Joey Ruthers

WHEN I FIRST stepped into the East London home of Joey Ruthers, I felt like there was so much to see. Her walls are filled with tiny pieces of art (hers and others’) which drew my eyes in so many different directions. She even told me about how she would keep some of her own ceramic pieces on the wall because of the lack of space.

Joey is a full-time ceramicist and illustrator, and she spoke candidly about how most of her business was from boothing at art markets. Listening to her speak, I have a newfound respect for artists who work so tirelessly to create their pieces by hand, and the unspoken challenges she faces as a small business owner. 

Q: How did your art journey begin?

I actually got a degree in photography, but I always struggled with the technical aspects of it. After graduating, I found myself working mostly in art shops and illustrating on the side. It was only when I started a job doing slipcasting that I shifted my focus to ceramics. My boss at the time would let me slip small bits and bobs into the kilns. I started selling these small ceramic items at different art markets.

Ironically, when I decided to go full-time into ceramics in December 2019, the pandemic hit. I couldn’t access the studio and had to house most of my inventory in my flat. This forced me to start an online shop on Etsy and sell my pieces online. I eventually sold out my stock and started drawing more, offering to draw and send digital greetings online during the lockdowns.

Q: You say most of your business is from selling at markets?

Yes, the bulk of my earnings are from markets. It’s been a crazy, busy year for me. I’ve done at least one market a month (except for a break in August) and I have 6 markets between now (November) and Christmas. I usually am quite prepared for Christmas (I start making my Christmas stock in June or July) but this year I have been busy painting pickles.

Q: Painting pickles? How did this come about?

One time I was making ornaments for Christmas, and I forgot to attach the hook onto a tiny ceramic pickle. I ended up painting it and bringing it around in my pocket, filming silly stuff with it. I realised there are lots of people who love the same dorky, quirky things I do, like a “pocket pickle”.

I started adding pickles to my drawings and ceramics, and the response was pretty unexpected: I managed to sell over 40 pickle portraits! Just earlier this year I submitted ‘Pickle Scream’ to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2025 and it got into the exhibition. It’s a silly pickle in the famous Edvard Munch painting.

Q: Congratulations on that! How has that experience been?

I can’t believe my tiny pickle hung in the walls at the Royal Academy, in the same room as greats like Quentin Blake! But honestly, it has been great exposure — over 300 thousand people go to these shows, and I have definitely been a lot busier since then.

I’ve been doing it for 7 years and it has been a lovely community: very friendly and supportive. There’s no rivalry or competition. I’m also very lucky to live in London and have most markets practically right at my doorstep. I only do two markets out of London each year. 

To be honest, It’s been a rather rough year for small business owners, with brexit and difficulties shipping to the EU and now the US. Also, across the board, people have less disposable income to spend. I’m thankful when customers still purchase my pieces and I have a community to get advice and commiserate with.

I do art markets year round, except in August and September where there are no markets. When I get back round to it in October, there’s always a period of awkwardness. I get almost anxious about everything before it begins. It’s a strange experience because the inside of your brain is on a table and people come round to look at it. You feel vulnerable.

For the first year or so or doing markets, I felt oversensitive to what people said. Comments about “other ceramicists” make me overthink. As an anxious overthinker, markets are a minefield (quite like travelling) – but it’s worth it in the long run. I also always get the thought: “is this the market that's going to make me need to get a real job?”

But for the past 5 years, it’s been my sole income and sometimes I am still waiting for the shoe to drop...

The truth is that I don’t make anything that anyone needs – it’s 100% non-essential. I did try making functional items but I realised people are more keen to buy a tiny knick knack or to pick up something small.

The hardest thing about running my own business is how time consuming it is. If I don’t plan to leave the city, I won’t have a day off. It’s hard to switch off. In some sense I travel for my downtime, which gives me a break and time to amalgamate stories from different cultures. (I love stories about ghosts and mythical creatures.)

Another difficulty would be to maintain high levels of inspiration when I’m doing the same thing over and over. It’s also challenging to create constant newness – people want new things, they tell me via Instagram. And I do try to make short reels to tease about new offerings and do a kiln reveal, which helps a little. But overall, it’s hard to keep coming up with something new.

Q: Are you working towards any goals for future markets?

Fingers crossed, I’m working towards boothing at an art market in Scotland – it’ll be my first in another country and a good way for me to see if I can handle it!

I also want to add a few non-ceramic things to my inventory – knitted scarves, 2D work, prints and maybe t-shirts. Ceramics will definitely remain the predominant thing, and I don’t want to scale to a point that I need to hire someone or outsource. I want to have seen everything through from start to finish. Even though I work many hours in the week, I’m not that stressed and my cat is my only employee (for moral support).

Q: Are you working on other art projects?

I have a children’s book that I am working on that I need to finish. But to be very honest, it’s difficult to come up with anything when my mind is stuck on producing for art markets and selling online. There’s a fine balance between making things to sell and creating things just for myself.

I would actually love to explore more sculptural forms. For example, I'd love to do a Raku series — it’s a very experimental Japanese pottery technique where your glazed ceramics get pulled from a really hot kiln and placed with other things (like paper, straw) to create very unique, one-of-a-kind effects on the ceramics. But because of the high loss rate of Raku ceramics, it’s very expensive. To be honest, I’m just really lucky that my style of handpainted, decorative, figurative stuff is popular.

Q: Lastly, what are you looking forward to in the new year?

This year art-wise I am really hoping to do my first solo exhibition of pickle portraits. It’s beyond silly so I’m obviously pretty excited about it. Personally I hope to grow more things and see more bees on my balcony.