Wendi Hawley is an emerging voice in Seattle’s contemporary craft and maker community, known for cultivating a space that centers connection, accessibility, and thoughtful curation. As the founder of Niche, a Ballard-based gallery and retail shop with a focus on functional art, she has created a platform that highlights the work of regional artists across disciplines—ceramics, wood, textiles and glass—while fostering meaningful engagement between makers and the public.

Her work sits at the intersection of artist and organizer. In addition to her own creative practice, Wendi brings a strong curatorial perspective, supporting local artists through exhibitions, workshops, and community-driven events. Niche is becoming a gathering place for both established and emerging voices in the Pacific Northwest, reflecting her commitment to building a vibrant, inclusive, creative ecosystem.

We are especially excited to collaborate with Wendi this season, as she will be hosting an exhibition of Rain City Clay staff and instructors at Niche this October. Her artist talk offers a chance to hear directly about her path, her approach to curating and community-building, and the evolving landscape of independent craft spaces in Seattle.

Read on for our interview with Wendi and for information about her upcoming artist talk at Rain City Clay on May 31st, 2026.

What do you like about owning a gallery?

I enjoy working with beautiful, handmade items; I love interacting with my artists but also talking with visitors about their creative passions. It has been rewarding to learn about different mediums beyond ceramics and assorted methods for creating with the same medium. Also, knowing that every sale is supporting an artistic community member is the best feeling!

Why did you open Niche?

My husband and I have both been self employed for over 20 years. In 2003, I opened Madeleine’s European Cakes, a custom cake and dessert catering bakery, and in 2006, Cookspace, a shared commercial kitchen. Once our son entered elementary school, we sold those businesses and I stayed home, helping with business projects and keeping the books for some of our endeavors, but not working full time. With an older child, I was itching for a new business. When our tenants vacated this location unexpectedly, I decided to venture into retail.

My first concept was a hygge home goods store, heavy on the Norwegian influence found in Ballard. That eventually morphed into a gallery featuring functional art handmade in the Puget Sound region. I felt this concept was closer to my heart, being rooted in our local artistic community.

What is your background with clay?

Since elementary school, I have had a little obsession with clay. I really wanted to learn how to throw but did not take a class until I was in my mid 40’s. Along the way, I have collected pots as mementos of vacations, given them as gifts, made friends with potters. After a decade of making my own pots, I now sell local potters’ wares! Over 50 years of loving clay.

What is your favorite part of the clay process?

Manipulating clay. Throwing is faster than hand building, so I often start with a thrown piece, then push or dart, carve or dent to turn it into something that looks hand built, not too symmetrical.

Also, atmospheric firings intrigue me. I enjoy working with others to wad and load the kiln. The firing process feels intimate and primal: feeding the kiln, listening to it, constantly attending to it. It is a very different experience from programming an electric kiln! The results are not entirely controllable but that is part of the wonder with both soda and wood firings. Occasionally, I pit fire, also loving the visual results but missing that functional element.

What are your inspirations / influences when making your own artwork?

My early inspirations were my wedding cake designs! It was a very natural progression to go from piping buttercream on cakes to slip trailing and from rolled fondant appliqués to clay appliqués. Gradually, I moved away from mimicking cakes and experimented with other surface designs. I love trees - the leaves, bark, colors and textures. From 2019 to 2024, most of the surfaces of my pots looked liked tree bark.

My biggest influence in pottery has been Sam Scott. I was gifted two Scott mugs in the early 1990’s while living in San Francisco. Years later, when I made the decision to take my first pottery class, he was teaching at Shoreline Community College, just 5 minutes from my home. We were only allowed to throw cylinders for the first quarter to master how to pull clay. Learning the basics through repetition was really good.

He also trained my eye to see so much. Though I had collected pottery for decades, I learned about form, balance, transitions, feet, handles, spouts and so much more. A functional pot needs to be more than just pretty. It has a purpose and should fulfill that purpose well through thoughtful intention.

Over the past 11 years, Sam and his wife, Dianne, have become mentors and friends. They were a huge support to me while opening Niche and continue to encourage and guide me.

What valuable lessons have you learned along your artistic journey that you wish you knew when you first began?

In 7th grade, I took a drawing class that I failed. I turned in the work, but my teacher did not think much of it, and gave me an F. That fail scarred me and I did not take another art class until I was in my mid 40’s.

In those 30 years, I always brushed aside any compliments that had to do with my creativity, whether it was how I arranged food on a platter, my cake designs, the floral display on a wedding cake, the colors I paired in my home or in my attire, my writing. I did not feel that I had any talent, that I was just a trained monkey and anyone could do what I did - probably much better - if they had the same training.

But, all along, I was making those design choices, I had honed my skills, I did learn new things and adapt them to fit what a client wanted. My clients were very pleased with the my interpretations of what they envisioned. I was very creative and artistic!

I wish that my 11 year old self had realized that I am a creative person. I wish that I had allowed that failure to roll off of me and pursued the artistic things I had always wanted to do. I wish I had not defined myself by someone else’s likes and dislikes. Looking back, I have still done a lot of artistic things but have definitely held back, fearing criticism. Kudos to those of you who explore and push and create what you want!

Please join us on May 31st to hear more from Wendi about her artistic and community-building journey.

Artist Talk: Wendi Hawley

Wendi’s artist talk is part of our upcoming Community Clay Day. Prior to her talk, from 12:30 to 4:00 pm, we will be offering studio tours and the chance to try out the pottery wheel in a free instructor-led session.

Learn more about Community Clay Day.

Time:
Sunday May 31st, 2026, 5 pm - 6 pm

Location:
Rain City Clay, 4208 SW 100th St, Seattle, WA 98146

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Community Collaboration: Wendi Hawley

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Artist Talk: Wendi Hawley