Allow me to introduce myself...

Welcome! You can start here to get to know me and Clay on my mind a little better.

Hi there! Before I start writing about anything else here, I thought it only fair that you know a bit more about me. I like to find out about the people behind the articles I read or whom I follow on social media, maybe you do too.

I’m Portuguese, I was born in Lisbon. Currently, I live in a small village, not far from the city of Szczecin, in Poland.

Growing up, I lived in Portugal and France. I spent one year in Germany, as an exchange student before starting university. I studied in Portugal and then in the UK. I also lived and worked in Spain, Ireland and the US before coming to Poland. I studied Portuguese, French, English and Linguistics. During my studies, I worked in a clothes store, in a bookstore, and in a home furnishings store, before getting my first job as a freelance translator. I worked mostly as a technical translator but also translated a few fiction books. In 2008, I moved to California to work in-house for a Silicon Valley company. In 2013, I came to Poland.

That’s it in a nutshell. Read on, for the long version…

I spent most of my childhood in Portugal before moving to France just as I was becoming a teenager. My mother moved to Grenoble to teach Portuguese as a foreign language at the University. She had a 4 year contract, so, when it finished, we went back to Lisbon, where I finished secondary school. Before starting uni, I spent one year in Kiel, Germany, as an exchange student.

Going back to Lisbon after one year abroad was not easy and, after two years at Universidade de Lisboa studying Portuguese, English and Linguistics, I was ready for something new. I applied to and was accepted at University College London where I finished my studies in Linguistics. I absolutely loved my time in London. I felt at home.

After graduating, I had a go at a Masters in Philosophy. Turns out, Philosophy was not my thing, but that year I met some pretty amazing people, some of whom are still in my life. Having already tried my hand at translating during my BA, I again turned towards translation as a means to earn a living or at least of making enough money to be able to stay in London. After one year of barely scrapping by, as much as I was still in love with London, it became clear that I would not be able to stay any longer. I got a job in Barcelona and moved there, where I worked as Lexicographer for a year, before the company went bust. For the next seven-or-so years, I worked again as a freelance translator.

Barcelona was nothing like London. And I am not just talking about the architecture…The first months were great, but I never felt at ease there, it never felt like home. Pair that with a long term relationship turning sour, and suddenly even moving back in with my parents seemed like a good option.

And so, for a while, I lived in Lisbon. I didn’t have a clear plan. I kept working as a translator and I probably would still be doing that if, during a contract job in the US, I hadn’t found out that a major tech-company in Silicon Valley was looking for an in-house Portuguese translator. I was intrigued. I had been on jobs in the US but I hadn’t been to the West Coast at all. California seemed like a different universe. I applied. About a year later, and after some months in Ireland waiting to get my Visa, I found myself on a plane to San Francisco, still not really believing that it was really happening.

It goes without saying that California was completely different from anywhere else I’d lived before. My life was completely different. I had a full-time, well paid job. Every day I was going to work in an office. I bought my first car. I lived in a small wooden house with a back garden, in a city with the same name as me, which the mailmen found either hilarious or dubious.

And it was in California that I fell in love with a Polish man. It was also in California that I touched clay for the first time. My near obsession with clay and my love for the Polish man were the beginning of the journey I am currently on. A journey that is so radically different from the one I set out on that I still sometimes get dizzy thinking about it.

It is this journey and where I am now that I am hoping to share here, on Substack. When I was young, I wanted to be a teacher. It turns out that, instead, I have spent most of my life learning. I learned how to throw at the wheel and how to handbuild. I learned how to bake bread. I taught myself how to grow a vegetable garden. Recently, I am learning how to be a wife and a mother. And I am still learning.

Which brings me to…

What can you expect from Clay in my mind?

The main idea behind Clay on my mind is to share how the life of a small studio potter looks like day to day. Along the way, I hope to write about being a first-time wife and mother in my 40s, about making a home in a country with a foreign and (still for the most part) incomprehensible language, and about overcoming the guilt that comes from quitting a well paid full-time job to pursue a passion. Maybe I’ll also write about Piqui, the cat who stole my heart, and Ivo, the dog I am still trying to get used to.

The focus will be on the workings of my studio, what I am making, workshops I have attended or hosted, etc., how life went that week. I am new to writing for an audience, and I am not sure how it will go. I don’t want to over-promise so, at first, this is likely all that I will be able to produce: one weekly(-ish) post, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. If all goes well, I would like to try writing longer essays, less focussed on pottery and more personal, about the struggles, fails and, hopefully, wins of simply being and trying to live a good life in these complicated times.

For now, though: is there anything you would like to know about my studio? About clay? About my process, the techniques I use? Ask me, and I will do my best to answer.

So, if Clay on my mind sounds like something you would like to read, welcome! And I hope you enjoy the journey alongside me.

And that is that for now. See you next time!

Sara xx

ps: Substack also allows for paid subscriptions. The option is there, though everything I post is free. You can check the different plans when you subscribe, but consider these a work in progress.

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If you would like to see my work

I am on Instagram, and have an Etsy store where you can find some of the pieces created in my small home studio.

And if you think your friends would also enjoy reading Clay on my mind, consider sharing it with them.