Hannah Lipper has been working with clay since she was a little kid. She was introduced to wheel throwing at Bennington College in Vermont, even though she went to the school for public health.

She didn’t think of pottery though as a job until this past year. With the COVID-19 pandemic, Lipper was laid off. She turned to pottery to gain some structure to her life, returning to a creative outlet that loved.

“I ended up by crazy chance getting the last spot at a class at the Worcester Center for Crafts,” Lipper said. “That was an intro to wheel-throwing class, and I just loved it.”

Today, Lipper creates both wheel-thrown and hand-built pieces. She started Cosmos Pottery, which is a Massachusetts-based studio and design lab that produces entirely handcrafted works.

“It’s definitely very different from working at an office job, working at a desk, staring at a screen,” Lipper said.

Lipper’s pieces are inspired by clean lines and natural elements, she said. This can be seen in the colors Lipper often works with: grays, whites, dark greens, and blues.

Lipper calls herself a perfectionist, but with artistic endeavors like Cosmos Pottery, she said she needs to keep that side of her in check a bit.

“I want everything to be perfect, but at the same time I have to remember that I’m making handmade pieces and folks that are buying my work aren’t looking for production-made pieces that are exactly the same,” Lipper said. “They’re looking for stuff that is unique and that looks homemade.”

Lipper said that she is able to have a general aesthetic within her work. Though it might not be a theme, Lipper called her underlying guide within her work “rainbow.” She said she enjoys bright colors and working with them. Natural elements also tend to relate to her style.

The name Cosmos Pottery even comes from the same elements.

“My business name comes from sort of a celestial universe, but it also comes from my favorite flower, which is the Cosmos Flower,” Lipper said. “I enjoy taking both of those elements in that kind of earthy and then kind of floral, fona vibe.”

Lipper’s work ranges from bowls and tumblers to wall hangings and pots or vases. Her “versatile planter” has drainage holes with a hand-painted glaze. The “blue eye wall hanging” is able to adorn any area — inside or outside — with its white glazed background, blue circle in the middle with gold luster accented arrows on its sides. The “toasted marshmallow vessel” is a stoneware piece that is speckled on the top half with a ribbon-of-sorts crossing the middle with more dotted clay. It can be used as a planter, vase, or even a kitchen crock.

Lipper, though, said she is most into mugs recently. “Partly it’s because I’ve had a love-hate relationship with them, and they tend to be more involved than a lot of other pieces.I love the creation of it and drinking out of things I made,” Lipper said.

On her website, mugs come in different shapes and sizes. The “moody mugs,” for example  come in both 12 and 6 ounces, with slight variations due to the nature of handmade products. There are intricate details in the mug too, simply from the fact that Lipper made it with her hands. The rim around the mug is a small lip, but holds the same color often as the bottom inch that touches the table. The handles also have triangle accents, adding to the earthiness Lipper talked about.

Lipper said her favorite part of the job is seeing her clients’ reactions when they pick up her pieces and get to use them. Cosmos Pottery had its first in person event at the Burncoat Center for Arts and Wellness’ Good Vibe event back in July..

Her family though doesn’t let Lipper forget where she started from.

“Whenever I send my family nice things that I made, they’ll send back photos of horrible coil pots that I made like 20 years ago,” Lipper said. “Every single time.”

All of Lipper’s work is food safe, dishwasher safe, and microwave safe, unless it otherwise is specified. For all of her work, go to www.cosmospottery.com.