“If you’d asked me coming in ‘would you have ever thought that this is what you would be doing,’ I’d say, ‘definitely not,’” Shelby Rector, junior ceramics primary focus and graphic design secondary focus, said. “I took ceramics as a class because I was like ‘oh, I need an extra elective.’”
After that class, it was clear. “I think I need to do this instead of graphics,” Rector said.
At Union, it can feel like the ceramics department is hidden within the winding walls of the PAC. Because it is located behind the art gallery, it can be confusing to navigate, and many non-majors don’t know that half of it even exists. Despite this, Rector highly encourages all majors to let curiosity lead them into rooms filled with clay, potter’s wheels, and overflowing creativity.
“I think it’s great that we have so many people in the studio and we’re getting to share our realm with them even as non-art majors,” she said. Her enthusiasm is visible and quite contagious. “There’s so many people in the studio. It’s going to be awesome.”
There are people that radiate pure passion in their work and it shows when they discuss it. Rector is one of those people. As she weaves through details of her work and how she has developed her craft, it is clear that her decision to switch her emphasis from graphic design to ceramics was the right one.
Rector has made her own way in Union’s ceramics program. She is the vice president of the Potter’s Guild and she assists in running the pottery sales that garner a massive amount of attention from students and faculty alike. While buyers love the pieces they are able to buy from these events, Rector recounts how it is even more rewarding to the potters that sell there.
“I’ve had quite a few students come to me and be like ‘oh, I bought one of your pots at the sale and I use it all the time,’” she said. “I love seeing people walking around with one of my pots. It’s very fulfilling for me when people are enjoying the product of the enjoyment I get from making work.”
Rector’s work in the ceramics studio holds a special place in her heart, but she still draws inspiration from her secondary emphasis in graphic design. She explains that the art department offers a program that allows students to dip their toes into different focuses that work to build up their degree. Just as Rector is a ceramics primary focus and graphics secondary, there are students who combine sculpture, drawing, or painting to work on both interests at once. As a double focus, Rector uses each area to benefit the other.
“I’m a tactile person, which is why I’m really drawn to ceramics,” Rector said. “The computer is clean and crisp, so I tend to aesthetically lean that way. But, having two vastly different creative outlets is really nice, especially for a person like me who bounces around through a bunch of different things all the time.”
Because she has been able to hone both skills at the same time, doors and opportunities have been opened for her. Rector works in an internship role with Fellowship Bible Church here in Jackson, and enjoys being able to use what she has learned in class to benefit her in a work setting.
“We are working on social media ads for small businesses and big corporations. We’ve done event graphics, which is mainly what I do at Fellowship,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been able to give myself good enough feedback to where I can critique and make edits to the designs as I’m working. It definitely influences how I work and the decisions I make for the graphics for FSM.”
Although Rector has made steps toward a career in art by working at Fellowship, she admits that her true passions lie with ceramics.
“The dream is to be able to do pottery full time in a home studio that I build,” she said. “There’s so many opportunities that I think, for me, just being able to remain in the realm hopping from residency to residency. I’m open to just letting life take me wherever.”
Rector’s perspective is a hopeful one, and certainly not a point of view that came easy. She confesses that one reason it was difficult to make that leap of faith from graphics to ceramics was because of job security and future plans.
“I had been thinking about it for a long time and I was just warring with myself like, ‘do I commit to this very unknown thing?’” she said. “‘How will I be able to support myself or a family if I ever have one?’”
This is a rational fear, but one that she had to overcome.
“As my professors were talking about, it’s scary to go into a fine art as a profession,” Rector said. “It’s been slowly dying, but I think that we can’t fully get away from it because people are still attached to those kinds of things.”
Rector explains how even though these heavy thoughts held her back, the largest encouragement she has felt has been the words of her professors. She emphasizes how they discuss the difficult topics and that the professors never sugar-coat how hard it will be.
Paige Moore, Rector’s professor in ceramics, has made a large impact on the students who have struggled with choosing whether to pursue their passions in the art world. She recounts her words to Rector, and tells how it is not the faculty that makes the students choose to succeed, it is the students who must motivate themselves.
“I try to tell my students that they do have to be wise. We do have to make money,” Moore said. “But, if we work hard and we show up and we master our craft while we’re in school and we’re obedient to do what God has called us to do, he will open doors. At some point, some students believe in that and go ahead and go for it.”
Photo by Rebekah Marcotte
Well written, Mattie. And, this demonstrates that you don’t always know your path and how it will change going into school. I see this as an opportunity to explore new classes and ideas, and teaches how to be realistic with whether a potential change in career path can be supported. Such a great environment to learn in!