Chloe Collins, owner of Third Bowl Pottery, is a spirited artist who has turned her favorite childhood hobby into her full-time job. “I started in high school,” she recalls. Chloe’s art teacher saw the passion and potential in her from the start. “I loved it so much that she was making pottery classes just for me,” Chloe admits. “I was the only one in those classes. ”Her love of art grew as her education expanded. Chloe studied fine arts at Georgia College in Milledgeville with a minor in psyche. While pottery was her pride and joy, Chloe planned to become an art therapist. “However,” she says, “I had to get a master’s degree to do art therapy, and with COVID it wasn’t a good time to go back to school.” Graduated from college and newly married to her high school sweetheart, Jacob, Chloe once again turned to creating art. In October of 2020, she took a giant leap in starting her own business, Third Bowl Pottery. “At first it was a bunch of friends and family who were supporting me,” Chloe says. “But they started sharing it and the word got out.” Chloe threw herself into making unique tableware, hanging planters, lamps, jewelry, and more. She created a small studio space in her basement just big enough for her kiln and other essential tools. “There’s just enough space for one person to work down there,” she says. The studio is a personal oasis where she explores her creative freedoms. After designing, creating, and painting her first set of pottery, Chloe hopped on Etsy to begin selling her work. “I was completely blown away,” she says of her first sale. “I had 70 items posted on Etsy and only three items left after the sale. That was really encouraging.”

After only a few months, her business was thriving and Chloe decided it was time for growth. While Etsy was a great tool to start with, she moved her work to its own website and officially became Third Bowl Pottery. In addition to her website is Third Bowl Potter’s Instagram page. Followers are updated on new products, restocks and unique custom orders. It is nearly impossible to browse her products without finding something you absolutely must have. “The whole premise of pottery to me means community,” she shares. “At the time, it was just me and my husband. We really like to host, and [the business]felt like adding another plate to our table.” Jacob is beyond supportive of Chloe’s business. He acts behind the scenes keeping her books and ensuring the website continues to function. Not many people know the extent of work that goes into each piece of pottery. “It’s a really slow process,” Chloe says. “Pottery has taught me a ton of patience because you can’t do anything quickly.” The many steps of pottery-making can be tedious and laborious, but Chloe loves it all the same. To start, she removes the clay from the bag it comes in, puts it on a wheel, then throws or roll sit into a slab or shape. The clay sits anywhere from a few hours to two days depending on the weather. Next, she places the clay back on the wheel where she centers it, trims it, and cleans up the edges. It sits out again, this time for a week. Then it bakes in the kiln before the glazing. At this point, Chloe adds designs, dips it, or paints it with a solid glaze. The pottery returns to the kiln where it runs overnight. The next day it is cooled and ready for unloading. “It’s a long process to finish one piece, but you fill up the whole kiln,” she explains. “It’s a lot of multitasking. You’re working with whatever’s dry enough to work with each day. There is nothing like pulling a completed batch of pottery from the kiln.” Knowing the amount of work and detail that goes into each small step changes the value you place on a small bowl of pottery. Chloe’s customers appreciate her careful attention to detail that stands out in each beautiful piece. Third Bowl Pottery offers custom wedding registries for customers. “You can email me that you’re interested and then if you’re local, we’ll set up a time to have a consultation,” Chloe explains. “We’ll look at different glazes and clay and you can look at different products and choose what you want on your registry.” Brides that are not local can have a virtual consultation and have their items shipped. For all customers, Chloe says, “I ship all over and I offer local pick up. One of the things that are kind of different is that you can pick up off my front porch.” Customers enjoy swinging by the site of origin to collect their much-anticipated pottery.

Above her talent as an artist stands Chloe’s obvious heart for God. “Anything that comes from my hands, I want it to be glorifying to the Lord,” she says. “The talent that He’s given me, I want to use to serve Him. I want the community that’s invested in it to be getting a glimpse of Him through my work whether it’s a gift they’re getting in a hard time or a casserole they’re getting in celebration of a new baby.” This attitude of service shines bright with each business dealing. Not only does Chloe approach business with this attitude, she lives her life with similar values. Desiring to serve the Lord and show love to others, Chloe and Jacob decided to become foster parents to three young siblings. “I wanted to foster since I was younger,” Chloe says. “We had talked about it and we just felt called specifically to this family.” Fostering has been a unique journey of its own. “Kids teach you so much about yourself,” Chloe says. “When you go from zero to three kids you just take it day by day. We feel really blessed by what we’ve learned through this.” Each day, Chloe and Jacob are walking in the calling the Lord has placed on their hearts. They love their foster children with all the love the Lord has given them. “We have a great community,” Chloe says of their support system. “Both of our parents live about five minutes from us, and we are extremely plugged in at Kings Cross Baptist Church in Perry.” The outpouring of love and support their family and church has offered has been overwhelming. “We volunteer in the youth group in our church,” she tells me. “Some of the kids help me pack orders after the restock.” Overall, Chloe has loved every minute of this exciting journey. “I’m getting to meet and see people in our own community who are rallying around and supporting our local artists,” she says. “I’ve built really great relationships with people that I otherwise never would have met. ”Every sale of Third Bowl Pottery allows Chloe to continue using the talent the Lord has blessed her with in a beautiful expression of love and faithfulness.