During my sabbatical in 2020, I took ceramics classes in Amsterdam where I live. As a freelance copywriter juggling deadlines, I needed more time to let go and grieve after losing my mother the year before. Holding onto clay helped me do just that.

My mother sent me to art school when I was a little girl, that’s when I first fell in love with clay. Many years later, during my sabbatical, I felt the urge to reconnect with something that once made me so happy. And of course, it was clay. Just as I started my classes, the pandemic hit, and they were canceled. However, for me that turned out to be a blessing. Suddenly, I had all the time in the world to work with clay at home, and I fell in love all over again.

Grateful & honored
I started posting my work on Instagram and noticed that others liked what I made. Soon after, my work was featured in an online ceramics magazine, and I was invited to exhibit in Paris during Paris Design Week. That’s when it first crossed my mind… I could actually sell my work. It felt like everything was finally falling into place. 

I’m incredibly grateful that people appreciate my work, that my objects find their way into beautiful homes all over the world. All because I trusted the process, the process of grieving and exploring.

My promise
In a way, my mother didn’t just send me to ceramics classes as a child. She sent me back 40+ years later. That’s why I honor her with every piece I make. Not just to keep her strong spirit alive, but to keep the promise I made to her just before she died.