What is this working in clay, this making?
When I was seven, I made my mother the most beautiful pink angel. Beautiful. Pink. Angel. I remember that Christmas morning so clearly, the thrill of knowing I was about to give my mom this remarkable gift. Decades later, when cleaning out my parents’ home, there she was, tucked away in a dusty closet. And it was, well, see for yourself. In a life filled to the brim, it had been saved. Discovering it flooded me with that seven-year-old’s earnestness and desire to make something for someone I love.
I’m still making, attempting to imbue pieces with love and a sense of purpose.
I like to make objects that resonate and use the proceeds to fund organizations for which I am passionate. My first project was in memory of my dear friend Amy, 365 handmade ceramic apples. The proceeds of that and continued apple sales, help fund her memorial foundation and its quest for a non-invasive early detection test for ovarian cancer.
And now I’m making birches, birch vases to hold flowers, dried lavender or just to be. Birches symbolize regeneration, they are often the first tree to take root in damaged landscapes. The continued sloughing of bark reveals a new skin, a new beginning. The proceeds go to a violence prevention organization in Chicago started by a woman, who, 20 years ago, looked around at a community in need and thought, ‘if not me, who?’. Now that’s a remarkable gift.
