Clay, ceramics, pottery, mud, dirt… call it whatever you’d like. It’s unlike any other medium I’ve ever known. When I first walked into Brackers Good Earth Clays a year ago, I couldn’t have imagined the impact this long-standing community business would have on my life. All because of something that comes from right beneath our feet.
Back in 2016, I was a freshman at the University of Kansas, studying Journalism, hammocking with friends on Daisy Hill, and squeezing every art class I could into my busy schedule. That’s how I found myself in a foundational ceramics course taught by Sarah Gross, who would later become a dear friend within Lawrence’s vibrant art community.
I spent countless hours in the studio, getting my hands dirty, testing glaze recipes, and learning the rhythms of hand-building and wheel throwing. I signed up for more ceramics classes as a way to find calm in the chaos of college life. One of those was a hand-building course with Marshall Maude, a phenomenal potter who pushed me to see clay differently.
As college unfolded, my curiosity drifted into the expansive world of fibers. I discovered a love for telling stories through weaving, tufting, and sewing. Eventually, I became an instructor at the Lawrence Arts Center, teaching punch needle tufting and beginner sewing. (Thank you, Kyla.)
Around the same time, I started working at Brackers Good Earth Clays as a sales associate. The role quickly became more than I expected. I had to relearn the language of pottery and deepen my understanding of the medium. After nearly a decade away from clay, I signed up for a wheel throwing class at the Lawrence Arts Center. I was nervous. What if I’m awful? What if I’ve forgotten everything? Has too much time passed?
But the second I sat at the wheel, it all came back. The water, the slip, the spinning. The mess. The quiet magic of it. The way pottery weaves together earth, water, air, and fire, and somehow makes them whole.
This past year has felt like a personal mission to expand my ceramics knowledge so I can better serve the folks who walk through BGEC’s doors. There’s a quiet, often unseen fulfillment in helping someone shape their vision, build confidence, and move forward in their creative endeavors.
I’d love for you to be part of this exploration of clay, with all its challenges and small discoveries along the way. Share your own experiences, questions, or reflections. Your perspective adds depth to the ongoing conversation. I hope my own words and insights can offer that same guidance to you, the reader.
My pieces that came out of the Anagama kiln at KU's Chamney Barn Complex
Andreas Braz is a fibers and textile artist who circles back to clay whenever it calls him in. After about a year working at Bracker’s Good Earth Clays, he rekindled his relationship with the medium. When he’s not at the shop, he’s usually sewing, tufting, or weaving, keeping his hands in motion and his ideas in rotation. He also teaches at the Lawrence Arts Center, where he shares his commitment to material, process, and tactile exploration.
