Evie May Adam

Sitting around the kitchen table in Evie’s beautiful family home is a rural idyll. Shelves are holding colourful creations, surrounded by paintings and ceramics of a menagerie of characters. A true product of her environment!

Were you always interested in art and how did that lead to what you create today? 

Evie. They really pushed the arts at our school, which is great; when I was in year 10, it became an academy of the arts. I was always going to do something arty; both of my parents are artists. At school, I studied fast-track textiles, art, expressive arts and music. So it was all very art-based. Then at college, I was going to do A-levels, and I found out that I could do a B-Tech, which meant that I was in two days a week and just doing art and nothing else. Then I was thinking about doing a foundation in fine art, but I got into university with my B-Tech, so I went a year early. I studied illustration at Norwich. I found uni quite hard; I was pretty academic in school, but then when I got to uni I just wanted to make stuff, but obviously, there’s the whole writing side explaining why you did this and that; I wasn’t into it. So I think a lot of what I learned there I kind of taught myself. Finally, in my third year, I said to myself; I am done pleasing my tutors; I will do it my way; I will learn how to use Photoshop and print on fabric.

After leaving university I came back Rye, thinking that I’d be here for maybe a month and was here for five years. I was determined that illustration would be my job; so I stayed here and saved up money. I worked in so many places, Rye Art Gallery, Lion Street Store, which became Barnstar Antiques, and I worked there too, Ashbee & Co. and Hunter Jones, with Mikey, so yeah, I worked many jobs. I was drawing and doing my stuff when I wasn’t working, and started illustrating full-time in September 2020. 

When did ceramics become part of your work?

Evie. I went to Hastings College to do an evenings course in ceramics; Jackie Summerfield was the tutor, she has her work in Ryebank Gallery, she is a lovely lady. I had been staring at a screen for the past three years doing illustration, and I want to try something different. At the start, I was thinking, what have I done? I can’t do 3D work, I was used to seeing things flat, 2D. I was going to quit the course when Jackie handed me a plate and said, do something on this. I was like, right, that’s it, and I made loads and put a few of them in my first exhibition that I had at the Lion Store. Then I started making tiles, lots of people messaged me asking if they were for sale. So I opened an Etsy shop, and they sold within an hour and I was just like, okay, this is where it’s at! I didn’t think anyone would want them; to me, they were experiments. So I kept doing ceramic sales because they were quite few and far between; people got excited, so they would sell immediately when I put them online. The first tile sale I had, they all sold out in 10 minutes, which was just like, WOW, ceramics is the way to go. I’d love to do just ceramics full time, but obviously, I’ve got to pay rent and call myself a ceramicist!

“ Looking back at the stuff I made as a kid, it’s all animals and line drawings, which I still do. I find that a bit weird; why am I still drawing the same sort of things? Well, minus all the Pokémon characters.”

With 3D objects in mind, what is it like seeing your illustration on someone’s body?

Evie. It is bizarre. The first tattoo I designed was for my sister and me; it’s of this house, where we grew up. It was for Fern’s 18th birthday, and that was weird. Then I think a few people said I like this drawing. Can I get this as a tattoo? Other people asked can you draw this for me so I can have it as a tattoo? So I started offering tattoo commissions through my shop, which I’ve got a couple going on at the moment, someone who wants a massive one to cover their thigh. It is strange because that’s on their body forever, and it’s something that I’ve drawn, on my iPad!

They always send me a photo when the tattoo is complete; I don’t usually meet them in person. But I did meet someone who has two of my tattoo designs when I went back up to Norwich - a friend of a friend. It felt strange because I hadn’t met her before, yet she had two drawings I’d done on her body. So it’s exciting seeing your work out there in the world. I was thinking about becoming a tattooist at one point, but then ceramics took over, which is fine; there is a lot less blood. 

On your website, you refer to yourself as an illustrator and a ceramic enthusiast. As you’ve sold many pieces, can’t you update that to ceramicist now?

Evie. There’s so much to learn in ceramics; at the moment, I feel like I’m still maybe dabbling. I only make two things: tiles or plates. So I don’t know if I can call myself a ceramicist yet. Maybe I’ll change that; I don’t know. I still don’t see a ceramicist as part of my career; it’s a fun thing that I do on the side. I don’t take ceramic commissions, they’re not in shops. Saying that there are a couple of pieces in Ryebank Gallery, but I don’t do them commercially, they are all one-offs. 

Your parents are both artists; has that played a part in your career choices?

Evie. I probably couldn’t see myself doing anything else because it is in our family; there is nothing else I would rather do than be creative. I was always encouraged to draw and be creative, do art classes, especially because my dad was an illustrator. I thought I could make a career out of this. Luckily my parents encouraged me to go to art school; why would you want to do anything else? They had worked freelance; I was aware of the setup and thought, I can do this; it played a big part in what I do now.  

“Mum and dad came down to Rye, filmed the sea, and then took it back to London. We’re looking at our videos, and it was just the sea for half an hour.”

What sort of commissioned projects do you get?

Evie. I recently illustrated a whole website called howmanyplants.com, which was a lot of plants! Articles about how to look after plants, repot them and everything. The drawings are pretty bright and poppy; that was a good project. Then I’ve got a company I’m working for at the moment called Afresh, an e-commerce grocery store in the U.S., which manages stock. They want their site a little more friendly. I’ve been illustrating fruit, iPads and things like that; it’s another excellent job. 

Working from home has given me a focus; I can do this as a full-time job. I want to work on projects that I enjoy in the way I want to work, I’ve done commissions in the past with multiple changes from the client, and I’ve thought this is not looking like my work anymore. I have a strong style, so once it starts looking like something else I think, I’m done with this. 

Do you feel connected to your work after the amount of time you spend producing it? 

Evie. It’s actually quite sad; they are all one-offs. I’ve spent so long on them, made them with my hands, and they’re like my children. I’ve glazed them and scratched them by hand, and then they’re just gone. I don’t hold sales very often, so I do get time to hang around with them before they go. I think my dad feels the same when he has worked so long on something and then it goes, but then also a bit of relief that it’s gone. 

Growing up in Rye is not like being in the middle of nowhere, but it’s not like growing up in a city. I feel it has influenced my work, like a lot of folklore, medieval stuff, nature and the coast; I love living here. 

Illustrator and Ceramicist / www.eviemayadams.com