Matt Cripps is the owner and maker behind Cripps Pottery. He holds a BA in Fine Arts from St. Thomas University, a two-year diploma in Fine Craft: Ceramics from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design (NBCCD), and a Certificate in Advanced Studio Practice from NBCCD.

Matt has worked as a gallery assistant at Gallery 78 in Fredericton, as the Ceramics Centre Coordinator at AX: The Arts and Culture Centre of Sussex, and served as Board President of CraftNB for three years. His practice has been shaped through artist residencies, internships, mentorships, and exhibitions, alongside years of hands-on studio experience.

He currently works as a technician in the ceramics studio at NBCCD and continues to create both functional and sculptural ceramic work. The defining features of his pieces are tactile surfaces, in particular crawling glazes, and organic forms, reflecting his interest in materiality, texture, and the unpredictable beauty of high-fire ceramics.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what sparked your interest in ceramics/pottery.

My interest in pottery didn’t really begin until I had finished university. After graduating from St. Thomas University, I began working at Gallery 78 in Fredericton, where I met some potters and ceramic artists and started seeing some pots that really intrigued me and made me wonder how they were made. I decided I wanted to learn how to do it, so I applied to the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, and my first day there was the first time I had ever seen a pottery wheel in person. The rest is history.

What inspires or excites you as an artist?

I’m a sucker for texture. Anything that has an organic form and tactile surface draws me in. I’m always finding myself in nature getting really close up to different surfaces like rocks, wood, earth, and looking at all the rough edges.

What is your creative process from idea to finished piece? Can you walk us through how a piece comes to life? 

When I’m creating a piece, I really like to work in a trial-and-error style. I try things out, push the materials further than I should, let things happen organically, and within that experimentation, I will usually find one or two elements that I really like, and I will then start over with the intention of recreating those organic elements. I’m also always thinking about what the final surface of a piece will be before I get there. I almost always incorporate texture into my work, but that can be done at many different stages of the process, so if I know I am going to complete a piece with a highly tactile finish, I need to make sure I create an initial form that will complement and accept the final surface.

How do you handle challenges or unexpected issues that arise during the creative process?

I’ve heard over the years that potters are great with failure. Your clay is too dry, you couldn’t get it centered, you got a crack, the handle popped off, the glaze was too thin, the kiln was too hot, and so on and so forth. Working with clay teaches you to be patient and helps you develop the ability to step away from something when it isn’t working and learn from the challenges that come up. I look at an unexpected issue as a learning opportunity, and then I clean up and start over again. 

Do you have a signature style or technique that defines your work?

I use tactile crawling glazes that are complemented by organic forms. 

Can you describe a piece [or series] you're particularly proud of and why?

In 2019, I created a piece called Merging Materials. This was a project that involved foraging and harvesting all the materials locally here in New Brunswick. It featured two sculptural vessels positioned with a focus on the negative space between them. One was made with clay I harvested from my hometown of Miramichi, and the other was made of a clay I harvested from Sussex, which was where I was living at the time. 

They were finished with a glaze made up of quartz, granite, ash, and other materials I sourced locally. This piece merged my creative practice with my life by literally using the dirt from where I was born and the dirt of where I live now. This piece was a part of an exhibition curated by Gillian Dykeman called Atlantic Vernacular and was also featured at Government House for the Proclamation of the Status of the Artist Act. To this day, I still have this piece, and it is on display in my house.

How have your training and experiences contributed to your creativity and innovation in your artistic practice?

My training and professional experiences have played an important role in shaping my creativity and how I approach making. I’ve worked in the arts and culture sector in both public and private settings, alongside building my own creative business, and I’ve studied art, craft, and design at two post-secondary institutions. Because all of this learning and work has happened in New Brunswick, my practice has been shaped by the province’s strong history of art and craft and by the people who continue to carry that tradition forward.

I also came to art and craft a little later than some. I initially went to university to study music and only discovered the art and craft community while I was there. Because of that, my early influences weren’t the big-name figures often taught in textbooks, but local New Brunswick artists and craftspeople, like the Deichmanns and the Bobaks. What resonated most with me about their work wasn’t just the objects they made, but the way they built sustainable, collaborative practices as teams. 

I’ve intentionally modeled my own practice similarly, working closely with my wife, Marlee, so that what we build is not a one-person endeavour, but a shared creative project, and this is something I see as an essential part of both my practice and our success.

What advice would you give to emerging artists, or to someone just starting out in ceramics/pottery?

Make mugs. 

Don’t be afraid to fail. 

Ask for help.

Get out there.

Over the years, I’ve taught many workshops to students of all ages, and there’s one thing I always share with them:

The best potter in the world might be sitting alone in their studio, making the most beautiful pot ever created, and no one may ever know it exists. Meanwhile, the potter who makes a living from their work is often out in the world meeting people, building relationships, learning, sharing their work, and creating opportunities for themselves.