What I’m Working on Now

Studio Letter from Simone Azevedo

Right now, my studio is full of things that aren’t finished yet — ceramic pieces that are still soft, others just waiting to get into the kiln, an embroidery piece half-filled with threads, ideas that only make sense once I sit down and start working on them.

There’s something I love about this stage, when nothing is ready to be judged. Clay hasn’t cracked yet. Stitches haven’t been pulled out. Everything still holds the possibility of becoming what it wants to be. After all, I learned, a long time ago, that clay has memory and to shape it we need to be patient.

On one table I’ve been building a new series of ceramic forms that are meant to be held — pieces that sit comfortably in your hands, with soft edges and some weight. They’re not designed to be flashy. They’re designed to be lived with. I’ve been paying attention to how they feel when I hold them in my hands, how the thumb will connect with the handle, how the glaze pools where gravity lingers.

On another table, embroidery has made its way back into my days.

Piece of fabric showing some embroidery - photo by Simone Azevedo

For months, I kept this part of my practice folded away. Lately I’ve been pulling it out again, slowly. I’ve been working on a large piece that feels more like drawings than textiles — lines built stitch by stitch, one decision at a time. I can’t rush it. It resists in its own quiet way yet with a target date to end. It is a special project that I will talk more about soon.

What’s surprised me most is how similar the two processes feel.

Clay and thread both demand patience. They both resist force. They both reward staying with the work even when it’s awkward or uncertain. I find myself moving between them not as different mediums, but as different ways of listening.

Neither feels more productive than the other. Both feel like time being made visible.

None of what I’m working on is quite ready yet. That’s the point.

These pieces are still becoming. And so, in a way, am I.

I’ll share more as they come into their final forms.

Until then, thank you for being here and reading along.

— Simone