By Michelle M. Sharp, Founder and Content Creator of Meet the Minnesota Makers
Photo by Carl Stover
“I feel like my pots aren’t really finished until somebody uses them,” shares Wendy Eggerman of St Paul’s Functional Heirlooms pottery.
A self-declared history nerd, Wendy noted the permanence of ceramics as one of its exceptional qualities. Working with mud, an omnipresent element, allows her to create something new, something of purpose. “Whether you throw it on the wheel or you hand build it, you transform a pile of mud into a cup, into a bowl. You can then have your morning coffee out of it,” explains Wendy. “That is so cool. It’s a solid object. It’s never going anywhere. It might break, but in 10,000 years, somebody could find that shard and wonder about the story of the original piece.”
Ceramics are both beautiful objects and a domestic necessity used in intimate ways. “I love the function of the pieces I create. You are able to eat out of them; you put your mouth to them,” muses Wendy. “How many forms of art do you put your mouth to? How many forms of art do you interact with on that level?”
For Wendy, being someone who also loves to eat and to cook, working with ceramics just made sense. Plus, as she explained, she loves being able to play in the mud.
Wendy has worked with ceramics as an art form for more than a decade. She took her first pottery class in high school. Attending college in western North Carolina shaping 
ceramics became clear to her as a primary passion. Both her professors and being surrounded by a community of makers inspired her to pursue a living creating beautiful objects of purpose.
Naming her business Functional Heirlooms embraces Wendy’s desire that, “I hope to produce pottery that is used regularly and hopefully passed down to the next generation with all the memories it has acquired over time.”
The design of her pieces unites her multicultural background. The basic forms, heavy on straight lines and solid function, is a nod to her Norwegian side and the clean lines of Scandinavian design. The earthenware clay that she always uses recognizes her Mexican heritage and the barro de canelo pottery, also known as cinnamon clay, in her childhood home.
The texturing of her surfaces is her own design. She deliberately layers colors and textures. Incorporating terra sigillata gives each piece its own personality and depth. Wendy’s wish is that each time the owner uses the piece, they find something new. “I like my pieces to be a bit chaotic and imperfect, but quiet and approachable.”
Whether a coffee mug or a salt cellar, a candlestick holder or a bowl, Wendy’s pieces are built to be used. “Sometimes they do chip, sometimes 
they do scratch, sometimes they do get a little stained. I think that makes them so much more alive.”
“I put a lot of myself into my pots. I am a little bit chaotic and scattered and always learning something new,” observes Wendy. “I bring my Scandinavian practicality and my Mexican warmth into the function of each piece. The chaos informs the function. If my pieces aren’t being used in some way, shape or form, then I’m not doing my job.”
Even when she measures the exact same weight of clay for a dozen mugs, each one will leave the kiln a little bit different. That truth is the beauty of hand built work. The mugs won’t be replicas even when they reflect complementary elements. “My advice? If people haven’t used handmade pottery in general, they need to try it. It really enhances your every day,” explains Wendy. “It’s really good to have handmade objects in your life. I know a lot of people have taken pottery classes too and they realize how much work it is. If you haven’t, I would also say take a pottery class and get muddy. Try it out.”
Functional Heirlooms pottery is available at local galleries including Gallery 360 in Minneapolis and Silverwood Park in St. Anthony.
Photo by Carl Stover
A full listing of local and national galleries is on the Functional Heirlooms website. Find Wendy in person at the Northern Clay 
Center Holiday Exhibition open house on November 17 and the ASI Julmarknad Handcraft Fair in December.
Follow @functionalheirlooms on Instagram to see what’s fresh out of the kiln.
Visit http://www.functionalheirlooms.com/ to learn more about Wendy’s inspiration and see examples of past work.
Visit meettheminnesotamakers.com or follow @meettheminnesotamakers on Facebook and Instagram to discover the farmers and innovators working to strengthen Minnesota’s local food networks. Meet the Minnesota Makers is a news site that connects you to the local food, farms, artists and artisans that make Minnesota thrive.
Functional Heirlooms Pottery is one of three Minnesota Makers participating in the September 28, 2024 Taste Maker class at the Farm at the Arb at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Class participants will see how Wendy applies texture to her pottery and the techniques used to bring her vibrant heritage to life in her.
