Potluckpots: Janelle Call Davis

 

Pottery Title: “The Way of Friendship”

 

This pottery is dedicated to one of my mother’s true friends, Sherri Ruedas. 

 

When I was a teenager, I wore an old relic around my neck that belonged to my mother.  Inscribed on the symbol were the words: “Times change and we with time, but not in the way of friendship”.  This old pendant had been kept for years in my mother’s jewelry box, a gift from a good friend.  When I adopted this well-worn necklace, the chain was broken and the symbol needed a little polish.  Having an eclectic taste for things with a past, I cleaned it up and hung it around my neck with a safety pin.  I wore this ornament daily from junior high and into my twenties, never taking it off.  The day I eloped, I carried that beloved pendant wrapped around my wedding flowers.  I loved that old necklace, it had a unique look, but I loved it more for how it reminded me about true connections.

             In 1973, just before she turned twenty, my mom saved her money and took a trip with a bunch of wide-eyed girls to Europe.  My mother craved beauty and adventure while most of her traveling group lusted after shopping abroad.  Desiring galleries and mountains rather than endless shoe shops, my mom bravely broke away from the group with just one friend at her side, Sherri.  Not really having an itinerary due to their spontaneous split, these young girls found themselves authentically neck-deep in beautiful sites and precarious situations.   This duo Laverne & Shirley-ed (yes, I just made that a verb) all over Europe tracking down sites from the Sound of Music, reverently looking at Rembrandts, and feasting on every local delicacy, all while lugging the awkward giant yellow suitcase.  My mom speaks of this time as one of the few highlights in her youth and used it as a reference when my sisters or I would come home as young girls with friendship dilemmas.  As a parent, my mom used her European trip to teach us kids about not following the flock and pursuing a true friend and passions instead.

            Shortly after their trip home Sherri gave my mom the necklace, a reminder of their solidarity.  More adventures, triumphs, and heartache has occurred for each of them over time, and through all these events their friendship has remained.  Jer and Sherri still pack baskets of baguettes and cheese and take to the hills together and I continue to treasure the pendant that instills in me the significance of authentic connections.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be Still

This collaborative pottery auction project is entitled: “Be Still” and was created by myself and Saint Olaf Catholic School’s adorable pre-kindergarten class of 2019-2020.  Our inspiration originally came from the old fisherman’s prayer that was recently painted as a mural on the school walls: “O God, thy sea is so great and our boat is so small.”  This project began in January 2020 as the pre-k potters eagerly scraped spiral textures into the wet clay.  As with many things in 2020, this cooperative project was paused while our schooling went to online learning.  This art piece was shelved for a time but kept cycling through my mind.  As a pandemic swirled around us, I couldn’t help but think about this vessel’s significance.  Each child carved swirling spiral waves into the pottery to represent the perils of life.  Upon the ominous swells lay a pure lily, a symbol of our Savior, an image of hope.  The lily is not surrounded by the blue depths of the angry sea but rather outlined with the crimson red of His sacrifice.  In the shore’s raging currents, we may feel fear but His peaceful voice will calm the waters. 

 

God bless my little friends at Saint Olaf; creating and learning with you was an honor that my heart will always hold.

Love, Mrs. Davis