Why I make

Where it all begins: wedging fresh clay, this time my chocolate-brown stoneware clay body.

Clay speaks in a voice all it’s own. The process is every bit as delightful as the product… come experience both with me!

It starts with a story. The first time I sunk my hands into a lump of clay, something felt right.

Clay is flexible, supple, yielding. But also brittle, dry, and unyielding. Though it’s not much to look at, clay of all kinds can change— under the wise touch of a potter— into vessels of usefulness and beauty. Years into my journey with clay, I realized that the story playing out every time I work with clay is a story that’s been told for thousands of years… in fact, it’s the oldest story.

It’s a story about identity. It’s a story about relationship. It’s a story about formation.

And it’s a story that’s so compelling to me, that it motivates me to make and keep making.

“—then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Genesis 2:7

Identity

1. The Dust

   Over the 9+ years I’ve been working with clay, I’ve recognized countless similarities between people and clay. Scripture reveals that in the beginning, the first person was created with two ingredients: the first being the dust of the earth— clay! Like clay, people are made to be shaped. As a potter I like to notice how embracing my clay-like identity by yielding to my Creator, Jesus, the “Great Potter” tends to lead to the best adventure!

   2. The Breath

   The second ingredient I believe we’re all made of is truly amazing— the breath of God! Clay without breath is just clay; but with the breath it’s a person, with the will to choose! When I work with clay I like to think about what a marvel it is that we get to choose, either to yield to the Potter or to resist. Choice is the seedbed for true love. Clay that yields to the love and wisdom of the Potter becomes a vessel of usefulness and beauty. Unyielding clay grows hard and crumbly. It misses the joy of the grand design.

   Relationship

   1. The Potter

      My journey as a potter makes me think about the deeply relational nature of God. If I delight to work with clay so much that I regularly forget to eat while I’m in the studio, HOW MUCH MORE does God delight to be in a loving relationship with us? He’s the one with the power and the know-how to shape us, what a joy to yield, instead of resist!

   2. The Clay

      At the same time, knowing I’m the clay, not the Potter, is the sweetest relief I could ask for. The job for clay is simple: yield; stick close to center; trust the Potter; and don’t bemoan the process. Clay in the hands of the Great Potter is clay in GOOD hands. It’s the most satisfying & peaceful way to be.

“But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Isaiah 64:8