April 29, 2024
Assistant Professor Amanda Savage, Pharm.D. ‘03, finds her creative outlet when she sits at her pottery wheel at home. She first discovered the craft during her fourth year at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2002 when she moved to Asheville for rotations at the Mountain Area Health Education Center.
Savage shared that Western North Carolina has a lot of potters and she slowly started going to craft fairs and collecting pieces. She leans toward functional pieces since she enjoys being able to use what she buys and makes.
“I like the beauty that’s found at the intersection of form and function—using something that’s handmade and knowing the time and intention it takes to make that piece,” she said.
She stayed in the Asheville area after graduation and once she had kids, she discovered a local community studio that offered pottery classes and camps. She first let her kids try it and thought, “If they’re doing it, why not me?” Thus began Savage’s pottery journey. In 2018 she took her first class and was hooked. Now, six years later, she humbly calls herself a seasoned beginner.
“Learning at first was full of excitement and frustration,” she said. “You go through a journey when you’re learning because it looks so easy when you see other people doing it. I quickly had to overcome my perfectionism and learn to let things go.”
Two years ago, her day job at the School collided with her creative hobby. Each year, the Asheville campus hosts a celebratory dinner for third-year students (PY3). It had become a tradition to gift each student a mortar and pestle. However, their go-to company to purchase the gifts were out of stock.
Savage, who’s hobby wasn’t a secret, was approached to consider making the mortars. The pestles would be made by another local artist. At first, she was overwhelmed with the idea of not only having to make one, but thirteen identical pieces. She decided to take on the challenge and made even more than she needed, just in case.
There are a lot of steps from start to finish and something could go wrong at any point. However, for her, the most enjoyable thing is the process itself—from throwing the clay, drying, trimming, firing and glazing she loves learning how something is created.
The mortars were such a cherished gift for the students that Savage knew she couldn’t stop there. She made a new set this year for the PY3 class and plans to continue in the future.
“I love giving them something that is a symbol of our profession that’s handmade, and that I took a lot of time, effort and care in making,” she said. “Hopefully it’s a gift they will always have to commemorate their time at the School and have on their shelf in their office one day.”
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