www.flycoopstudios.com to learn more about Angelique Tassitro. Visit Fly Coop Studio at Constance Williams Gallery located at 9 Riverside Drive (the middle building at Curve Studios across from 12 Bones), River Arts District, Asheville.