Focus on the curves

Recently, I have started a new line of work focusing on curves and bumps. I have been thinking a lot about how our journeys contain rivets and unexpected curves. Sometimes it feels disastrous, but beauty is there if we look close enough. The glaze I used on this piece is called Speriment. I love this glaze because it accentuates the curves and bumps. Like our lives, it breaks and shimmers the most where the bumps and curves exist.

Flourishing

"Sometimes when you feel the most trapped you are actually in the best place to flourish." I wrote this statement down one night before I went to bed and later drew a picture of this piece. It had been a crazy year. I had almost lost my life giving birth to my son, so my body was healing...and I was feeling so many emotions around the idea of not being able to have anymore children and learning to take care of a child who has a rare metabolic condition. We all find ourselves in these places...places where life's hardships seem so strong, so overwhelming, so difficult that we feel trapped. In those moments I get annoyed by the old cliche, "when life throws you lemons, make lemonade." And yet, there is part of my soul that knows I can choose to flourish amidst my hardships or be overcome by them. This piece is a functional vase for flowers to sit in and represent the idea of "flourishing." We become the vase but don't have to stay trapped.

A Place for buttons

My grandmother inspired this piece. She was a seamstress and when she passed away she had tons of buttons in tin jars. I have some of her buttons and have accumulated some of my own. It hit me one day while I was throwing that others might appreciate having a jar to put left over buttons and sewing materials in (because lets face it spools of thread fill up tins pretty quick!) I made this piece with that in mind, but created an alternate lid with an open whole for knitters who would rather have somewhere to store their yarn while knitting:)

New to the Blog thing...But not new to dirt! (thank goodness!)

It is hard to believe that I started creating pottery almost five years ago. When I found pottery I was at a new place in my life. I was taking a break from the social work field and grieving the loss of my sister. I was trying to find healing. In the midst of this searching I found a new passion. First, I focused on learning the skills behind my craft. Then came the desire to place bits of myself in my pots. My life experiences have led me to a place where I desire to seek beauty in the midst of tragedy and I want pottery to be apart of this process. My pottery is created with the hope that it will foster conversation about life experiences, thoughts, hopes, social injustice, oppressive forces and spirituality. My pieces are very purposeful, and typically stem out of a thought or idea about life and the world around us. Ahh…but in the midst of all the thought that goes behind each piece, I am hugely practical. My goal in my pot creations is to provide function in the midst of thought. I want my mugs to provoke thought and pleasure while people are drinking out of them. I imagine flowers in the vases I create sitting on a table or mantle. I hope that my pieces can be conversation starters or meditative. I am excited to share this journey with you and share my art.