Susan McHenry Ceramics

I was working as a writer when I took my first ceramics class in 2002, shortly after moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan, from my hometown in upstate New York. Little did I know then how much clay would change the course of my life. I soon felt a calling to the material, and over the years, I’ve responded to the desire to devote more space in my life for it. I make all my pots at my home studio where I'm surrounded by trees and a big open sky. In the tradition of her late sister Mira, our dog Zuzu often keeps me company in the studio. I enjoy the daily rhythms of my studio practice of making, decorating, and firing. Clay continues to be one of my greatest teachers. I’ve learned about my own determination as I struggled when first learning to throw on the potter's wheel. And today when I face an obstacle in the studio, I can see how much I’ve grown to love solving problems. A life in clay means that I will never be done learning all it has to teach me. The excitement in knowing this allows me to approach the material each day with an openness to the unknown and where it might lead me.