St. Paul Cathedral in St. Paul parishioner Jenny Keller says pottery is part of her vocation. She spends much of her time at her pottery wheel or near the kiln, and her bedside table is adorned with books about how to mix pottery glazes.

She loves pottery for the opportunities it gives her to meditate on her faith, Keller said.

“I think a lot about the concept of God as a potter; we see this this concept throughout Scripture,” she told host Kayla Mayer on this week’s episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show.

“When I’m working on the wheel, I take a lump of clay and then I work kind of against the centrifugal force pulling it outwards. I’m … forming and shaping it to whatever I want it to be,” said Keller, who began throwing pottery in high school and now owns her own pottery business, JK Ceramics.

“That connects really deeply with the ethos of God as a Potter and how he takes just this nothingness ball of clay and shapes it into something that is beautiful and functional,” she said, referring to the creation story in Genesis when God forms the clay of the earth into Adam and Eve.

“When we are able to use our hands to create something, we are working in his image and likeness. I feel so close to him when I’m able to see something come from nothing. It’s a wonderful process,” she said.

Part of what she enjoys most about pottery, Keller said, is when her labor “brings joy” to customers who use what she creates.

Keller plans to participate in the Art-A-Whirl open studio tour in Minneapolis. She will sell her pottery at St. Clement in northeast Minneapolis from May 17 to May 19. The event, the biggest open studio tour in the country, includes 100 locations and 1,300 artists.

To hear more about Keller’s artistic process and how she understands her art in light of her faith, tune in to the “Practicing Catholic” episode that debuts at 9 p.m. May 10 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. May 11 and 2 p.m. May 12.

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the program also includes a discussion with Barb Ernster, the national coordinator of the World Apostolate of Fatima, about ways to honor Our Lady. Also, Deacons Derek Gilde and Alexander Rasset share their journeys to the priesthood ahead of their May 25 ordination.

Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.