Rising Stars: Meet Sydnie Mcadams of North College Hill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydnie Mcadams

Hi Sydnie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was first introduced to clay by my art teacher Susan Diemer at Taylor High school. Although I truly loved all art forms, I quickly became invested in this new medium. I remember spending hours on my projects for class with an ultimate goal of submitting pieces for the Scholastic Art & Writing awards.
Post high school I went to Miami University for my BFA with a concentration in Photography and a love for painting. I could never get ceramics to fit into my schedule in college so I took a couple summer workshops to have a chance to work with clay again. The workshops were in mold making and hand building, really great classes but my summer was filled with photographing weddings so I had minimal time for other creative projects.
Post grad, I returned to Miami University for a post baccalaureate in Art Education, where my schedule allowed me to FINALLY get to take a full ceramics course with professor Dennis Tobin. I was having the time of my life in this class, we started with a huge coil built vessel that took at least a month to construct entirely. The day I finished constructing this piece, we were to evacuate campus due to Covid19 and did not know when we would return. That piece sadly did not get fired/completed and the rest of the course was remote. The universe did not want me to be a potter apparently! However, I still completed my certification and became a full time art teacher in 2022.
In 2023, I attended a Teacher workshop hosted by Queen City Clay where I elected to learn the pottery wheel. Immediately hooked, once again. I was gifted a wheel at home to practice on in addition to taking multiple 8 week courses with Queen City clay. Now throwing pottery is one of my favorite things to do!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I honestly feel really grateful that my passion & excitement for creating artwork has always made up for the challenges I may face along the way. Getting used to any new medium can come with it’s challenges, but especially this one. In the past I’ve worked more closely with 2D media such as painting and photography. When dealing with 2D media there’s only so much you can/need to control. Clay on the other hand is not easy to control or understand at first, a lot can happen in the time between creating a piece and getting it glaze fired! I personally think that part of it makes the final product much more rewarding!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My goal for creating pottery began so simply. I thought to myself- okay I want to create unique everyday household pieces that make me happy. Then out came a body of work that consists of imperfect, organic forms that I glaze in a style that mimics my paintings, inspired by nature & places I’ve traveled. I’m most proud of my work that reflects exploration and curiosity of the clay and glaze.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think having the ability to let go is wildly important to my success. It is so easy for me to pick out the flaws in my work, and want to “fix” everything aiming for perfection. Like most artists, I am my own worst critic in that way. Making work that is organic and intentionally imperfect forces me to let go of perfection, and allows me to be expressive, bringing a necessary calmness, joy & spontaneity to my process.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sunnymudpottery