About Me
I am Jen Gelfand, and the Jen behind Jen G Pottery. My ceramics journey began in the summer of 2020, my aunt had signed me up to give me a creative outlet. I was a stay at home mom at the time which is an incredible experience but also can be quite isolating. Going to the studio every week was something just for me.
Admittedly it was a struggle in the beginning, lots of weeks I thought I wanted to quit, but a year in I had an aha moment when a piece I was working on was about to fail. My instructor advised me to gently tilt and alter my piece. It was like a switch had flipped. From then on I searched out forms to alter and “squish” as it were. My style evolved from a “squished” piece that looked like it had a mouth. Another potter and I joked about putting googly eyes on it. I started to make clay eyes and put them on all kinds of pieces. It’s taken time but I have found my voice. It’s loud and quirky, is sprinkled with curse words, but it’s always fun…and often has eyes on it.
In the summer of 2023 my pottery journey came full circle and I became the instructor to the same class that I started in. Pottery is challenging and humbling. It has a lot happening at once, kind of like rubbing your stomach and patting your head. And there’s a point where it all starts to click. This is the moment with my students that I love the most. Teaching has made me a better potter than I ever was before and I am beyond fortunate to get to hang out every week with the most incredible people I’ve ever met.
