St. John’s parishioner Jamie Bents, artist and owner of j.teabee ceramics, has begun creating shells for the church to use in the sacrament of baptism. Jamie is a potter
(in the early morning and night) and an environmental consultant (by day), while parenting Louis and Charlie with her partner Mike. Her story of learning to use a pottery wheel began in studio classes at night; she eventually set up a pottery studio in the family’s Mac-Groveland garage, complete with an old silver and blue kiln affectionately named “The R2 Unit.”
Jamie developed the baptismal shells for St. John’s to reflect the feel, color, and depth of seashells. She used a porcelain-stoneware clay body that fires into delicate but durable ceramic as smooth and light as beach sand. A small ridged handle feels like a shell fragment picked up on the seashore. They incorporate an ombré glaze for sheer, softly layered color like the inside of a shell. She is honored to create this body of work for St. John’s, and sends blessings to our baptismal candidates.
Originally published in the July/August 2019 Evangelist.
