About Mr. Bird

My name is Andrew Bird. I grew up in California but moved to Utah in 1988, a year after graduating from high school. My first attempt at making something in clay was in kindergarten. I made a really dopey bear. I tried clay again in the first grade and made an awesome brontosaurus. I didn't touch clay again until I was in college. There I took a hand building class and enjoyed it but it wasn't until I took a wheel throwing class that I fell in love with clay.  There is something about being able to put a hunk of mud on the potter's wheel and being able to turn that mud into a beautiful object. That just make my soul happy.  I have since developed a love for all aspects of Ceramics.

 

I eventually finished a Bachelor's of Fine Arts at the University of Utah and then went on to finish a Master's of Fine Arts at Brigham Young University. Both degrees focused in Ceramics.  I originally planned on teaching at a college level but sometimes life happens.  Five kids and a twenty year career in a completely unrelated field later, I decided to go back and get a teaching certificate from Weber State University so that I could teach public school and be around teenagers.  Some might think that I am crazy to want to be around teenagers but I guess I have never really grown up myself so I am comfortable with these incredible kids.  I am amazed almost every day by the creativity that I am lucky enough to witness.  High school kids come up with some really cool and amazing work. Sometimes it's hard to drag it out of them but they are awesome. 

 

I love making art, being active, running, playing most all sports, being around the water, and seeing the light bulb turn on in a student's head and the sense of pride well up in these high school kids.  I feel blessed to have a small part in helping kids figure out how to make their way in this crazy world.  Hopefully in our short time together they will learn to develop another perspective in which they come to know the value of art in their lives and realize that they can do hard things and that we are all creative, we just have to learn how to find it in our thick skulls.