Spring is Sarah Hansen’s favorite season, and it’s not just because of the fresh flowers and warmer weather – it’s also because of the slugs.
“I remember the first time I held a slug,” says Hansen, an artist who makes nature-inspired ceramics. “It was just your average Wisconsin slug in the woods – you know, brown and black – and I held it in my hand and it curled up and looked at me.”
A similar moment walking in the woods inspired Hansen’s signature slug and snail sculptures. She came back from a hike and started hand-molding a slug, and her friends in the studio gushed about how cool the new piece looked. “It just made them really happy,” she says.
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Now, well over 1,000 sculptures later, people in Milwaukee’s makers market scene know the ceramicist behind Hidden Roots Studio as the “slug lady.” But her product can be polarizing. “It’s either all in, ‘They’re amazing, they’re cool, they’re awesome,’ or ‘Ew, why are you making those slimy things? I don’t think that’s a good idea, they creep me out,’” Hansen says. Many of the dissenters are gardeners, who spend this season tormented by the plant-munching mollusks.
Beyond the friendly designs, what makes Hansen’s work stand out are the intricate illustrations. She uses an uncommon technique of drawing with underglaze on her ceramics to give them a hand-painted look.
Aside from the miniature sculptures, Hansen also sells planters, spoon rests, trinket dishes and more in her signature outdoorsy style at hiddenrootsstudio.com.
