The first time I touched clay, I hated it. It fought against me. It stuck to my fingers. It seemed to remember every mistake I made, no matter how small. I couldn't understand why something so soft and malleable could be so stubborn. Until then, most things had come easily to me. I could try something once and usually figure it out. But clay didn't work that way. It demanded patience. It demanded repetition. It demanded that I slow down, make mistakes, and try again. Eventually, I realized that maybe the clay wasn't fighting me at all. Maybe it was teaching me.
That realization changed the way I approached ceramics, and in many ways, it changed the way I approached art. I began to understand that creating isn't always about control. Sometimes, it's about listening to the material, accepting what you cannot change, and finding beauty in what happens unexpectedly. What began as frustration became fascination; fascination became curiosity; and curiosity became a love for ceramics and sculpture that continues to grow.
My creative practice has expanded beyond clay to include mixed-media sculpture, oil painting, and even digital art and graphic design. Each medium offers its own language, its own challenges, and its own way of helping me explore the ideas, emotions, and stories that inspire my work. I enjoy moving between materials, experimenting with new techniques, and allowing each experience to shape the next.For me, art is as much about discovery as it is about creation. That same curiosity has led me toward another goal, which is becoming a ceramics professor. I want to create, but I also want to teach. I want to help students experience that moment when frustration turns into understanding; when something that once felt impossible suddenly begins to make sense.
I have already begun exploring that path. During Fall 2025, I served as a studio assistant, helping maintain the studios while supporting fellow students with assignments, questions, and feedback. I also volunteered during my college's Innovation Day, working with high school students to introduce them to the fundamentals of ceramics, demonstrate wheel throwing, and encourage them as they found their footing with the clay. Additionally, my work has been featured in two issues of Novum Artis, Issue 008 and Special Edition 001, and I presented my work in my solo exhibition, Nautical Escape.
Each experience has brought me a little closer to the artist and educator I hope to become. There is still so much I don't know. So much I want to learn. So many materials to explore, techniques to master, and ideas waiting to take shape. I see the next chapter of my creative growth not as a destination, but as another opportunity to be challenged, to experiment, to fail, to begin again, and to grow. I want to deepen my understanding of my craft while continuing to develop my own artistic voice. Because perhaps that is what I love most about clay. It is never truly finished until it has been through the fire; and neither am I.
