Shaping minds by day, clay by night.
Hi! I'm Chai, a hard-of-hearing psychologist and ceramicist.
Chai is one of my many names, you can learn more about this alias for my clay practice. My preferred pronouns are she/her.
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During school hours, I shape minds as a psychologist working with children, schools and families, and after the dismissal bell, I shape clay as an aspiring ceramicist at the awesome Sunset Communal Arts. If I'm not in a school or at the studio, I can be found singing karaoke, curled up with a book, foraging for mushrooms, learning languages, thrifting or traveling... and then writing about it in my journal, and now on this blog! ​
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You can check out some of my clay creations at @chai_alilharder on Instagram, or in the mini gallery at the bottom of this page.
About Chai Creations
I first created Chai Creations when I was at an artist talk by Diana Fayt, and how she asked herself this question in the early stages of her career - "How can I combine my loves?" (in her case, illustration, pottery and folk embroidery reflecting her Hungarian roots).
My loves are - psychology, ceramics, writing, introspection, making connections (with people, nature and ideas) and advocacy and empowerment for folx who are neurodivergent, disabled, or gloriously different in any way. This site was created to, ahem, "throw" all those things together, in the iterative process of creating and recreating myself as a psychologist, ceramicist and person, and give me a chance to reflect more deeply on all 3.
I made a conscious choice of "creations" over "ceramics" or "pottery" because I am trying to create more than pots here, but also original content that prompts deeper reflection on my work and play, and how they intersect.
Special Thanks to...
Jawwad, Candy, Dale and Emily for giving me help and feedback on this website, logo design and more.