[mellow synth music] - Shandra Bjyrd: I find creating pottery really therapeutic.

I am able to get into a state where it's just pure creation.

"Flow" is how I've heard it described.

Being able to get to that spot is one of the best feelings in the world.

It's not only therapeutic, but also a big part of my identity, as well.

[mellow synth music] Hello, my name's Shandra Bjyrd.

I am the owner of Bjyrd Ceramics.

And I have been a potter for about 13 years.

[mellow synth music] I like to make forms with implied functions.

I like to make cups that look like they're cups, bowls that look like they're bowls.

I really do enjoy making things that people interact with every day.

[pottery wheel whirring] I'm not necessarily thinking about anything in particular.

I feel like my mind and my hands are just a lot more connected.

While I'm throwing, if I wanna augment or change that, by the time I'm thinking about it, my hands are already doing it.

So it's just a open and connectedness is what's going on up there.

[upbeat synth music] There's really no tool that sets you up to work with a wheel, and there's no medium that sets you up to work with clay.

They are their own standalone things.

So, everyone that comes to it is starting at base level.

For me, within the last couple of years, the surface design really comes after the item is made.

I don't have a glaze in mind, in general.

[liquid sloshing] Kind of leave that up for exploration.

[liquid sloshing] Yeah, that's great.

The ability to mold clay into something, and then fire it and have it be permanent is another thing that really drives me to working more with clay.

I've heard that once you fire something, you're in the fossil records for that area, and I think that's true.

I tell my students, especially when we're doing glazing, "Make sure that you're taking care for this.

It's only gonna last forever, that's all."

[Shandra laughs] [soothing synth music] The end goal is to be able to open up my own little studio at the edge of my property on a country road at the end of my driveway, and make pots, and do workshops, and mostly just create my own work.

Something that I can sell my pots at and provide some inspiration for folks who are interested.

Now that I've started selling my work and running into people who are like, "Oh, I got one of your pieces from my last show, and my dad loves it," or "I got it for myself, and it's my favorite cup," like, that's a great feeling.

Pottery is my purpose.

If ever there's something that I'm supposed to be doing here on Earth, that is it.

It's home, and it's definitely been a savior for me, as well.

This is more than an art form for me.

This is where I belong.

[soothing synth music]