About Me
My name is Jelena Mohnani and I am the founder of Totus Ceramics. My love affair with clay started eight years ago while I was desperately trying to find a way to distract myself from a panic attack. So I took a piece of clay in my hand and what I thought would have been an unwinding hobby in times of stress became second nature to me. Soon after I opened my first Etsy shop, Paint my dream, which against all my pessimistic expectations, turned out to be a success and quickly allowed me to quit my day job and dedicate myself fully to art.
Having a background in Psychology, I knew little to nothing about pottery, therefore everything I learnt came from a series of trials and errors. While being proud of being self-taught, I often wished I would have had some professional training, but I had to accept my path was simply different.
Art became not only my full time job but more importantly my shelter, my shield and my only coping mechanism in a battle for survival. Having suffered severe abuse in my childhood I developed a series of mental health problems that severely The battle was long and strenuous, and I nearly lost myself, but thanks to art, my husband and my two beloved pups I found my way to recovery.
Totus was born as an expression of my most inner feelings and thoughts during a long battle with mental health, but eventually it became my way of celebrating the life I finally got to live.
My work is and will always be a reflection of my journey, sometimes dark and complex, but nonetheless wonderful.
