To be honest, pottery wasn’t always part of the plan. For as long as I can remember, I was convinced I wasn’t “good” at art (a 7th-grade art project involving a cheetah sculpture with accidentally backwards legs can attest to that). In fact, the list of my artistic accomplishments is fairly short: winning a coloring contest in the 2nd grade, and years spent perfecting the art of doodling in the margins of notebooks during classes and meetings.

Even so, I’ve always loved handmade ceramics and been fascinated by the potter’s wheel. So, with ZERO experience, I decided to sign up for an 8-week pottery class on a whim because it seemed like a good idea at the time. To my surprise, it actually was.

I quickly became hooked on working with clay - something about the rhythm of wheel throwing, trimming & carving, and the concentration it requires really stuck with me. I found myself showing up at the studio before work and planning my week around when I could squeeze in more time with clay.

When I came across somebody selling their entire studio, I did what any reasonable person with minimal experience in pottery would do: I bought it. Thankfully, that decision worked out a lot better than the backwards-legged-cheetah incident, and today I’m lucky to have a studio space of my own.

I focus primarily on functional pottery and am particularly drawn to carving. It turns out all of that doodling has come in handy. Many of the patterns and sketches that fill my notebooks have made their way onto my pottery. Not only is carving an incredibly meditative practice for me, but I also enjoy the texture it adds to pieces, and the extra interest it gives to the glazes.

You'll often see the phrase Creating to Calm alongside KTD Ceramics. For me, pottery is more than making things. The process of throwing, carving, and glazing requires a level of focus that helps quiet the noise of everyday life. Creating has become one of the ways I slow down, recharge, and find balance.

While the process itself is what I first connected with, one of the things I now love most is knowing that the finished pieces go on to become part of somebody else’s daily routine. There is something so cool about knowing that what started out as a lump of clay in my studio has become someone’s favorite mug, bowl, or vase.