Amy Madej grew up with a passion for the arts. The Florissant native gravitated toward graphic design classes at St. Joseph’s Academy and later pursued the subject as a major in college. But when a freshman-year elective at Central Missouri State University led her into a pottery studio for the first time, Madej was hooked.
“After working in 2D for so long, ceramics captured my imagination,” she says. “I love the functionality of it—how a finished work is something you can actually use as opposed to hanging on the wall. And it is so tactile. I don’t mind getting my hands messy.”
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Madej switched majors and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in art education in 2004. At first, she taught art in a variety of schools. Then, she went on to complete master’s degrees in arts and master of fine arts degrees at Fontbonne University. During her graduate school years, she concentrated on her own art and refined her process.
“Studying for my master’s is when I had time to experiment, to play around with more advanced techniques, different glazing and surface- design techniques,” she says. “I discovered the images and symbols that I used in my art, and I focused on a color palette and what it meant to me.”
Madej, who’s drawn to vivid colors, studied color theory and found a palette that feels harmonious to her. “From a psychological point of view, I like the feelings that color can evoke,” she says. “Red and purple have always been very powerful for me, and I knew I wanted to use them in my work and use other colors to balance out the boldness of those hues.”
Bright, playful symbols are signatures of the artist’s work, as is the use of an Italian technique called sgraffito, carving into hard clay to reveal parts of another underlying color.
“My work resonated with people who hadn’t been exposed to brighter colors in pottery. There is always someone who connects with one of the symbols, and they find joy in them,” she says. Among her most prevalent symbols are leaves (growth and learning), hearts (love), dots (the circle of life), and clouds (dreams).
The Space
For years, Madej worked out of her one-car garage. With the success of her wholesale pottery website, however, she needed more space to continue growing. So in 2024, she set out to find it.
“Florissant has a great community, and I wanted to add to that,” she says. “How does the saying go? If you build it, they will come.”
Last summer, Madej opened Amy Joy Pottery in Old Town Florissant. “It’s a historic building, as it was the first city hall of Florissant,” she says. Located in a 2,000-square-foot building at 621 Rue St. Francois, the space holds Madej’s studio, a gift shop, and a community space that’s open to the public for classes, camps, private parties, and workshops. “A lot of people come from Florissant, but I had a lady in a class from southern Illinois last week, too,” Madej says.
In addition to hosting camps and teaching classes, she eventually plans to offer membership packages and drop-in times. “Ceramics are communal,” she says, noting that studios have become more popular recently. She believes that many people are longing for connection. “People want to find others with the same interests, or to try something new,” she says.
Conversely, Madej says some people use the studio as art therapy or a retreat to quiet their mind and disconnect from the stress of everyday life. Unlike some other art mediums, pottery offers experimentation and different ways of doing things.
“It encourages conversation and collaboration,” she says.
Madej’s work can be found in boutiques nationwide, at local art fairs, on indieme.com and on her website.
