When Tanya Casteel was a child in Wichita, Kan., she told her parents she wanted to be an artist and a waitress someday.
"They said those two things would go together really well," the ceramicist recalled with a laugh. In fact, she waited tables for seven years, on a floating restaurant in Portland, Maine, which inspired her love of the water.
"I'm fascinated with the ocean, especially what's underneath it," said Casteel, whose business Cephalopod Ink Ceramics is a nod to the class of marine mollusks that includes ink-squirting squid and octopus. Much of her work features those creatures and other maritime images.
In 2009, when Casteel moved to Raleigh, she retired from food service and now makes a living with her art. This summer, the Raleigh visual arts center Artspace awarded her an emerging artist residency, which gives Casteel a rent-free studio for six months and her own exhibition in February.
"All this has happened pretty fast," Casteel said..
Casteel, 28, who grew up painting and drawing, developed a feel for photography in high school. After following her parents to Portland, she pursued a photography degree at the Maine College of Art. In her senior year, she realized it brought out what she described as her negative traits.
"I think I was drawn to photography because I have perfectionist and controlling qualities in my personality," she said. "I took a clay class for fun and found that I kept escaping to ceramics for relief. With clay, you never know how things will turn out. You have to be OK with that. It felt really freeing."
Although she finished her photography degree, Casteel returned to school to study clay in 2006, the same year ceramicist Ian Anderson joined the faculty.
"He blew the doors open for me," she said. "He showed me you can do whatever you want with the medium," including what came to be her trademark - using decals to transfer images onto work during firing.
She ended up assisting Anderson's wife, potter Kari Radasch, in exchange for work space at her studio.
"I couldn't believe the opportunity," she said. "The biggest thing I learned was the business aspect."
After one year, with her own line of colorful platters and some recognition under her belt, Casteel took a break.
"I didn't feel like my work was really me," she said. "I had all these voices and opinions in my head from college."
Heading south
During her break from clay, Casteel got a master's degree in education, experimented with science fiction writing, and dabbled in print-screen design and making stuffed sea creatures. She and her high school sweetheart, Michael Gallagher, married.
In 2009, the couple left New England for the Sun Belt, and chose Raleigh sight unseen, with only the hope of a healthy job market.
"I thought I'd teach for a decade and then go back to pottery," she said. "I sent out at least 100 applications and didn't get one interview."
A friend opened Casteel's eyes to selling work on the craft festival circuit, and she happily returned to ceramics full time last year. Gallagher, also an artist, runs and teaches at the woodshop at the Crafts Center at N.C. State University. He also tends bar at the Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh.
After Casteel started selling wheel-thrown colorful mugs, she remembered the decal process Anderson had introduced her to, and she began experimenting with images of ocean animals. She creates the transfers from her own drawings and photos, as well as 19th-century scientific illustrations. To further embellish and layer her surfaces, she also employs other techniques, such as stamping and carving.
"A lot of my inspiration comes from scientific facts about the ocean. Your imagination isn't as cool as what's actually down there," she said.
When she unveiled her decaled work last year, she said, "people were freaking out over it. Everyone wanted to know how I did it."
Decorative pieces
This year Casteel added "wall pillows," small square hollowed-out pieces meant to be hung.
"I still enjoy making functional work, but my main joy is decorating. I want to make production work at home and use my time at Artspace to try out new ideas."
Casteel's exploration of fine art impressed the Artspace staff.
"Tanya is hitting a certain point where she's really successful with production work, but she wants to do more," said Lia Newman, director of programs and exhibitions. "This is a pivotal point in her career and a perfect time for a residency. She's just figuring out her own voice."
Where that voice will lead her, Casteel isn't sure, but she's thrilled with the opportunity the residency allows her.
"I'll just start touching clay and see what happens."
