Despite growing up in the Seattle area not far from the Kirkland Arts Center, Raphaela Nicholls, known as Raffa to her students and friends, wasn’t aware of KAC until a few years ago. In those few years, though, KAC has quickly become a big part of Raphaela’ life and career. She currently teaches the Beginning Ceramics classes, which are all-ages and aim to create an inclusive space for anyone to start exploring clay. Her journey with ceramics dates back to when she was eight and exploring clay with her aunt, but her professional career started a little later with a ceramics elective in college that she took with her father. After that class, Raphaela was so invested in learning ceramics that she replaced her desk with a wheel and practiced on her own for several years. That class was pivotal to her, because if it had gone poorly, she might not have continued to practice ceramics. It’s part of why she loves teaching the beginner classes — it gives her the opportunity to be for others what that class was to her. Raphaela didn’t always know she wanted to do ceramics, though, and majored in psychology and German at the University of Washington. German was a continuation of learning the language from her time living in Germany, as she spent around eight years there in her childhood. She’s interested in eventually combining art and psychology, exploring art therapy as an extension of art education and a way to integrate psychology into her creative practices.
After working at a local studio in Woodinville, Raphaela came to KAC, drawn to the older building and its mix of fascinating spaces. KAC was looking to broaden their classes to include more ages for ceramics, and Raphaela had been teaching children before, so she was a great fit for that niche. Raphaela remarked that KAC is especially appealing to younger artists, because the community is so supportive and well established that it provides a great place for a younger artist to then establish themselves. It also felt far more community oriented than other studios Raphaela had been at, and “people who get involved here don’t leave.” She herself has been taking classes here, including hand building and glazing workshops. She views KAC not just as a place to teach, but as a place to keep learning. Of course, the vast resources and more specialty offerings, like cone ten firing and soda firings, are a lovely draw as well.
When she’s not throwing her own pieces or showing students how to trim, Raphaela practices silk painting, oils, photography, printmaking, and other art forms. Ceramics are her main passion, though, and she’s working on getting a website up to start selling her work more regularly. Recently, she sold most of her pieces at the Woodinville Farmer’s Market, although she remarked that it was quite the undertaking, and may not be a regular occurrence. She also loves exploring outdoors, and is of course in one of the best states to do so. What reminds her of ceramics the most is not other media, but instead, yoga. She’s been practicing for three or four years now, and says it’s improved her ability to teach ceramics. With yoga, there is a focus on your body and a level of mindfulness that Raphaela also sees in clay, as both require proprioception and intention to manipulate either your body or the clay. Additionally, there is a freedom of expression to ceramics, where the clay can be shaped in an endless number of forms, and she finds that this draws beautiful parallels to the expression of self explored through yoga. Along that thread, both invoke a childlike playfulness that is a welcome respite from the rest of our day to day lives, and they encourage us to follow the techniques that come naturally to us. Raphaela believes that that is an important lesson as a teacher, in understanding how different methods can be equally effective, and learning how to teach in those different ways.
After taking a yoga teaching class, she’s felt like clarity in language and ability to be inclusive while teaching ceramics has been greatly improved.
Speaking of inclusivity and accessibility, shooting film has been a great way for Raphaela to make connections and form community in a newer niche for her. She said that film can be intimidating amongst the many professionals who know the ins and outs of the trade, and film photography can at times feel like a pretentious community to get into as a complete beginner. However, she’s found some incredibly welcoming people at Omega Photo in Bellevue, which was founded by two older gentlemen in the 1960s. They still run the place, but their staff is often younger, and together they form an incredibly helpful base point for newer film photographers to start learning the medium. Raphaela loves asking them for film recommendations for projects, and has enjoyed playing with a variety of well known and more obscure film types. She’s always learning, and she pays it forward every time that she helps a beginner learn ceramics. Her classes are a beautiful, multi-generational mix of students, and she adjusts her teaching style to fit each student where they’re at. Rather than having set projects for students to accomplish, she focuses on providing a base toolbox of skills, and then helping every student with the project or direction that they choose to go in. Raphaela gets a lot out of these classes as well, and says that the mixed age classes are awesome because the younger students “are so uninhibited and creative.” She draws inspiration from them as much as she does from the older artists at KAC, and believes that their intuitive techniques are so important to encourage because “there are so many ways to create with ceramics.”
One of the best and also most impressive parts of the KAC is how many outreach programs they do, and Raphaela participates in many of them. Among many favorites, she said that leading workshops at the Francis Village in Totem Lake is one of the most rewarding. There, she teaches a different medium each month, be it watercolors, pastels, ceramics, or an upcoming tie-dye class. Since it’s all-ages, Raphaela is often delighted to teach children and their parents simultaneously, and has loved getting to know participants that come back month after month. “It’s incredibly fulfilling,” she said, explaining how the attendees can apply for scholarships at KAC if there’s a medium they enjoyed and would like to take a class to further their skills. Whether it be at the center or out and about in the community, Raphaela is always using art to help people build confidence, create connections, and find some childlike joy in their day.