It started with a birthday present – and getting laid off.
That was all the motivation Jessica Heusinkveld needed to go full-time as a ceramic artist and start her business, Lumps of Clay Studios.
But let’s rewind a few years, to about a decade ago when the Michigan native was living in the Twin Cities.
Heusinkveld had been working nonstop and realized it was time to do something for herself. Knowing a class would force her to take a break from work, she signed up for a beginner pottery wheel course. After completing it, she gained access to studio time. The great thing about that, she said, is that they gave her a key to the building so she could visit whenever she wanted to.
“And because my schedule was so crazy, I could get off of work at 9 or 10 (at night), and I could go in until like, two in the morning. And there’s never anybody there,” she said.
That quiet space is where Heusinkveld found her love of working with clay.
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Eventually, she and her husband found themselves relocating to St. Cloud. She lost touch with her art.
“I just got busy with work again and just, you know, didn’t really seek out a place,” she said.
When Heusinkveld did finally pick it back up again, it was a therapeutic release for her and her husband of 20 years, Aaron Heusinkveld.
“My husband is a disabled veteran and pottery just kind of gave us both something calming,” she explained. Aaron joined the Michigan National Guard before 9/11 and was injured while deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Heusinkveld was experimenting a lot with clay and watching YouTube videos, but she hadn’t yet taken a pottery class in the area. When her birthday rolled around in 2020, Aaron had a big surprise for her: He bought her a pottery wheel.
“He totally surprised me with it. Best birthday gift ever. It was so unexpected,” she said. “Like, we’ve never done anything super huge like that. So it was a really cool gift.”
The couple ended up purchasing a kiln shortly after.
By the time the end of 2021 rolled around, Heusinkveld had been laid off from her job.
“It was kind of like a moment for me to reevaluate what I wanted to do. And I just realized, if I kept kind of going along this creative path, I could potentially still stay home and support my husband and also build this meaningful thing for myself,” she said.
The timing ended up being perfect – a blessing in disguise. Lumps of Clay Studios was founded shortly after, in 2022.
Now, Heusinkveld is still working a lot operating the business and taking care of everything from correspondence and monotonous cleaning tasks, to creating all the pieces she sells.
“But being able to make every day and just knowing the happiness that it brings to people is really, truly, just what keeps me going,” she said.
In the winter, she spends her time creating. When spring and summer roll around, she’s busy selling at arts and craft fairs across the state, from the Stone Arch Bridge Festival in Minneapolis, to the Lemonade Fair at St. Cloud State University, to Art in Bayfront in Duluth. Individuals looking to buy her art can find the list of events she’ll be at on her website, lumpsofclaystudios.com.
Heusinkveld also sells her whimsical creations at Homestead Artisans, a pop-up gift shop and creative hub that showcases central Minnesota artisans. The shop hosts demos from local artists, so community members can get a look at how different types of art is made, from macrame to felting and pottery.
“And it gives the people an opportunity to come in and ask questions and find different ways to do it. It’s really a cool place. I really enjoy working with them,” she said.
Homestead Artisans is open in the summer on select weekends and operates through the holidays. That brings Heusinkveld to the winter months, during which she is “just making as much as I possibly can because I do have so many events that I try to plan for.”
She’ll fulfill orders, work on special orders and custom work or have fun making things she’s had in her sketchbook for years.
Heusinkveld makes a lot of unique pieces in addition to the more traditional pottery pieces like bowls and cups. Inspired by nature, visitors to her booth will see playful pieces like gnomes, mushrooms, fairy doors, critters and monsters.
Perhaps the most exciting part of her booth is her mini art vending machine that travels with her to events or takes up residencies at local businesses – Backwards Bread Company in St. Cloud among them.
“They’re like, oh my gosh, this is so cool. And then they’re searching for that one piece within, you know, whatever the category is. It’s just so fun to see,” she said.
Heusinkveld’s art vending machine was inspired by the Art-o-Mat at the local Great River Regional Library, which is a retired cigarette vending machine converted to spit out original art pieces.
“I just really wanted to keep some of my pieces at a price point that would stay affordable to everybody, and accessible to people,” she said, noting how art fairs can be expensive – especially for first-time art buyers. The vending machine has been so popular this year that she’s already working on more of the smaller art pieces that will refill it.
Selling in person is one of Heusinkveld’s favorite parts of the business – especially when she sees the sheer joy that crosses people’s faces when they spot a piece they love.
“I’m just happy to be out there sharing my work,” she said. “I am really grateful and thankful for everybody who does support me. It’s so humbling every time you go out and do something like this, because you really are putting so much of yourself into these pieces.”
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