`BORN TO MUD': POTTERY PRODUCTION IS A PASSION FOR MARY JANE MOYERS

Pottery requires much patience. A piece takes days to go through all the steps until it's completed.

While Mary Jane is the main potter, her entire family gets in on it. From left Jeniese, Steven, Mary Jane and Steel.

Mary Jane Moyers of Grassy displays one of her clay pitchers she has made.

Special chemicals are added to nearly completed pieces to give them that glassy look.

Steven Moyers lifts a heavy item from the kiln.

Moyers makes all kinds of collectibles that she displays in her showroom.

Mary Jane Moyers was "born to mud." That's her expression for the passion and business she's had for many years -- pottery.

Moyers creates pottery, from lamps to mugs to ashtrays. And she loves it.

"I'm one of those people who would do this whether or not I got paid," Moyers said from her home in Grassy, a small town near Glen Allen.

While making a few extra dollars is nice, there are other reasons Moyers loves pottery.

"It's therapeutic for me," Moyers said. "The building process is very relaxing."

She also loves the artistic side. She agreed that pottery is as much an "art" as painting, music or sculpting.

Moyers spends several hours a day making different items during that time. In fact, she created so many it made living in their small living quarters difficult.

It got so bad they had to move into their new house -- the pottery was getting out of hand.

Their children had to share a room to make more room for the pottery. The pieces literally lined the wall.

"It started taking over the whole house," Moyers said. "Sometimes when I was showing a new piece, I'd have to drag it out from under the bed."

So they bought some ground in Grassy and her husband, Steven, built a house. Over half of it's devoted to the pottery and the pottery equipment so now there's plenty of room for everybody.

"Everybody's really happy now," Moyers said. "The kids have their own rooms again and I've got my mud area."

Moyers first got interested in pottery when she was about 15, which is more years than Moyers would like to admit.

"My mom introduced me to this," Moyers said. "She was always trying something different. She tried to get all of us kids involved in it, but I was the only one who stayed with it."

Moyers started out doing flowerpots but she quickly wanted more challenging pottery.

"You just try something different," Moyers said. "That's how you learn."

And she's gotten much better, her husband says.

"She's come a long way from where she started," said Steve Moyers, who has his own welding business.

Moyers' mother was also instrumental in giving her the idea to make it a business.

"One day my mother said, 'Let's go do a show over at Cape.' Much to my surprise, people bought our stuff," Moyers said.

The "show" -- which showcased pottery and other arts and crafts items, ended up with Moyers selling over 30 pieces that day.

Moyers makes all kinds of items from stoneware tumblers to ash trays. She also make electric lamps. While originally she fancied making horses and unicorns, these days her work tends to be decorative but functional.

She makes beautiful ornate mugs, trays, coffee cups, lamps, bowls and many other items.

Most of her stuff isn't pottery, though. She says she doesn't have a lot of time to make things for herself.

"It's a case of the potter that has to use the cracked pots," she said, laughing.

Having a business in her home is advantageous to Moyers. Foremost among them is spending time with her children, Steel, 12, and Jeniese, 16.

"They help in the shop," Moyers said. "That enables the kids to earn some spending money and us to have some quality time.

"I love being at home. It must be tough to leave home to work."

One of her goals is to have a pottery workshop for children. "I want to share with the community, give back what I've taken."

While she has many fans, her pieces can be found all over the world, her husband seems to be her biggest fan.

"I like her work," Steven said. "But I'm not too good at it. Over the years I've watched it. I'm better. I'm a lot slower than she is."

Mary Jane Moyers may be a pottery professional, but it hasn't come easy to her.

"It's taken a lifetime to be where I'm at now," she said. "It used to take me an hour to make a cup."

Editor's Note: Mary Jane Moyers' work can be found at the Country Shade Crafts Mall in the Plaza in Cape Girardeau. Or interested parties may order from a catalog or mail order. To order a catalog write to Mary Jane Moyers, Rt. 1, Box 1333, Glen Allen, Mo., 63751.

It can also be shown by appointment by calling (573) 238-3720.