The First Mug

In May 2025, I started watching The Great Pottery Throw Down. By the end of the second episode, something in me clicked into place. Not a quiet thought, but a full-body knowing.

I needed to make pottery, immediately. That same day, I googled pottery classes, Atlanta GA, found a studio offering a class THAT night. I signed up without hesitation.

From the moment I walked in, I was done for. The calm hum of the studio, shelves lined with tools and works in progress, the gallery of artist's work, the wall of glaze test tiles like a color story waiting to be told.

The kiln room felt sacred and a little mysterious, all heat and possibility. I made a mermaid cup and two small trinket dishes that day, muddy hands and a very full heart.

Before I even left, I booked a wheel class four days later. By then, I already knew. I was solidly, happily hooked.

I had to wait... several weeks. On June 27 I picked up the final version of that mug. I didn’t get to glaze or decorate it myself, only choose a single glaze color and let the studio take it from there. And still… I love it.

There’s something quietly special about holding that first piece, knowing where it started and how long it took to come back to me.

At the same time, it made me even more excited to get back the pieces I’ve been making at home, the ones I do get to glaze and decorate myself. I can’t wait to see how all of that turns out.

Clay has a way of teaching patience, but it also keeps dangling just enough anticipation to make the waiting feel worth it.
This mug feels like a beginning and a promise, all at once.