We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Keith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. My doctor referred to it as a piranha in my body. A tumor as aggressive as it could be. I had been breastfeeding my babies for almost 6 years straight and it truly felt like my entire life exploded in an instant. After a double mastectomy and chemotherapy, one of my friends asked me to take a pottery class with her. At the end of our 6 week course, I held a tiny vase in my hand and pushed two little boobs into the clay. It felt like the most beautiful thing I had ever created and the perfect way to pay tribute to the end of my active cancer treatment, as I had also just finished 6 weeks radiation.

We signed up for another course and I started making boobie vases for all of my doctors and other survivors I had met on my journey. It is never lost on me that my cancer journey has been filled with so much love and positivity (as far as cancer goes). What started out as a new hobby to process my diagnosis, has now turned into a business that I am so incredibly proud of.

Many young women do not have the means and support that I have been blessed with, so I donate profits from my Nice Tits collection to organizations that support those women… it’s a small way that I can continue to make beautiful things and support other women.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I love this question. I think that many young women are faced with a sort of reinventing of who they are when they enter motherhood and I found that very true for myself. Then shortly after my second baby, I was diagnosed with cancer, which turned my life and self identity upside down again and really left me searching for my next chapter. I felt this need to do SOMETHING with the cards I had been dealt. Pottery was never my plan. It had always been something that I wanted to try, but never in a million years would I have imagined having a studio in my home and running a small business.
I think that making pieces that represent my journey and the journeys of other women, whether it be cancer, motherhood, or just sisterhood and life, has been so incredibly healing for me and passing on that feeling of healing and purpose to others has brought me so much peace.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

From the beginning of my cancer diagnosis, it was very clear to me that my community and resources were a gift that not all people have and they were so crucial to my success throughout treatment. It was really important to me to find a way to do something for women who aren’t as fortunate, or don’t have the same support system that I am so lucky to have. Once people started asking me if they could buy my vases and mugs it’s all clicked. I was able to take this personal thing that I had done to heal and start passing it on to others. So, I reached out to Bess Hagans, another young mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and then started a non profit, Thriving Beyond Breast Cancer. I told her my idea and that I wanted to give back to our community and support other survivors and thrivers and she was wanting to do the exact same thing with her non profit, so it was a really easy partnership! I’ve also done collaborations with FCancer, The Fondle Project, B4BC, RTZ Hope, and most recently, Queens Against Cancer.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of this journey has been knowing that every mug that I ship off or every vase that I donate represents something powerful for someone. Donating money to non profits is amazing, but for me it’s knowing that every time someone takes a sip out of one of my mugs that says “fuck cancer” or puts flowers in a vase that they bought to represent losing their breasts, they are reminded of their strength, resilience, and that someone out there sees them and what they have been through.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarahkeithceramics.com/
• Instagram: Sarahkeithceramics