I’m introducing a new post category/series of mine called “Why I Love It.”  The concept is this: I have a ton of random things that remind me of certain people, places, or memories, and I don’t often take time to really stop and think why I value the objects or keep them around.  So I’ll take one of these said objects, post it here, and write a little bit about it.  Simple?  Yes.  First up:

This ceramics piece (I quite frankly don’t know what to call it) was made for me by my fiance (then girlfriend) Sarah.  When we were seniors in college, she took a ceramics class.  I would often tag along with her to the studio in the evenings, partially to act as her bodyguard (ha!) and to take advantage of the materials that I could use as well.  (The instructor gave permission for this, don’t worry.)  I think this particular ceramics piece came about because she was showing me how to use slabs of clay to create various things (tiles, plates, etc.).  She then carved my name out of the extra clay while I was taking forever working on something else.  After firing the piece, she glazed it in one of my most favorite colors.

I still keep this on my bookshelf, and I nearly laugh out loud every time I see it.  To me, it captures the whimsical side of our relationship and the spontaneous joy that I love so much about her.  And that’s why I love it.

P.S.  She made some really beautiful pieces while she was taking Ceramics.  I didn’t do her skills justice with just this post!  With her permission, maybe I’ll post a couple of the super-nice things she gave me that she made.