JAN HEIDEL - Davison, MI

JAN HEIDEL had worked many years in various fields of the ceramic industry; teaching, retail sales, trade shows, preparing samples for mold companies.  But she wanted to “play in the mud!!”  She wanted to “open the kiln after every firing” and be inspired so she initiated travels throughout Michigan to craft shows to sell and display her pieces at art shows, galleries, and boutiques in the late 1990’s.  Using “everyday life” as her inspiration, she loves to design and develop new patterns.  This goes to the extent that she will not do a pattern that is stressful or is not relaxing to produce.  As a certified member of the National Ceramic Manufacturing Association and having studied at the Flint Institute of Art, Jan indicates that snowmen and her “droopy daisy” are her best sellers.  The snowmen vary but they continue to evolve differently every couple of years.  In fact, one customer buys a snowman to send to a friend in Hawaii annually and every year, she and Jan giggle knowing where this piece will be sent—it will never see Michigan snow.  Visit Jan’s booth to see her “mud productions!”