I remember making an ashtray, and a snake, in Mrs. Belvridge’s second grade class. That was P.S. 52, Far Rockaway, NY. Maybe 1953. Since then I’ve learned to work with acrylic and watercolor paints; carved limestone, alabaster, and assorted woods; and even dabbled in MiG welding for metal sculpture. But I didn’t work with clay again until 2019 when I discovered ClayWorks. To take something from my mind and use this fancy mud to make a 3D representation of that something is remarkable. Opening the kiln to see the finished work is like Christmas, such excitement, such expectation. And then, occasionally, a couple of good sized lumps of charcoal. Sometimes I wonder about glassblowing.