Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Alarcon.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Annie Alarcon, born and raised in Baja. I majored in International Affairs and spent about 10 years being a social compliance assessor. Although I loved the social aspect of my career, I always felt I was missing a creative outlet. During that time, I used to travel where I spent most of my time off visiting museums, galleries, creative studios.
In 2019 I started ceramic classes and I became so interested and inspired by this craft that I wanted to slowly change my life into having a more creative career. Soon I met two other girls interested in setting up their ceramic studios, and we ended up combining our dream to create what we now know as Lustre Estudio in Tijuana, Mexico.
During all those travels I experienced some beautiful experiences which inspired my desire to create a space where people could come learn, have fun, relax, or find a potential new career. So, when I met my business partners Bego Cuesta and Vere Murillo, who share my passion for ceramics, we knew we had to do it. We have worked hard to create a space where not only we can continue to learn and explore all things ceramics, but also a place our community can experience and enjoy.
At the same time, I continue to work on my ceramic journey. I am still learning all that I can about this craft and love being experimental. I am trying to find my voice, which is deeply inspired by Mexican traditional ceramic processes and Japanese aesthetics.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We got a place at the end of December 2019, with the hope of having our studio up and running in April 2020. Little did we know that a pandemic would change the world that year. Given the circumstances, we felt very discouraged and uncertain about the future of our new project. But despite that, we decided to stay active and kept working on the place. We had to get creative and do small things, like selling ceramic decoration kits to do at home and even an online hand-building class.
Although our start was rough, in a few months we were known in our area and later that year we were able to start face to face classes and activities (with the required restrictions and safety measures) which were very successful! People were tired of being at home and were craving spaces like ours to spend their time. We cannot know what our story would be like if it wasn’t for Covid, but we are lucky and happy of becoming our student’s happy place as they often describe it. A place where all of us could calm down, relax, and learn.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the creative director of Lustre Estudio, which is a place for learning all about ceramics. We offer hand building and pottery wheel classes throughout the year with the teacher Juan Villavicencio (a well-known Mexican ceramic artist). We also have workshops with expert guest potters so we can all learn different techniques (i.e., porcelain sculpting, glaze making, and traditional Pai pai ceramics). We have open monthly talks with makers we admire in the hopes that they can inspire our community in their creative journey. We have seasonal markets to support local creatives and open house events to share the ceramic process. Building a community of creatives is a very big thing for us!
We also produce and sale our own pottery brand as Lustre Estudio, we currently create stoneware for our local customers and different restaurants in the country. We love customizing and enhancing a dining experience through our ceramics.
Lustre can be found in an up-and-coming neighborhood of Tijuana, called Colonia Cacho. There are many restaurants and coffee places around the area which make it very lively and walkable. Our studio is a bit small, but it is very well organized and beautiful, we are very proud of becoming this space where people come to relax, be present and create.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Some of the things that I really enjoy and have worked really well for me have been visiting pottery studios and talking to their creators. I asked a lot of technical questions on how they organize things, how they started, etc and they all have been very nice and helpful. Attending classes and ceramic workshops has been another really good way of meeting teachers and fellow creators, talking to them is always very inspiring and encouraging. I guess just try to get near that community you are interested in, and you will find that there are people willing to share their experience and help you.
Finding a mentor is important! The help of Juan Villavicencio has been crucial in my journey. He was my first ceramic teacher, my mentor, and a fountain of creative knowledge. I am grateful to him for introducing me to the art community in Baja and I am now very proud of building a ceramic community along with him.
Pricing:
- Hand building classes $155 USD (4hr class/4 times per week)
- Introduction course to pottery wheel $290 USD (2hrs class/ 8 classes per month)
Contact Info:
- Email: annie@lustre-ceramica.mx
- Website: lustre-estudio.mx
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lustre.estudio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lustre.estudio
- Other: https://g.page/lustre-estudio?share
Image Credits
Lustre Estudio
Annie Alarcón
Carlos Arballo
Diego Castrejon.
