People have asked me what it is about clay that I love so much.  There are many reasons why I love to play in the “Mud”.  One of them being the longevity that it offers to my art.  There is a story in one of our local newspapers about a discovery made recently in the Manti-La Sal National Forest.  1000 years ago someone set a ceramic bowl down under the cover of a boulder and this man found it.  While the bowl was not in perfect condition it is still in the form of a bowl.  It is amazing to me to think of the hands that created it, to try and imagine what they thought while making the pot and question if they thought about how long it might be around.  Most other art mediums are so temporary compared to the potential life of a ceramic object.

I have always wanted to create something lasting that would live on long beyond my own mortal lifespan.  a 1000 years from now someone could come across one of my sculptures or wheel thrown vessels and wonder at it the same way I wonder at the object found in the forest.  It is inspiring to me.

The story can be found here.

— Jerel