Noah Paisley: Never Finished Learning

As I walked into Union’s ceramics studio through a set of double doors from the outside, I was immediately met with the aroma of clay, earthy and musty, almost like the smell of rain when it hits dry dirt in the heat of summer. It was the smell of hours of labor and the thousands of pieces that have been created in this space. I turned the corner and there I saw Noah Paisley, senior ceramics major, washing his hands. 

He looked at me and smiled. “Olivia?” he said. 

We greeted one another and proceeded to walk around the studio as I admired the collection of mugs, pots and plates that sat on the shelves. This place reminded me of a strange, almost nostalgic feeling, kind of like the feeling of walking into your house after you have been gone for a long time. 

We came to a potter’s wheel with a chair across from it and he offered me a seat. He began to tell me about his senior show, where he plans to make 100 coffee mugs. 

“Wow, 100?” I asked. 

I don’t think I have ever seen that many mugs in one place before, let alone that many all made by one person. 

“So you’re a ceramics major,” I said. “There’s not many of you guys around campus.”

“No actually, I’m the only senior ceramics major,” Paisley said. 

I asked him about what that’s like, whether or not it was weird to be the only person in his major of his age. 

“It’s interesting. I think in the past few years there have only been one, maybe two, ceramics seniors. And so, it doesn’t necessarily feel too strange, I kinda knew what I was getting into,” Paisley said calmly, the same way he says everything.

He explained that being the only senior allows him to pour into others, even though he believes he still has learning to do himself. 

It is clear that Paisley has a true passion for what he does. However, what many may not know is that ceramics was not his first major. In fact, he had never even touched clay until he got to college. 

“I came in as a graphics major,” Paisley said. “I bargained with my parents to let me be an art major and that I could actually support myself and they saw that as graphic design.”

Then he told me the story of the first time he threw on a wheel. One of his friends during freshman year was a junior ceramics major and invited him to come throw. He had no idea what that meant, but it sounded awesome so he took her up on the offer. 

“I came and all the ceramics majors that were in there were like ‘Yeah, let’s see what Noah can do!’ because I’d never done it before. I threw a tiny little cup and they were like ‘This is really good, you should take ceramics,’” Paisley said.  

I watched as he pointed upwards and proceeded to grab a small cup off one of the highest shelves and hand it to me. 

“This is the first thing I ever threw,” he said. 

As I held the little cup in my hands, I was reminded that even some of the most talented and capable people we know have to start somewhere. This was humbling. Some people are naturally talented, but that doesn’t mean talent can’t be learned or refined. 

Ever since getting into ceramics, Paisley has always had a desire to teach, even before he tried it. He began making a mug while we were talking, and continued to tell me about when he changed his major and had a crazy idea to start his own studio and teach community classes. This past summer, he got a small taste of what that dream could look like. 

Paisley worked at Union’s ceramics camp over the summer. He has benefited greatly from teachers who sought to pour into him and this was his chance to do the same. 

“I tried it, and I actually really love teaching,” Paisley said. “I think I kind of found a new passion for ceramics in that aspect.”

He told me a story about one of the most memorable moments he had at camp. 

“There was one girl, Amelia was her name,” Paisley recalled. “And she was having a really really hard time getting throwing down. And I was like ‘Don’t get frustrated, we’re gonna get this, we’re gonna figure this out.’ And so I stayed with her the entire day. It got to a point where she was like ‘Okay, I think I can do it.’ So I went and worked with some other kids and she came up to me at the end of the day and she was like ‘Mr. Noah, look.’ She had 2 cups, and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so cool.’ She just had this really cool passion in her eyes,” Paisley said.

It’s rewarding for him to see people go from beginner to proficient, but the journey to help them get there is even more life-giving.

Other people also see that passion, that reward, in Noah when he works.

“It was really cool to see. I think I saw a lightbulb go off in Noah’s head a little bit. And that’s always rewarding for me as an educator to see that lightbulb go off and know that they are one step closer to figuring out what they want to do,” Paige Ward Moore, the 3D shop technician and instructional staff at Union, said. 

Moore has seen Paisley grow over the years, especially with his time teaching at the camp. As he spends more time in ceramics, he can look to improve his skills and hopefully showcase some of himself in the process. 

“Even at the end of your undergraduate career, you’ve improved significantly,” Moore said. “But you’re still working to develop your forms and your own voice.” 

In addition to growing in his skills as a potter, Paisley has also learned more about himself through being an RA in the freshman dorms.

“Being an RA definitely helped me see aspects of myself where I was like ‘Huh, I actually am capable of this, the Lord can and will use me however he wants despite my own insecurities about what that looks like,’” he said. 

No matter what happens in his life, even if it is a challenge or struggle, the Lord is going to use that experience. Which is why, when I asked the question about Paisley’s plans post-college, his response focused on what the Lord has for him, rather than the plans that he may have for himself. 

“I think I’ve been asking that question a lot nowadays. It’s interesting, the way that the Lord has led me thus far and has shaped my desires, when I think about it it’s hard to see how it lines up,” he said. “Because you know, how does my passion for discipleship and community line up with my passion to be really good at what I’m doing here in the studio?”

Many of us face this same challenge and must answer the question: What am I passionate about and how does this line up with God’s will in my life? 

“That was a big question I was trying to ask for my senior show and one that I just basically came to the conclusion, I’m not going to be able to figure out while I’m here, and that’s okay,” Paisley explained. “It really shapes how you feel the Lord is calling you to be a light in the world in what you’re doing and through the desires he has put on your heart.”

Our goal should always be to love Jesus and desire to make him known, to learn more and become more like him in the process, and to pursue what is good and beautiful, realizing that you are never finished learning. It is a lifetime process. 

“Right now I think it’s good for me to focus on preparing myself for whatever door the Lord decides to open next,” Paisley said. “Just trust that the Lord knows what he’s doing.” 

Photo by Laila Al-Hagal