QUÉRINE FROM LOVE Q
Tales of Alchemists: Quérine from Love Q
In Stories of Alchemists we interview inspiring women who have taken a step back from their daily lives to reflect on what is truly important to them. With passion and purpose, they now follow the desires of their hearts. This time: Love Q On a rainy morning in April we visited Quérine van Poll in her workspace in Haarlem. In this cozy studio, with infectious enthusiasm, she creates pots, vases and urns under the name Love Q. Quérine previously worked as a flight attendant, which she always enjoyed immensely. One summer day her husband asked her: Is this the job you want to keep doing? She had no answer to this. She began a long and intense search for her passion and came back to something that had always been at the top of her list: ceramics.
Can you tell us about the moment when you made pottery your full-time job?
Two years ago I took a course called 'Speaking with Impact'. I found it increasingly difficult to speak in front of groups, so this seemed like a good choice. This course was like a pressure cooker of self-development in which I learned things about myself at a rapid pace. I came face to face with myself, my stumbling blocks. Apparently some internal things had to happen before I was brave enough to quit my job. After I finished the course, I could look back on my life as a flight attendant and finally say: it was great, I can now close this. When I was considering quitting my job, everyone told me that nine out of ten people regretted it. That scared me, but at the same time I kept thinking about that one in ten. What happened to that person? I started researching it and noticed how people said that one in ten had gone on to follow their passion. Of course that fueled the fire in me - what if I was that one in ten? As the search for my passion continued, the confidence grew that I would be that person who decided to follow her passion, and succeeded. And so it happened, I have never regretted quitting my job.What does a day at Love Q look like?
My day starts with a morning walk to my studio. I used to go by bike, but now I walk. During this walk of about 25 minutes I already start to relax, so that I enter my studio as relaxed as possible. From the moment I arrive at my studio, the structure of my day always changes. I usually start by checking the pots that are drying. Do they need air? Are they still intact? I have to teach myself to sit down first and ask: what is on my mental schedule and what can I actually do today? I want to work with a bit more focus. There are always things that I just have to do, but in my head I always go in all directions. I act more according to what I feel like and before I know it, everything has exploded here. That is something I want to avoid and that is why I try to get a bit more structure in my day. I notice that everything works better when I am fully focused. I am never here for less than three hours, because I can't do anything in a shorter period of time, but I am happiest when I can be here for a very long time. When I'm working in my Love Q studio, I always forget what time it is. Before I know it, it's five o'clock. Since I've been working as a ceramicist, I'm always late for dinner!
Besides making beautiful pots and vases, what has working with ceramics taught you?
The ability to pause and concentrate on one thing. I am someone who is always everywhere at the same time. That attitude is not possible when working with ceramics. When I work with clay, I have to take a step back and fully concentrate on whatever I am doing. I cannot do multiple things at the same time here. Friends sometimes ask me if they can come over and sit with me while I work, but I cannot work like that. The peace and time that comes with ceramics is the greatest wealth I have learned here. It is a slow process that you cannot rush in any way. You cannot say that you want a pot tomorrow, which is in contrast to our modern society where we want everything right now. For me this is like a mirror. I cannot have everything right away - sometimes I have to be patient. I also never knew that such beautiful things could come from my hands. When I give someone a pot that I made myself, I find it so special. I never dared to dream that I could make something so beautiful.
