POTTER IN THE WILD: TAMMY KARLSSON
What motivates me? I have decided that there’s no turning back; I will never again live the life I used to live. That decision strongly motivates me every morning.
I live in a cottage in the country on the Swedish west coast. In 2020, I built and started up a tiny pottery studio next to my house, after three years of ceramic studies. I'm now a full-time potter, mostly working on the wheel and throwing functional stoneware objects.
I aim to make timeless forms, shapes, and glazes, and I wish for my pottery to be long-lasting. I put a lot of time into testing my objects to give them a good and functional design. My favorite way of decoartion is using wild local clay, applied to the pottery as a slip.
Hometown: Mölndal, not far from Gothenberg, Sweden
Currently living: Väröbacka, not far from Varberg, Sweden
Family: Boyfriend in another city
Pets: Django, a bordercollie
Reading: Too little
Hobbies: Gardening and music
Listening to: Lately, it’s mostly been Swedish Radio P1 and the podcasts ”Jordkommissionen” and ”Till sängs med Malena & Samanda.”
Favorite life hack: Staying away from bad energy
What music do you enjoy? Music that is performed by humans playing instruments. So that would primarily be ”older” music.
Do you collect anything? Stones. For my garden. Big stones, flagstones, bricks, gravel. Stones are beautiful and very useful.
Favorite Quote? I have two – “less is more” and “more is more.”
What took me here was a quite shaky and dramatic time in life. I got mentally burned out after some years of hectic working, a chaotic relationship, hormonal disorders, and generally running through life at a very high pace. In the middle of that, I also bought myself an old summer house with a giant garden that was totally out of control.
I eventually had to slow down, shape new habits and define what’s really meaningful to me in life. That got me starting to do pottery. For a start only as a hobby, but it didn’t take me long to realize I had to explore and learn more about this craft.
What in your life do you find exciting at the moment? With summer, warmth and sun comes a lot of long awaited energy. It’s all endless possibilities, at least in my head, ha ha. I love that time of the year . I feel strong. I’ve made som changes is my life recently so entering fall on a new path, loaded with the summers energy feels very exciting.
What are you most proud of? I’m proud that I’m actually running and rolling this life, by myself. Finally working as an artisan and artist, running my business. I’ve got this little scrappy house and my beloved garden. I’m so greatful for it all and where I am in life right now.
What motivates me?The realization that I actually can live outside the norm and choose my own way of life and that it gives me much more freedom. I have decided there’s no turning back. That decision strongly motivates me every morning.
What holds you back? I fear getting totally exhausted again, deteriorating my physical and mental health by working too much, and still, now and then, I fall down into a dark hole, swimming around in soggy, bad self-esteem, and not being creative at all. Luckily, the way up is shorter nowadays, and the low periods come at longer intervals. But yeah, that really makes me tiptoe through life more than I actually want to.
What advice would you give your younger self? Trust and listen to yourself, without exception! If you feel no – say no!
Tammy’s Recipe
I really enjoy eating good home-cooked food. I’m interested in nutrition and health. I like growing veggies. I care about the origin of the things I eat. I’ve changed my diet over time to help heal my body and gut. It’s too bad that I find it very boring working and spending time in the kitchen. Every meal is a challenge, a necessary evil, haha. Despite that, I put effort into making reasonably tasty and healthy food.
I’d like to share a recipe for my “warm filling salad.” It takes some time to chop everything up, but I find this quite easy to make. The ingredients can vary, depending on what I have at home. Rice noodles or glass noodles can replace rice and quinoa. In the summer, I use veggies from the garden instead.
Tammy's Warm Filling Salad
"I’d like to share a recipe for my “warm filling salad”. It takes some time to chop everything up, but is a really easy recipe to make. The ingredients can vary, depending on what you have at home. Rice and quinoa can be replaced by rice noodles or glass noodles. In the summer, I use veggies from the garden. Tammy xx"
Ingredients
- 2 dl Brown or whole grain rice
- 2 dl Quinoa
- 1 Sweet potato (normal size, what ever that is…?)
- 1 Broccoli
- 2 Carrots
- A handful of Cabbage or Kale
- ½ Cucumber
- 5 Radish
- 1 stem of Celery
- 1 Tomato
- 1 Red pepper
- 1 bag of Green leafs or ½ head of Lettuce
- Fresh herbs of choice
- Herb salt
- Olive oil/ coconut oil
- Something pickled
- Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
- Protein of choice: Bolied egg, fried halloumi, meat, fried temphe, fried tofu, fish
- Dressing:Olive oil, minced garlic, a dash of chilisauce, apple cider vinegar, 1 raw egg, sweeteing of some kind (I use agave syrup)
Instructions
1. Start by setting the oven to 200°
Boil rice and quinoa (I use two different pans)
Chop broccoli, cabbage/kale, and sweet potato and put them in an oven dish. Add oil or coconut oil, herbs, salt, and pepper. Put it in the oven. Roast it until it’s soft and has gotten a bit of a color, about 15-20 minutes.
2. Chop the rest of the greens (I grate the carrots) and the fresh herbs, and mix it all in a big salad bowl.
3. Prepare the chosen protein.
4. Combine the dressing ingredients in a tall pitcher and mix well with a stand mixer. The egg will make the dressing creamy.
5. Take out the greens from the stove and let them cool a little.
Then, blend them with the rice and quinoa in a bowl. Add some oil to make it less sticky.
6. Mix some of the fresh greens with some of the lukewarm rice and quinoa greens in a pasta or noodle bowl. Add your dressing, put something pickled over the salad, and then sprinkle some seeds on top of it all.
Bon appétit!
Notes
Keep any leftover salad in the fridge, in separate bowls, and leave the dressing aside. This keeps everything fresh and crispy. For your next meal, just heat the rice-quinoa-greens-mix before you blend it with your fresh greens, so you get a warm salad even the next day!
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