elements of life

Creating sculptures from clay employs the four classical elements: earth, water, air, and fire, to bring life to this material.  Clay is a bit of earth made malleable with the addition of water.  Once formed and exposed to air, it hardens and becomes its most brittle.  Firing the piece brings strength and solidifies a previously pliable substance.  We may not have control over what happens to us, but we alone have full control over how we respond, and how we let that shape us.  We, like clay, can be strengthened by fire.