SENIORS
24 • Thursday, June 2, 2022
OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
Theresa’s Angels
Blind Senior Continues Making Clay Angels, Giving Them to Special People in Her Life By Ally Morrison
A
s a retired elementary art teacher, Jo Ann Brown has seen a lot of natural talent. But she said the most incredible talent she has seen comes from one of her dear friends, Theresa Thrasher. “My journey from teaching kids to facilitating hand-built clay for seniors in Homewood led me to Theresa, an incredibly talented senior lady who makes porcelain clay pots and sculptures even though she is completely blind,” Brown said. Brown guides a group of seniors who call themselves the “Claydies” and meet every
JO ANN BROWN
Thursday morning at Dawson Baptist Church to make clay sculptures and pots. “She works by touch and my favorite of her various creations are her angels that she makes to give away to special people in her life,” Brown said. “This sense of touch just keeps getting better and better as she grows in her talent.” Because of progressive vision loss through macular degeneration, uncontrolled glaucoma and Graves’ disease, Thrasher’s vision faded throughout her life. Although she has lost her sight and is now hearing impaired, Thrasher refuses to let such things stand in her way.
The Evolution of Angels
She talked from her apartment, which is filled with porcelain trinkets and pottery in glass cases, about the angels for which she is now known. “I was trying to think of something to give the ladies who work in my dentist’s office and
Journal photos by Ally Morrison
‘My journey from teaching kids to facilitating hand-built clay for seniors in Homewood led me to Theresa, an incredibly talented senior lady who makes porcelain clay pots and sculptures even though she is completely blind.’
also something for my dentist,” Thrasher said. “He’s a big teddy bear.” “When Jo Ann mentioned pinch pots, I knew I could make an angel out of them,” Thrasher said. “It got a little more complicated, but not too much. They’re fast to make.” Brown explained the figurines are made by turning pinch pots upside down and placing wings and a head on
the pot to make an angel. When asked how many angels she’s made, Thrasher chuckled and said she’d only planned to make 10 for the dentist’s office. Before long, a few people saw them and loved them. Ten grew to 20, which grew to a few dozen more. “It’s amazing to me how much she does on her own, it’s mind-boggling,” Brown said. “I’ll be doing my own thing during our group meetings and the
next time I look up she’ll have three angels done.” “She quit using paintbrushes a while ago and now glazes her work using her fingers by dipping them into the glaze and rubbing it onto her creations. Having accommodated special needs children for years, I watched as Theresa just accommodated herself, bravely jumping in and doing what works for her,” Brown said. Brown and Thrasher joked about the “dipping party” they had not long ago, dipping about 25 of Thasher’s angels in glaze one after another. “Sometimes she may need a touch-up here and there with her glazes, but her work is all done by her and her Because of proalone,” Brown said. gressive vision loss “Every week she through macular comes into our studio, degeneration, collects her supplies uncontrolled glauand just dives in.” coma and Graves’ Thrasher has made disease, Theresa countless sculptures Thrasher’s vision aside from the angels faded throughout she gives away, such her life. as vases, porcelain turtles, pots to hold her eye drops and, most recently, porcelain cats. Thrasher’s creativity began before she lost her vision; she dabbled in jewelry making before learning how to make pottery. “It wasn’t until after I retired from commercial insurance and was volunteering at the McWane Science Center that I got into art,” Thrasher said. “I made jewelry and started learning about clay. It’s fun, I like it. It’s something I can do being blind. Hopefully one day I can go back to jewelry making.” “I know everyone has special gifts from the Lord, but Theresa is my favorite gifted person,” Brown said. “Instead of giving up and staying in her dark world, she just kept going. For years our little group prayed often for Theresa’s eyes as they grew weaker and weaker, and though now her vision is gone, God has given her a new way of seeing. The Lord has brought her a bright, new, creative way to share her joy with others. Her contagious optimism abounds as she learns to navigate her new world without vision and is an inspiration to all. Watching her grow into her new life has been amazing, and I am so privileged and blessed to have witnessed it.”
ALSO IN THIS SECTION
GOOD BOY Children’s of Alabama throws retirement party for beloved Hand in Paw therapy dog PAGE 26
‘IT’S AN HONOR TO HELP SUPPORT IT’ Homewood Library volunteer wins Library Champion Award for Jefferson County PAGE 28
