why we’re a little off

This whole thing - as in little off crafts - this is the brainchild of a pottery class.

Now, to be clear, I have been creating since elementary school. My first art market was when I was 12. So this all was inevitable. Where I am now has been on the horizon for as long as I can remember. But the concept of what little off crafts stems from my experience with ceramics while I was still in university.

In 2021, I took courses in ceramic basics and wheel throwing at the local art collective. I tried pottery at school, art + fishing camp (more on that another time), and when visiting my friends’ houses while growing up. There was always something about playing in the clay and smooshing it around that made me excited.

Something in growing up though highlights different cracks in you when going back to try old hobbies. My cracks? A need for perfection and an impatience in getting there.

I began to get angry while creating. Every pull of the clay showed that I didn’t center it correctly. You see in throwing clay at the wheel, you can’t move on to creating the figure until you’ve prepared the clay properly for a pull. Everytime I pulled, I realized that it wasn’t perfect and I’d have to start all over again. I was too excited for the end result, that I would move too quickly. My impatience would lead to a lopsided mug or glaze in the wrong places.

I remember the two reactions to my first piece coming out of the kiln. Initially I was so proud and couldn’t believe I had done it. It was my art. Then in looking at it one second longer, the disappointment set in. The “I should have” list came out and my head was filled with critiques. The joy of the art left.

A rotation of idea, impatience, excitement, disappointment; over and over. Wonky piece after wonky piece, I didn’t seem to be learning.

When you look back from my first piece, to the pieces that sit in my kitchen cabinets now, another story is told. I was learning. The pieces got sturdier and more centered and began to reflect the ideas in my head. In all my critiques, I missed it. I had to look backwards to see the beauty.

I remember the day I said the words, “I can’t get it centered, evrything is a little off no matter what I do.” As soon as the sentence spilled out of my mouth I saw a reflection of myself in the presence of Christ. A child who consistently coming to the Father saying, “I can’t get it right,” and His reply being, “I don’t need you to be perfect, just keep coming to me with your imperfection.”

To this day, every piece I create is imperfect. Before this bothered me. Today it drives me. It reminds me of how beautiful a life is because it is a little off. It reminds me of the Maker that meets me in my imperfection and calls me beautiful still. By living in the cracks of that fractured reality of perfection, you will find more grace, love, art, and beauty.