Jenny Keller has built a life around clay, spinning it into mugs, bowls and pitchers. Her craft doubles as prayer and practice.
“I feel so close to God when I’m able to see something come from nothing,” said Keller, 26, a member of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. By day she works in HR strategy, and by night she’s at the wheel.
Q) What were your first artistic influences?
A) My dad is an excellent sculptor. He works with teeth every day. Dentistry requires lots of fine-arts creativity. For fun, he sculpts trees. He carved a series of tree stumps at St. Kate’s (St. Catherine University in St. Paul). We have two in our house. They’re such fun, whimsical pieces of art.
He used to carve the second-largest pumpkin in Minnesota every year into an insane face. His friend was a grower, and we’d take a trailer to pick it up. It was such an achievement to carve something so big in a set amount of time with Halloween as the deadline. Everyone was in the garage for days on end watching him carve. That core memory made me want to do something that was special.
Q) He saw the whole wide world as a canvas for art! That sounds like a spiritual lens. How does your art relate to your Catholic faith?
A) I didn’t connect my faith to my work in pottery until about five years into my business when I found (St. John Paull II)’s letter to artists and everything clicked. That was a point in my life where I (felt) like I became who I still am today. My deep sense of purpose to create and my lowercase “v” vocation of being a potter really made sense.
Q) How do your day job and your nighttime work fit together?
A) They’re very different. They each inform the other. I think I’ll always need to have both. I’m more creative at work because of pottery, and I’m a much better businesswoman and planner because of my day job. I love the routine and the paycheck of the day job, but I need to be by myself and be creative to recharge.
Q) Describe your studio.
A) I’m in a dark, dingy, unfinished basement. The light is flickering. There are no windows. The cement is crumbling all around me and mixing with clay dust on the floor. I always have a dehumidifier going. There’s usually laundry going. I have a Peloton tucked in the corner and pots everywhere. I’m wearing old jeans. I work in the evening, often till 11 p.m.
My all-time life dream would be to build a studio, kind of in the woods, where at least three sides show trees and skylights, somewhere above ground to have a really well-functioning studio.
Q) What gets you into flow?
A) If I’m really in (the) flow state, what helps me get there is a playlist of songs I know every word to. Bon Iver is one of my favorite artists, John Mayer to sing along with. If I’m really stressed out, I’ll throw him on. It feels comforting. I love throwing on “Pride and Prejudice” from 2005 — things that feel like home.
Q) Is the work relaxing?
A) If I’m going to make pots, my stomach is going to hurt. It’s not relaxing. My body hurts. It’s really laborious, and it’s all decision-making. I’m constantly making decisions and translating that through my hands to put the clay where I want it to go.
Q) How do you make the pieces?
A) I buy wet clay. The process of turning wet clay into pots is called throwing, which is my favorite part of the process, when I’m at the wheel. Warren MacKenzie, a famous potter from Minnesota, said: The first 10,000 pots are hard, the second 10,000 are a little less difficult. I think I’m nearing about 10,000 pots now, and it’s absolutely true.
Once pots are leather hard, I trim the bases, stamp the pots with my signature and logo, and put it into the bisque firing where it will reach 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit. That turns it into a ceramic material called bisqueware. Then I apply a liquid glaze, fire again at 2,230 degrees Fahrenheit and the piece is in its final form!
Q) Tada! It must be exciting to add color through the glaze.
A) I make all my own glazes. I’ve made over 70 glazes over the last year. I’m obsessed with color. Once the glaze has dried on the pot, I put it back in the kiln for the glaze firing, and then the pieces come out finished. It’s a time-consuming process that can take anywhere from two weeks to two months.
Q) Why is it important to make things with our hands?
A) It’s integral to the human experience to co-create with God. The world does not encourage people to make things. Many people reach the conclusion at a young age that they don’t have a so-called gift for art and they move on. That does such a disservice to the needs of every human person. There’s this view of artists as prodigies that have something from the beginning.
But no, it’s not “you can do it, or you can’t.” It’s a skill, and like everything, you have to incorporate it into your daily life — not just in digital ways, but by actually making physical things, even if they turn out bad. That’s so important.
Q) How did your business begin?
A) It started slowly. I was making pots in my high-school class, and I completely fell in love with production pottery. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. As a kid, I was making business cards for my dog-walking business.
I started selling pottery during my senior art show in high school, and I haven’t looked back. I started an Etsy shop soon after that. (etsy.com/shop/jennykellerceramics). The growth has been organic. I like to stick to smaller shows and pop-ups. I prefer connecting with people who buy my art. I don’t want it to be a transaction. I want it to be an experience.
Q) Is it hard to put a price tag on your work?
A) It’s the hardest part of my work and running a business. I want to make good pots accessible to all, but I also can’t justify the amount of time I spend each year making a fraction of minimum wage to do so. It’s a nauseating balance that I’ll never be satisfied with. Most of my mugs are around $35 depending on their size and complexity to make. The price of clay has doubled since I started making pots, and glaze is very expensive.
Q) Does it feel unfair that pottery is not a profitable job?
A) Of course it’s unfair. I think of myself as more of an everyday artist. I’m not Caravaggio who had patrons of the Church. There have always been artists who get paid to do it, there still are. All of the potters I’ve known and admired are poor in some way. They’re not living in extravagant houses. They’ve chosen that lifestyle happily. They have a beautiful contentedness and simplicity. I admire it, but I fear it, too. Financial stability is something I value, and if that’s not in place, then I shouldn’t be giving all my time to art.
Q) What’s your best seller?
A) Mugs are my best seller and also the most fun to make. Cobalt is my favorite color. I’ve been trying to get this ultramarine cobalt blue and it has taken over a year of testing.
My favorite mug right now would have to be the Short Mug, my newest style. It’s squattier, but it’s not a squat mug. It’s perfect for tomato soup but also great for a latte.
Morning rituals are so important. When I get to spend the first moments of my day holding something handmade and beautiful it means so much more. It’s overwhelming to know my customers connect with my pottery as much as I do.
Q) What keeps you going on hard days?
A) I feel so much self-worth when I’m done. I feel valuable when I stand back and see the work I’ve done. I feel that I’ve done the thing that God has created me to do.
Q) I understand that you love autumn.
A) Yes! I take the line from “You’ve Got Mail” — “Don’t you just love New York in the fall?” — and change it to “Don’t you just love St. Paul in the fall?” That’s how I feel!
Q) What do you know for sure?
A) I know love is the most important thing — sharing and showing God’s love every day through the gifts we’ve each been given.
