Can you imagine trying something for the first time, and not only not liking it, but hating the result, although in the end you end up building a career on it? A bit strange, isn't it? Well, that's more or less what happened to Irene with ceramics. While she was studying Humanities in Barcelona, she and her roommate decided to sign up one day for a course taking place in a workshop in Gracia. At the time, the experience was not what she expected. But without her being aware of it, a seed was planted inside her.
But let's go back to the beginning. Irene Forteza is a young Mallorcan who, as it has happened to many of us, was not very clear about where to put the focus of her professional future. Once she finished her degree and returned to Mallorca, she asked herself the following question: "What now? She began to sign up for PalmaActiva courses on entrepreneurship, without imagining that at some point they would be of great use to her.
During this time of uncertainty, she considered continuing with her mother's business, Taller Verd, a bookbinder of reference throughout the island. But she was clear that whatever she created would be hers, something from scratch. It was then when she began to germinate what she carried inside her unconsciously: ceramics. In order not to regret in the future not having given it an opportunity, she decided to sign up for a one-weekend introductory course in Barcelona.
At the end of the course, it was clear to her that this was exactly what she wanted to do. At that time in Mallorca there were no courses or clear references in the sector. A few months later, she found out that the same teacher who had taught her during that frenetic weekend, opened her own space and launched an intensive course of professionalization 3 months long. Of course, she didn't think twice about it. "From the moment I knew what I wanted to put myself into, I spent all my energy and focus on achieving it, whatever it took."
"I know how to make pottery, I have no idea about being an entrepreneur or being my own boss."
Now that she had the know-how, she lacked another important thing: a proper space. "I had a potter's wheel, but I just didn't have room and I used it as a bedside table, hoping that one day I could create something with it." Soon she would find a ceramics workshop; Mixing Soup (Son Ferriol). As she barely had enough savings to pay for more classes, she offered them an exchange option: she would do the maintenance of the machines and they would leave her a lathe to continue developing everything she had learned up until then.
Without realizing it and only 2 months later, she was already giving her first classes with Marina, the teacher of that space. It is here where she learns to teach. And not only that. It also served her to improve and expand her technique. After a year of learning, she decided that the time had come to take the next step.
As has become usual in recent times, all events unfolded very quickly. "I thought, well, no rush at all, if something comes up that I can afford, I'm in." She didn't need to wait too long. The following month the opportunity to rent some small premises in Son Sardina came up and she didn't think twice about it.
With the help of her parents and the savings she had at the time, she was able to afford the initial investment. But of course, now she had another problem: how could she get her project started? "Luckily, she was able to call Javier, her teacher at PalmaActiva, and together, they began to outline and lay the foundations of what we know today as Mostaza Taller. From the very beginning it was clear to her that her classes would be small, so that she could dedicate the necessary time to each of her students. It was such a success that, in just one year, she outgrew the premises and had to look for another one. Fortunately for her, the space where she is currently established soon appeared.
"I am envious of my students when I see them sitting at the lathe creating".
And it is here where we have met with her to learn more about her history and origin of this whole project, her new workshop, from where she teaches her classes; The first, the so-called initiation classes, are for all those who are entering for the first time in the world of ceramics, to have a first contact and begin to make their first pieces. The next level are those that Irene has named as stable; people who have been doing classes with her for some time and already have a more defined technique. In addition, on the first Fridays of the month they do a test with the lathe, and on Saturdays, molding workshops, which are taught by other professionals and each month the theme varies (Create your breakfast set).
But this is not all. In the not too distant future, she would like to dedicate more time to her personal brand and thus be able to create her own pieces and sell them, because she admits that "I am envious of my students when I see them sitting at the lathe creating". And that's the thing about the rapid and exponential growth that Mostaza Taller has undergone, which makes it impossible, today, to combine both passions, teaching and more artistic and personal creation.
What is clear is that ceramics is something that is here to stay. There are more and more workshops, like Irene's, that offer us a space, not only to learn how to make clay pieces, but also so that we can disconnect from our routine and focus only on the piece that we begin to sketch with our hands on the potter's wheel.
