Meet a Ceramics Major 

When Joy Davis moved from Athens to Savannah, she just wanted to be warm.  As a graduate of Ohio University in her hometown of Athens, Ohio, she found her first job here in the south at Savannah Country Day in their afterschool program.

But pottery is her passion, and she even pursued that by majoring in ceramics in college.  When the kiln was calling her again, it took some time to find the right place in her new hometown, but through several connections at Country Day, Joy met Polly Wylly Cooper and was able to negotiate her own space in Polly’s pottery studio.

Soon Isle of Hope Methodist called Polly in search of a ceramics expert.  Once they met Joy, it was a perfect match, so she agreed to take on the task of creating new communion ware for the church.

Joy was commissioned to create 10 patens, 10 chalices, and one extra paten to be used solely for gluten-free communion wafers.  The new pieces will be used during the season of Lent, when the brass is replaced by pottery.  Lent is a time of humble reflection prior to the resurrection of Christ at Easter.

There was a lot of happiness inside the studio as the pottery wheel was spinning and pieces at various stages of the finishing process were staged throughout the studio.

When asked about her favorite thing to design, Joy said, “One of my favorite things to create are busts from photographs or my own sketches.”

Joy enjoys the studio life, but her day job has moved to the beach, at Tybee Island’s Marine Science Center, where she leads ecology tours and serves as a marine science educator.

To contact Joy, drop her an email her at:  jd22907@gmail.com.