My first taste of working with clay was as a student in a San Francisco Bay Area elementary school and the assignment was to make an animal figure I liked; my dog got to be the model. I took ceramics as an elective in high school and it was there that ceramics as a medium made its biggest impact on me. One of my pieces took a second place in ceramics at a Rotary Club art contest. Ceramics pursued me into college, but again only as an elective. As I moved into the post-collegiate working world, its voice got me to create a couple of pieces on the side. From the laid-back Southern Cal lifestyle of San Diego and nearly seventeen years later, I finally made my way back to the dynamic pace of the San Francisco Bay Area. As a Marriage Family Therapist, I knew all about the area’s challenges, rigors and stresses in continuing to do the counseling work I did in San Diego. I needed an outlet to express the more visually creative side of me and again ceramics whispered that it was that expression. Some years have gone by since that quiet, yet persistent voice spoke to me. Many of my pieces have now been sold in different venues, some have won awards through the San Mateo County Fair, and have received positive feedback from my new friends on the Central Coast. It’s clear that others find enjoyment and meaning in what I’ve created and I hope to be a part of the ongoing voice that ceramics wishes to promote in our ever mass-produced culture.

What I enjoy most in working with clay is its versatility. It can be made into something quite functional or to provide more of an “artistic” expression. It has its own “life” to it – it often begs to be made into objects that people can pick up and touch. I am constantly amazed to have the kiln opened up and wonder what will be discovered…it’s like Christmas with each firing…one never knows what you’ll get coming out of it. I know that ceramics, just like God, will continue to pursue me. It will never let up and be satisfied with just a little bit of me. There’s always more to learn. Once, a long time ago, God
breathed His life into the clay that makes up His creation. In like fashion, I continue to look to create new forms and add to the creative process that God has placed in me to share with others.
More of my work can be seen at www.saspottery.com
You can also contact me at: saspottery@gmail.com