Domestika Diary: Lilly Maetzig

New Zealand-born, London-based ceramicist Lilly Maetzig takes us through the city she now calls home and into her pottery studio to share her creative process

Lilly Maetzig (@mae_ceramics) is a ceramicist, designer, and artist who started her career (and life) in New Zealand before moving to London in 2016.

Lilly first found ceramics in art school, but she truly fell in love with wheel-thrown pottery when she began working in a shared studio.

In this Domestika Diary, she takes us on her surprisingly verdant walk to work and into her pottery studio to share with us a typical day in the life of a potter.

Now, more than ever, it’s important to find joy in the simple pleasures. For Lilly, that’s a morning cup of coffee from a local café on the walk to her studio. Another is a tiny nearby park that lets her start her day with fresh air and birdsong, even in the center of the city.

Her studio is on the Deptford Foreshore in South East London, a little creative space just on the River Thames.

Lilly is her own boss so she dedicates a portion of each week to planning her time to get the most out of her work week.

After her planning is done, she can get to the creative stuff. Often, her first step is to look up references to inspire her. Once she has an idea, she will draw it a number of times until she feels happy with the shape on paper.

No two days are ever the same, and very few pieces take just one day to complete. This means her Domestika Diary is just a snapshot of one step in her process and gives Lilly the freedom and variety she enjoys.

Finally, it’s time to clean up and head home.

When the sun sets on her walk back, the river is lit up by the city lights, giving Lilly a moment to reflect on her day’s work.

If you’d like to learn the entire process of working with clay at home, from the initial design to the final glaze, check out her online course ‘Creating Your First Ceramic Vessel’.

Check out more from the Domestika Diary series here:

- Domestika Diary: Elaine Li
- Domestika Diary: Connie Lim
- Domestika Diary: Alfonso de Anda