Welcome to The Little Potter’s House

by Mimi Greenwood Knight

Local Potter Vanessa Hock

COVINGTON POTTER VANESSA HOCK is often surprised at the path her life has taken. “Every summer growing up, my mom took us to the art store and let us buy anything we wanted,” she says. “We tried painting and crocheting, whatever looked fun to us. She developed that desire in us to create something artistic, but I never thought of art as a job or career. It was just a fun summer activity.”

When it was time to choose a college major, Hock went with something more practical— English—and set about obtaining her degree. But when summer rolled around after her freshman year, her sister asked her to take a pottery class with her at Tulane. That summer would be her introduction to clay work. “My sister was two years ahead of me, and we were best of friends,” Hock says. “I’d never touched clay in my life and had no idea it was even something you could do in college. But I wanted to spend time with my sister, so I tagged along to the class.”

There she met thenProfessor of Art Bernard Maddox. “From the first day, Barney had me excited about the idea of communicating to people through art, through clay,” she remembers. “He said, ‘If somebody were to dig up your pottery, 100 years from now, what would they learn about you or your community?’ What a cool idea! It was his last semester teaching at Tulane, and I felt fortunate to have had him. My next teacher was Jeremy Jernegan. He was great and helped me fine tune my wheel-throwing skills. But Barney was the one who lit that passion for art I didn’t even know existed in me.” Then life happened. Hock married, had three children and didn’t do anything particularly artsy for 20 years. “Then, I was homeschooling my kids and looking for something to do on the side,” she says. “A friend told me about the (St. Tammany) Art Association. The lady who’d been teaching pottery there forever was ready to retire, and they asked me if I wanted to take over. I was looking for a way to make money at night, while homeschooling during the day, so it was kind of perfect. The job just fell in my lap.”

That’s when Hock’s natural teaching abilities surfaced. As those who’ve taken her classes at the Art Association or at her Little Potter’s House on North Vermont in Covington can attest, Hock is not just a talented potter, but a natural-born teacher. Amy Bethke is one of those students. A gifted artist and longtime student of art herself, Bethke says, “Vanessa is my favorite kind of art teacher. She gives guidance and encouragement and has plenty of ideas, but she lets you follow your own vision. Her studio is bright and inviting and offers plenty of inspiration. I thoroughly enjoy my classes with her.”

Eight years after starting at the Art Association, Hock felt ready to try her wings in a solo venture. “The lady who was occupying the space where my studio is now was ready to make a move,” Hock says. “The timing was perfect for me, and she already had quite a few students. So, I asked her if she wanted me to come in and take over the teaching for her. But she’d already handed the keys back to the landlord and moved her kiln and other equipment out of the space.”

That was late November, and the students were eager to start back in January. Hock had a big decision to make and not a lot of time to make it. “I was looking at a $20,000 investment and potentially months to gather my equipment and set everything up.” While all these things were swirling in her head, she was enjoying a visit from her paternal aunt and uncle in town from Puerto Rico.

“They reminded me of my grandfather, my dad’s dad,” Hock says. “All my life, I’d heard how he started a typing school with 12 students at age 40 and, within 20 or so years, had built it into a junior college. They’d grown up watching their father grow his school, and they reminded me you can start where you are and build to where you want to be. They got excited about the possibilities, and that made me feel like it could actually happen.”

Happen it did. By January 1, students were back expressing themselves through clay, and Hock was realizing her dream of owning her own studio. Melanie Edwards was part of the studio’s original art co-op, before Hock came along. “We were frantic for someone to take over,” Edwards says. “We had a great camaraderie in the studio and didn’t want to give that up. Everybody was thrilled to death when Vanessa came. We all love working with her. (The Little Potter’s House) is like a big family. Everybody helps everybody. If you’re having trouble with a piece, somebody jumps in to help you. It’s just a fun place to be, and Vanessa is the perfect person to run it.”

Hock says she was raised with a legacy of faith and the idea that all things are possible with God. “My parents taught me to do something with the gifts I’ve been given that serves a higher purpose, not just myself,” she says. She caught a glimpse of that higher purpose during the COVID pandemic. “COVID helped me see how therapeutic clay can be,” she says. “People were looking for an escape from the emotional toil the pandemic was taking. They’d come in, and you could feel the tension and the stress on them. They’d sit at the wheel for two hours and just forget. Then, they’d leave uplifted, and I realized, wow, this is bigger than just spreading art and joy. For some people, it’s a muchneeded release.”

“I have a student who’s new to the area and doesn’t know anybody,” Hock says. “Like many moms, she felt guilty about doing something for herself. But she told me, ‘I need this.’ When she came by the studio to pick up the things she’d made, you can’t imagine how excited she was. She had all the students in stitches at her excitement over her pieces. She said, ‘My face hurts from smiling.’ This is why I love what I do. She needed that positive in her life, and I was able to provide it for her.”

Hock has also seen students become artists, begin selling their pottery and launch a career from the things she’s taught them. “This isn’t just a job for me, but a chance to share the love of pottery with others, to be that Bernard Mattox for someone else, and to provide others with an outlet, with clay therapy, and a haven away from whatever the world is throwing at them.”

Now, she’s busting at the seams at her Little Potter’s House and looking for a larger space. Meanwhile, she’s welcoming new students to her wheel and hand-building classes. Her artists’ co-op gives ceramic artists access to the studio, all of her supplies, a kiln and space to display and sell their wares. She teaches workshops and girls’night-out pottery parties. She does art pop-ups of her own work at The Southern Hotel and other hotspots around town. She’s been a featured artist in Spring for Art and Fall for Art in Downtown Covington, where she’s performed live pottery-wheel demonstrations. Last month, she was a popular addition to the Sip and Stroll Art Festival at Terra Bella Village in Covington. And she’s happy to hear about pieces of her work making their way to countries around the globe.

“It’s hard to let some pieces go,” she says. “It feels like giving your baby away. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a little piece or a big sculpture—I put so much of myself into it that I want to sit with it a while. I try to take pictures of each piece before I put it out there. Even then, it can be hard to watch it go.”

Hock often thinks about the legacy she’ll leave behind, for her three children and for her pottery students. “My mom was an artsy person,” she says. “She was a singer and creative writer, and she brought all of that into our house. My dad was the rational, logical business mind. I feel lucky to have had the benefit of both those ways of thinking while I was growing up, and to have found a career where I use both every day. I’ve also been blessed with a husband who’s supported me every step of the way. Every pop-up, demo, exhibition, you name it, Adam is by my side encouraging me, lugging and lifting stuff, just being there and giving me the freedom to follow this path.”

Hock still finds herself fascinated by the history of pottery. “This art form goes so far back in history and remains a desired art form today,” she says. “For me, it’s incredibly satisfying, but it’s also a spiritual experience. The name for my studio, The Little Potter’s House, was partially inspired by Jeremiah 18 where God tells a prophet, ‘Arise and go down to the potter’s house.’ There, Jeremiah saw the connection between Creator and creation through a potter at a pottery wheel. I think a lot about this connection, when I’m making something with clay, how God sees us, His creation. I can look at my life’s journey and see it much like the process a lump of clay goes through before becoming a finished vessel. There’s a connection between the potter and the clay, between Creator and creation. And this analogy is what makes pottery so special to me. If I can get so attached to my little creations, how much more does God care for us?”