Clay, clay, clay, clay, CLAY

Ahhhhhh the texture, the release, the squishy, cool feeling. It is so gratifying to put your hands in to a clay body. There are so many different types of clays and so many different textures of the clay. This I never knew until I really started diving in... you could say hands first!

I have always been highly motivated to work with my hands. I come from a long line of HIGHLY intelligent and crafty ladies. I have worked with MANY, MANY mediums... even types of clay at one point... Scultpty was as far as I got with making things. But honestly it just didn't do it for me. It was a hard clay-too hard, it was a bit picky... yes it was colorful and my creative mind was exploding with ideas... but due to the expense and the difficulty of using the body of clay - well I just decided that it just wasn't exactly what I was looking for... It was kinda a bummah for me because I did enjoy making the things I had... so imagine my surprise when I found clay... right from nature. This WONDERFUL substance. This forgiving medium. I absolutely fell IN LOVE with CLAY!

I was heavily influenced on a camping trip... I just COULD NOT put down this Raku clay I bought for a friend to bring camping. I just thought it was a neat idea & needed to be supported! So away we went and when the clay came out - I saw ALL of our faces just lighting up. And I felt at peace... I felt a sense of "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" - complete with the stress and worries relaxing out through my fingertips into the clay to be molded and pressed away from me. I just cannot totally express this soulful moment I had. I had found my outlet, my therapy. I had found my niche... I had found my one thing that I can truly excel at. It just clicked with me.

And since then I have not stopped... in fact I have picked up pace so much that it is a daily part of my life. I am ALWAYS thinking about my ceramics. How it can help me feel, how it could help my family both with actual items but also monetarily. It is my outlet, my calm, my meditation. In fact I get to the point where I try to figure out how I can escape sometimes to just go quietly and produce something or just to shape the clay for a bit - maybe it will become something and maybe it won't but it gratifies the soul and helps me to really let go.


Clay and my ceramics seems to be popping out everywhere... It is infectious and even my children and hubby are not only attracted to it but addicted to it like I am... We love to create. I think God has put this bug in to us and we are passing it to our little ones. We did a porcelain platter for my Boo's 7th birthday where all her little friends signed it. I cannot wait to see how that guy turns out!

Going in to a ceramic store is for me like a kiddo in a candy store! This is an exciting time for me.

I am now starting to actually try to go professional and LOVE these new adventures! My safety guy (hubby) has been throwing lots of things on the wheel (however I want to HOARD them all and not sell!!!!!). And I am starting to really work on the wheel myself. I love it!!

He and I are working on a "nature series" - which are platters, plates & bowls all based on our local leaves and plants... we have an Elephant Ear platter and Sea Grape small, shallow dipping bowls or soap holders. I am working on a lot of different plates of different leaves (Leechi nut, Sea Grape, Pythos, Bird of Paradise, etc) - it's all so exciting. I am also working with porcelain for my new jewelry- all inspired by my FAVORITE earrings (seen here) from CharityElise!


Another professional outlet is a little company I started with a friend - First Impressions Ceramics (http://www.firstimpressionsceramics.com/) doing little hand and foot impressions in clay! What mommy wouldn't love darling little imprints of her baby's hands or feet?! And these are heirloom quality pieces.

A little example of some of the earrings I am working on... it's truly a lot of fun!

This clay has weaved so much in to MY life... heck - our lives. I plan to start putting these endeavors online soon... like First Impressions. Maybe it will be a sister blog to this blog and also I plan to list things on Etsy.com - to show my artwork and start to sell things to make some money for me and my family! I do have a few festivals I will be going to and will try my luck selling!

Ahhhhhhhhh clay... to me it's about finding myself in working with it. God gave me a gift and I am blessed to have found it. I truly love it. I am so thankful to be able to create.... to have my own niche!

"Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in." Amy Lowell (1874 - 1925)

Musing on whether I have time tonight to go play with my clay some more...