Pottery

The first year I lived in Glendive, Montana, I purchased this pottery vase.  It still has the sticker on it that tells who created it.  It says:

Vandalia Pottery

 

by

 

Panny Strommen

 

Vandalia, Montana  59273

 

 

I probably purchased it at one of the county fairs I had to attend as part of my job with Dawson Community College.  This was the beginning of my pottery collection.

 

 

Many more pieces would follow.  Some I would purchase myself.  Some I would receive as gifts.

 

The next thing I want to do is learn how to create my own pottery creations.  Fortunately one of my friends now teaches pottery, and has plans in the future of doing a pottery class for adults in the evenings.  I can't wait for that to happen.

 

As I was photographing my pottery, I was reminded I had received a piece of pottery created by this pottery instructor.  I received this piece of pottery as part of a creative exercise we did in a former creative group I started a few years ago.

 

 

 

I am so glad I kept the card that explains about the pottery piece.  Here is what it said:

 

Pottery....I am  a bowl factory------

 

Winter/Spring/Summer 2004---Pottery Class.  I blushed when the instructor wedged the clay.  Could not see the clay as anything except the female body.  Eventually after endless tries I created many crooked vessels---including this one.  By the summer my nickname was bowl factory.

 

I cherish this piece even more now that I am reminded of the story behind its' creation. 

 

I hope I get the chance sometime in the near future to create my own crooked vessels.....and become a bowl factory myself.

 

 

 

This is my newest piece of pottery, a colander, added to my collection as a gift this Christmas.  It is one of many pieces I have received as gifts or purchased from a potter in Spirit Lake, Idaho named Brad Sondahl.

 

If you would like to see some of his inventory, visit his website at here.

 

And here are a few more of the pieces I own from Sondahl Pottery.

 

 

 

The Bible makes many references to clay and being a potter, as this was a visual image that people could relate to during the time the Bible passages were written.

 

One of my favorite Bible verses with this theme is Isaiah 64:8.  The Voice translation interprets the verse like this:

 

Still, Eternal One, You are our Father.
    We are just clay, and You are the potter.
We are the product of Your creative action,

shaped and formed into something of worth.

 

Yes, I do believe I am a creation of God, that He created the whole universe.  In fact I find it rather humbling that He created me as well as the planets and the stars.

 

I like this version of this verse because it refers to we humans as a product of God's creative action, shaped and formed into something of worth.

 

We are all special.  We all have worth. 

 

And sometimes we need to be reminded of this part of the story of our own creation to realize how truly special we are in God's eyes.