We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Betros. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.
Emily, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
I think my work with clay unfolded exactly how it was suppose to. I don’t think I was ready to trust being in this kind of career until recently.
For the first few decades of my life, creativity and play were experiences that felt out of reach for me. They seem frivolous, even irresponsible to engage in. There were many things going on in my life that made me feel like I needed to be serious, responsible, vigilant, and put other needs before mine. I went to college and grad school for social work and professionally continued this path of helping others, and left myself little room for fun. 8 years ago, I started my private mental health practice and was a therapist for people struggling with eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image. This was also when I had my daughter, and the call of play and creativity started to whisper.
Through years of session with clients, and also watching my daughter grow and explore the world, I realized that creativity and play are not just necessary, but innately in all of us. They both have the power to heal us, connect us, and transform us. They aren’t irresponsible to engage in, in fact they make us more in tune to ourselves and the world around us.
Shortly following the Covid 19 shut down, I knew I needed to engage in something playful and creative, Remembering how much I had enjoyed high school pottery classes, I enrolled in a pottery class at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. I immediately felt the calming connection to the clay. For the first time, it felt like it was safe to mess up, get dirty, and take a risk. My brain could relax when I was working with clay and I could fall into a flow state easily. These 3 hours a week were my own personal therapy and I couldn’t get enough.
I continued to enroll in classes for a few more years, keeping play in mind, learning new skills, and experimenting. I bought a used wheel and starting throwing in our basement in my free time, and selling a few pieces at a local coffee shop that was looking for local artists. A year later I bought a kiln, and moved into a small shared studio space inside Jerico. Earth Body Pottery was officially up and running!
This was when I knew the next step of this journey was sharing it with others. This is how my Play with Clay workshops began. I wanted to bring people together and give them the opportunity to experience what I had; a few hours to try something new, let go of perfection and expectations, and just play. These workshops have been running monthly now for over 2 years and they are by far one of the things I get the most excited about! Not only do you get to play with clay, but I take your piece through the full firing and glazing process, so you have something to treasure for years to come.
At the end of 2024, I decided to close my private practice and fully dedicate myself to Earth Body Pottery. I’m continuing to create new pieces, add more opportunities for others to create with clay, and above all else play.
Without learning the importance of play, this career would probably be more stressful and focused on the wrong things. I’m in a place now where I can see the value in being present with my work, slowing down, challenging ideas of perfection, and creating for the sake of creating. It feels healing and necessary right now in my life, and I’m grateful to be able to explore this creative avenue.
Emily, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I create functional pottery that can be used throughout your home and in your daily life. I use stoneware clay and my finished pieces are dishwasher, food, and microwave safe. I piece that I specialize in and absolutely love making is a To-Go Mug, or travel sipper. This design is such a fun take on a regular mug. I love that it’s eco friendly and can be used in place of single use to-go cup from a coffee shop, and that you can take a piece of art on the go with you in your car. It’s a great design to play around with and add fun textured and glazes to. I’d say I’m also know for mini pieces! Mini mugs, mini vases, and seasonal mini items like ghosties and pumpkins. These always make people smile at markets, whether they buy them or not!
What sets me apart is that I’m always playing around. That’s when I get the best ideas and run with them. I don’t ever want to be a production pottery where I’m just making the same thing over and over again. Each piece is one of a kind and made in small batches. You never know what I might be making next!
I want people to know that Earth Body Pottery is a safe place to play and create. Our Play with Clay workshops are designed to give you 2 hours to engage in something new with low stakes. Just the process of working with clay can help connect the mind and body, get you into a calm place within yourself, and explore. As adults we don’t get many opportunities to play or make mistakes, and this is why these workshop are so important to offer. They create community, creativity, and a safe place to play around.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
In my own work with clay, my mission is to continue engaging with clay in a creative and playful way. I want to keep exploring to forms, textures, and designs. This is similarly the mission of the Play with Clay workshops. I want to continue to give other people the opportunity to play with clay and challenge expectations they might have for themselves around what creativity means, what art is, and perfection. I want people to experience the inevitable therapeutic process that begins when you start playing with clay.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
As mentioned previously, I had to unlearn that creativity was frivolous and irresponsible. I had to trust that these were a part of me and everyone, and they were worth nurturing and exploring. Fostering a place for play and creativity is actually very healthy and important for a fulfilling life, and there’s no right way to do it. They don’t have to involved making a tangible piece of art. They can be playing with your kid, going on a hike, or planning a vacation. If we can involve creativity into more things, they become more enjoyable and we see that creativity is helpful and a skill that we all have. Leaving space in your brain for creativity actually helps you be productive and engaged in other areas in a more meaningful way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.earthbodypottery.com
- Instagram: @earthbodypottery
Image Credits
J Ludeker