Morgan McCarver’s Fusion of Art, Recovery, and Spirituality

Rich Bennett 0:00
Today. I'm thrilled to have Morgan McCarver with us, a master in ceramics and author Behind God the Artist. In her compelling book, Morgan Intertwines her life story, including her battle and recovery from scoliosis, spinal fusion surgery with her deep seated love for pottery drawn parallels of biblical stories. We're diving into her creative journey, the spiritual ties in her artistry, and how her personal trials have molded both her creations and faith. But I want everybody do me a favor, all of you listening. And I've never done this before. But before we get into the conversation, if you are by your computer or on a computer. Go to Morgan McCarver. That's M.C., C.A.R.E. VR dot com and look through her website while we're holding this conversation, because you are just going to be simply amazed by all the stuff that she does. I mean, I was blown away not just by the pottery, but the stitches too. 

Morgan McCarver 1:06
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 1:07
Like, Oh my God. So how are you doing? 

Morgan McCarver 1:10
Morgan I'm doing. 

Rich Bennett 1:12
You said you're eating of joy. For those of you who don't know, Morgan's on her lunch break, and I'm interrupting her lunch. So we had this discussion. 

Morgan McCarver 1:23
It's all good. That's what the house is about, right? 

Rich Bennett 1:27
Oh, yeah. So before I get into all your the artwork and everything, which is just amazing 

scoliosis, because my sister was just diagnosed with that fair that she has it. How old were you when you found out you had. 

Morgan McCarver 1:44
When I found out, I was in fifth grade. So, yeah, I was pretty young, but I didn't actually have the surgery until I was 14. So I was a little bit older. I was in eighth grade at that time, but I had known about it for three years and they had tried to prevent me from having surgery by wearing back bracing for those three years, but it just didn't do its job. 

Rich Bennett 2:08
So I didn't try. Chiropractor or anything like that. Well, I guess Pike has two young. 

Morgan McCarver 2:13
Yeah. Chiropractor that never really was mentioned. I had been to several different doctors and gotten different opinions and they all suggested the back brace. 

Rich Bennett 2:23
Okay. A You were 14 when you had surgery? 

Morgan McCarver 2:26
I was, yep. 

Rich Bennett 2:29
Okay. So when did you what came first, the pottery or the statuary? 

Morgan McCarver 2:36
That that's a good question. Probably sewing as a hobby, I say. Well, I say I began ceramics playing with Play-Doh with my grandmother, and she would keep me while my parents worked. So I was probably Play-Doh. Yep. Was probably like three or four years old. So maybe that even came first. And then both of my grandmothers kind of helped me learn how to sew and showed me how to sew on the machine. And then my for like academic study of pottery really began as a response, so to say, of my back surgery, I needed a creative outlet, something to do in my year long recovery process. And so that's really when I began taking academic level ceramics classes. 

Rich Bennett 3:20
So I take it when you went to school after the surgery and you started taking them classes, that was your goal to become a Oh, wow, What's the term for that? A pottery expert? I mean. 

Morgan McCarver 3:30
A pottery ceramic artist, you know, different okay, different things. 

Rich Bennett 3:34
Was that your goal? 

Morgan McCarver 3:37
Probably not starting out. I it's really interesting in my life, I've said I'll do different things and God just always brings me back to pottery. So I originally had applied to go to college to do art education. And before I even got there, I already switched my major to ceramics. And so I have a ceramics degree, a four year degree, and then when I was graduating, I kept telling people that I was going to go into event planning and then COVID happened. And of course that was a nightmare. And so the Lord just kept drawing me back to ceramics again. I started working for a ceramics supply store, and I've worked for a potter for a while. I worked in an art museum. There's all different ways that people have told me, you know, Oh, a ceramics degree, you'll never find a job. And even being out of college for these short years, I've had so many different jobs in ceramics. 

Rich Bennett 4:30
Well, it's a lot more fun than event playing. And I can tell you that the event playing is a lot of headaches. So with the sewing stitch, I've never heard of call stitch before, but with that, 

ever, you know, think about becoming a fashion designer. 

Morgan McCarver 4:49
Oh, that's a good question. No, not really. My my sewing really supplements and complements my pottery. So I kind of, you know, you have to do or focus. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. The okay, the porcelain or the the warrior s dresses where I'm incorporating ceramic tiles kind of as armor, so to speak. Structuring the dress. Yeah, exactly. So those are kind of playing into that. And then I also do incorporate a lot of like sewing terms and sewing references into my pottery as well. So for example, my mugs have a feminine figure to them. So to speak. They have that hourglass shape. And then I also incorporate corset lacing onto my pieces. So I kind of tie in the sewing into my pottery, but I do tend to save the sewing more for sculptural pieces. 

Rich Bennett 5:45
I and again, those of you listening, if you can look at the website, please do so because that Victorian dress you made date. 

Morgan McCarver 5:55
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 5:58
How long did that take? 

Morgan McCarver 5:59
I went, It's a labor of love. You don't even count the hours. It's just so much fun. I mean, I have no idea that. 

Rich Bennett 6:06
Thing is amazing. I mean, everything on there in the kimonos. You made them too. Or just the. 

Morgan McCarver 6:12
One. No, I made. That was for an art history class, actually, when I was still in college, it was a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. So I had done the color research. There's a lot of color symbolism in Japanese culture and what colors you can wear to a tea ceremony depending on the season and trying to get everything as accurate as possible. That's I love research like that. 

Rich Bennett 6:36
Well, I think you answered my other question then, because when I saw it as like, oh, she's in the martial arts too, but that's okay. So it just the history. Okay. I mean, it's just amazing. And I think if you're not selling that stuff, you should be. I mean, in all honesty, I mean, I could see that. Well, it would be a full time job. 

Morgan McCarver 6:59
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 7:00
Without a doubt. Because I'm not sure what something like that Victorian dress goes for, but I'm sure I don't know, just from having to get dresses recently for my daughter and everything, I would say definitely seven, several hundred dollars easily. 

Morgan McCarver 7:17
Sure. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 7:19
I think you would know better than me. I'm sure you've bought dresses. I never have. 

So was your personal journey, including the scoliosis, spinal surgery? How has that influenced your perspective on art and creative? 

Morgan McCarver 7:37
That's that's a really powerful question. And it wasn't something that I really realized in the moment. It was something that I had to realize, like ten years out of that moment, looking back. And basically I knew I needed a creative outlet. I had been dancing competitively before my surgery and of course, of course after the surgery I couldn't do that. 

Rich Bennett 8:02
Dancing competitively as well. 

Morgan McCarver 8:04
Yes. Well. 

Rich Bennett 8:06
What haven't you done? 

Morgan McCarver 8:08
I yeah, I love creative outlet. So that's one of the things that just really and that's a passion of mine. So I was doing it was actually Irish tap dancing which is a very, you know. 

Rich Bennett 8:20
I. 

Morgan McCarver 8:22
Yeah. Very niche. 

Rich Bennett 8:24
No. 

Morgan McCarver 8:24
Yeah exactly. 

Rich Bennett 8:29
Wow. That's not hard. I mean that's not easy to do. 

Morgan McCarver 8:33
No, it, it was a lot of fun and it made me feel really powerful and just an athlete in that way. But of course I couldn't do that during my recovery process. So I was missing a major part of my life because that was my friend group. That was my passion, that was my creative outlet, that was my exercise. So finding pottery really did fill a void in that way. And I just used that time that I had to really kind of build up my skills and focus on the techniques. And then eventually that did lead to my degree. And so looking back on all of that now, over 13 years later, I'm able to see that God gave me that story. And my scoliosis experience is what led me to pottery. So if I hadn't had that experience, I wouldn't have the beautiful creativity in ceramics that I do now. Who knows what my life could have looked like if I had never had the surgery, But I wouldn't have this passion that I do now for ceramics. And so in that way, it's made me very thankful for the surgery when for years I was resentful for it. 

Rich Bennett 9:42
All right, back up a minute with the dance. You say you were doing that before the surgery? 

Morgan McCarver 9:47
I was, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:49
Wow. 

Morgan McCarver 9:50
Yeah. So, like, elementary, middle school. That was my friend group. That's what I would do after school. And that's what I do on the weekends. And yeah, it was so much fun. 

Rich Bennett 10:01
It wasn't a painful though. 

Morgan McCarver 10:04
I really everyone. Scoliosis surgery or experience is different I didn't really have any pain before the surgery, so my spine was curved. I had three curves making an S-curve in my back, so I had one in my upper back of my neck, one in my upper back, and then one in my lower back. So it didn't really affect my arms, my performance, so to speak, before the surgery. But after the surgery my spine was fused and I completely, completely fused with 18 screws and two titanium rods. And that definitely limited my movement and it made the recovery process minimum of a year. I just knew going into it that it was going to be a year long recovery where I couldn't dance. 

Rich Bennett 10:51
Right. Have you tried since then? 

Morgan McCarver 10:53
I did. I went back to dance after that year and a lot of my friends had graduated or they were in high school, you know, doing boyfriend things or prom thing. So a lot of my friends had left and physically I wasn't the same. Mentally I wasn't the same. And it just wasn't fun for me anymore, which was a really hard loss. But thankfully during that time, I had already started getting into pottery, so I was able to transition pretty easily. 

Rich Bennett 11:23
You're amazing. I mean, that's just competitive dance, the sewing, the pottery, and now what I like to call an author preneur because you're in their boat. The book just came out recently, right? We did the. 

Morgan McCarver 11:38
Book. I did January 9th. Yes. Got the artist. 

Rich Bennett 11:42
2020 for. 

Morgan McCarver 11:43
2024? Yes, sir. 

Rich Bennett 11:45
Oh, wow. Okay. So, God, the artist, what made you decide to write that? 

Morgan McCarver 11:53
It really was a calling from the Holy Spirit. And it just stemmed from I was in ceramics classes, loving the community I had found there and realizing I'm about to graduate and lose all my friends, lose my community, lose my pottery studio. And so I was looking for a devotion boat to kind of read because my professors were great about pointing out these verses of pottery in the Bible. So I knew there had to be a devotion book and there really wasn't what I was looking for. I couldn't find that type of pottery referenced in the Bible type Devotion book. So at that point I just felt the Holy Spirit telling me that I needed to start taking notes. This could be something that I could do, and that was back in 2019, and I did try to get an early draft published that year and thank goodness it was rejected because it was a rough, rough draft and I just didn't know I needed experience. You know, when you get out of college, you think you know everything and you don't. So I felt the Holy Spirit telling me I needed more experience. I waited thinking that would be decades down the line. And it really was just a couple of years. So in January of 2023, I revisited the manuscript. I felt the calling to just go back over it. I pretty much rewrote it and one publisher reached out to me. It was Morgan James Publishing in New York, and the rest is history, as they say. 

Rich Bennett 13:18
So you actually had a publishing company reach out to. You didn't have to self-publish. 

Morgan McCarver 13:23
Now it's self-published. 

Rich Bennett 13:25
That is awesome. And now did you have an agent? 

Morgan McCarver 13:29
No. Tell me. Wow. 

Rich Bennett 13:33
No, that's great, because that's usually unheard of. 

Morgan McCarver 13:36
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 13:37
It's rare for somebody, especially your first book. 

Morgan McCarver 13:39
Right? And not having a degree or any kind of experience in writing it, Really. I just completely attribute it to the Lord because I tried to get this published back in 2019. He told me to revisit the manuscript. I did, and I said, Lord, I know I've tried my way and it did not work. It crashed and burned. So this is going to be what it is. If you're really calling me to do this, then I have to give it all to you. And I don't know anything about publishing. And so I reached out to publishers and it got a connection, and one smaller publisher recommended me to Morgan James. And so they reached back out. They said it wasn't a yes. It wasn't a no. My book was a little bit too short. And so I spent a week and a half basically doubling the word count, and I sent it back to them as an application. And then in a couple of weeks I got that acceptance letter and I just knew it was from God. It was just one, you know, it wasn't like I had choices. It was the one publishing company giving me the one chance. And so I said, okay, you know, you you did this for me, Lord. I'll do whatever it takes to get this book out there. So it's been so much of a learning experience and just just a great experience overall, working with them, but just learning again, learning everything. I didn't know that I needed to know. 

Rich Bennett 14:55
So what's the actually what is the core message that you hope readers take take away from the book God, the Artist? 

Morgan McCarver 15:03
I say you don't have to be a potter to read the book and you also don't have to be a Christian. I kind of go through both of those as we go along. But essentially the goal is for people to recognize that everyone is creative, and some people will look me dead in the eyes and tell me that they're not creative. And it really breaks my heart because I believe that everybody is creative, because we are made in the image of God and he's creative and he is a creator God that made us in his image. So if we're believing that, then we have to believe that he's given us that creativity as well. And I think that's just something so powerful to make something out of. Nothing is basically the definition of creativity to take something that didn't exist and bring it into existence. So that is something that I'm hoping that readers can really understand in their own lives and cultivate as they read through the book. So at the end of each chapter of God The Artist, I actually provide a creativity challenge for the reader. So not only are they reading about this story, yeah, they can. And they're they're interacting, they're getting involved and they're growing and they're creative journey as well. 

Rich Bennett 16:11
I love that. Any plans on doing an audio version of it as well? 

Morgan McCarver 16:16
I would love to. I need to talk to my publisher about that, but yeah, I would love to. I know it's a digital version and it's in paperback, but audio would be really cool. 

Rich Bennett 16:28
Yeah, would makes a lot easier for those of us that like to lay in bed and listen. 

Morgan McCarver 16:33
So yeah, no, I get you. I'm in the studio listening to podcasts or audiobooks all the time. So I love, I love listening to things like that. So that would be a great idea. 

Rich Bennett 16:45
Something tells me you're very active in your church, aren't you? 

Morgan McCarver 16:49
I am, yes. 

Rich Bennett 16:51
So with with the. Well, now that you're an author, a ceramic artist. 

All right, what is it called for? 

Morgan McCarver 17:03
So the seamstress. 

Rich Bennett 17:06
Seamstress, right. Geez. Okay. Is there is there any those that you actually teach it? Like, is there a ministry or anything like that in your church for that? Especially for the children. 

Morgan McCarver 17:18
So I didn't think so at first. And I really wasn't active in the church I grew up in. But since moving to Asheville and I go to a church, it's Brookstone and Weaverville. Since I've discovered that church and become a member and started going, I've been helping with their youth program. And that church is just really, really encouraging in the way that it shows that there are multiple ways to honor God. So I had always thought I had to be an extrovert. I had to be a door greeter. If I wanted to serve in the church. And that just wasn't me. Right? But this this church is really great about showing that there are, you know, God has given us all of these gifts, whether it's introverted type gifts or extroverted type gifts, and he's given us all these gifts to use for him in his glory. And so there's all different ways that that can come about. So in saying that the youth program is offering different types of classes to help students understand how they can serve as well and some of those involve working with the lighting, working with getting the stage set up. But then some of them are pottery classes. I've actually gotten to teach pottery to these students and to just see how well that they are receptive to it. It's just coming full circle because they're the same age I was when I discovered pottery. And so it's amazing to show them the beauty of ceramics and to also watch them realize and I had one student tell me, Wow, I never knew I could be good at this. And that's that's exactly what I'm trying to do to help them realize, like, there are so many other things in the world, like you just got to experience them and they're just so amazing. So to be able to give that to them has just been such a blessing. 

Rich Bennett 19:03
And I would think too, it's good therapy as well. 

Morgan McCarver 19:08
It is. It depends. When I'm making pieces, getting ready for a festival, it's not necessarily therapeutic for me because it is my job. 

Rich Bennett 19:18
So you're rusty? 

Morgan McCarver 19:19
Exactly. Exactly. I've got a deadline to meet. I've got to make sure things aren't blowing up in the kiln. So it's not always therapy, but there are times I'll give myself a challenge and make something that I'm not going to sell. Just just a creative challenge, just for me and so those moments are very therapeutic and very they spark that inspiration and that creativity again, that sometimes gets overlooked when I'm just doing the mundane things in the studio. 

Rich Bennett 19:49
How many festivals they usually do a year. 

Morgan McCarver 19:52
That depends. And the first year I started doing festivals in Asheville, I decided I was going to do as many in Asheville as I could. So I did nine in the festival season, which is about August to December. Wow. Yeah, I learned that was a lot. And so last year I think I did about five. So we'll see what happens this year. It's it's a lot of fun when the festivals go well, right. But it's also pottery heavy. So loading up my car and driving to spend a full day to unload it. 

Rich Bennett 20:23
I never really thought about that. 

Morgan McCarver 20:25
Yeah, it's a it's a wealth physical day to do a show like that. So it's really a balance between me, like listening to my body and seeing how physical I can. You know, take. And it's sometimes I just need to back off. So which is been hard, but I've gotten into some galleries in shops around the Carolinas and Tennessee, so my pottery is always available. Yeah. Even when I'm not doing shows. 

Rich Bennett 20:53
That that's great. Now the other thing is too, when you were doing these festivals, you didn't have the book yet. 

Morgan McCarver 21:00
I didn't know. 

Rich Bennett 21:02
Today you could take the book to the festivals and sell even more, correct? 

Morgan McCarver 21:05
Exactly. And I'm looking forward to doing that. I have a residency in Blowing Rock coming up in May, and I've done that residency for the past two years and I really, really love it. And they knew last year I had my little brochures out advertising that a book was coming. And so thankfully I've been invited back and I'll be bringing that physical copy, which will just be so cool. 

Rich Bennett 21:27
So hell, I know it's only been a month or a little over a month, but how are book sales going right now? 

Morgan McCarver 21:33
They're going well, it's the program with the publisher is interesting. I can't necessarily see across the board until so many days out how book sales are going, but the response has just been amazing, just overwhelming kindness and just really encouraging words from people who I really didn't even know if they were looking at my Instagram or knew about the book and they bought it. They've read it and it's encouraging to them, which for them to tell me that just really encourages me. And so it's been really, really special. 

Rich Bennett 22:07
So is does the publishing company do all the marketing for you or is that your responsibility for that? 

Morgan McCarver 22:13
That's my responsibility and that's something I wasn't aware of. But Morgan James says that they will get the books into bookstores. So Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, all places that sell books. And my job is to get it everywhere else. So being in the pottery world, thankfully I had some background that I already had a social media presence and things like that, a website to kind of get me started because that was an aspect of writing a book that I never really thought of. And so that has involved me doing things like this, being on podcasts, spreading the word and doing other things like book signings and going to different events, trying to just get the word out. So it's it's been a learning experience, like I said, but it's been a lot of fun. 

Rich Bennett 23:02
So, you know, that's the thing too, because you have a full time job, so you're limited to how far you can go to market your book. Yeah, but because of podcasts, you can go. 

Morgan McCarver 23:14
Around the world. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 23:16
To do it had you actually and I've never asked this question I don't believe I've ever asked this how did you find out about pod match to get on all these different podcasts? 

Morgan McCarver 23:26
Morgan James Publishing Actually, they have a really good program. Really? Yeah, they, they have a marketing packet and I just devoured that and they'd suggest different marketing books. And I read them all and they mentioned Pod Match and I said, Okay, let's do it. And it's been just so much, so much more fun than I thought it was going to be. I was so nervous the first one, but I've done over 30 now and I'm just I'm still going. I still like it. 

Rich Bennett 23:51
So you're a pro at it now? 

Morgan McCarver 23:54
I don't know if I'd say that, but I do enjoy the game. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. 

Rich Bennett 23:58
Have you checked out new books? Network Dotcom? 

Morgan McCarver 24:01
No. What is that? 

Rich Bennett 24:03
It's new books. Network dot com is what it sounds like. It's for new books and it's nothing but podcast. It's ran by a gentleman by the name of Marshall Poe. And I forget how many different podcasts are on there, but if you go to the website and look for, you know, your genre and then pitch your book to the host of one of these podcasts, and then they'll have you come on, they have millions of listeners. Wow. So yeah, so good chance. Check it out. New books, new books, network dot com. Cool. 

Morgan McCarver 24:40
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 24:40
Yeah, it is. It's great 

that one. And there's the other one just went right out of my mind. I forgot. So when are you going to start your podcast? 

Morgan McCarver 24:55
Oh, I need more time in the day for that one. 

Rich Bennett 24:57
I guess 

I think you should. I mean. Well you can't yet because you got the second book, which I'm sure if you haven't started on, you're going to start on soon, right? 

Morgan McCarver 25:11
Oh yeah. I mean if the Lord wills. Yeah. I'm still trying to get this first one out there, so we'll see what happens. 

Rich Bennett 25:20
I have a funny feeling you do have a second book in you because, I mean, just looking at your website, you have so much to offer. And even if it's just like a guide. 

Morgan McCarver 25:30
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 25:30
To help people, whether pottery guide or sewing guide, I mean, it's and again, those of you that are looking at her website, please respond in the comments what you think of her art because I. I'm afraid to share my daughter because she'll meet a buyer. 

Morgan McCarver 25:49
I got her for that. 

Rich Bennett 25:52
I need that dress, that I need that piece of pie. So where's the where's the furthest you travel, you know, for your pottery and everything? 

Morgan McCarver 26:01
Probably the farthest I've driven to sell my pottery is Tennessee, because like I said, I'm doing it by myself. I usually do one day shows. So that was about it was about two and a half hours for me to do a show. And that was a Saturday. I came back that night, 

but I try to track where I sell my pottery and so I am on a wholesale site called Fair. And so I have had my pottery go to different states that I've actually never been to. For example, Texas, I've got some pottery there, Louisiana and yeah, some people buy some things in Pennsylvania. California so far is like the farthest that has reached. And then for the books I've been doing different podcasts like this and so I've been able to send my books to some podcasters. I think the farthest away I've done with that is Poland. I've done Poland, Canada, and books are a lot cheaper to sell or to send, I should say, because the shipping for pottery is ridiculous. Exactly. And with pottery I always try to double box everything to make sure and you know, nothing breaks. But every once in a while there's some kind of tragedy and I have to ship, which is heartbreaking, but it happens. 

Rich Bennett 27:22
So with your book, is there favorite part that you liked or just whether it be a chapter or just a little section? Oh. 

Morgan McCarver 27:31
Of course. Probably it would be the introduction. Honestly, I spend the first part, the first several chapters just talking about creativity and how I believe that that's ingrained in all of us. And our God is a creator, God, and He made us in his image. So by default we are creative in that way. And so I'm really hoping to encourage the reader to discover their own creativity, whatever that that might be, because people will come up to me at shows and say that they're not creative and they'll just look me in the eyes and say like, Oh, I don't have creativity, I can never do that. I don't have imagination. And it just really breaks my heart because it's just it's so not true. Just because you're not creative at one area doesn't mean that you don't have creativity in some aspect of your life. And so the first those first chapters in the book really talk about creativity is how we started learning things. And even as young as preschool, we're learning shapes and colors and songs. There's different parts that we're learning, and it's all of these aspects that are incorporated that we're taught by creative things. The Alphabet is a song, you know, and so it's all of these things that we're learning when we're so young. And creativity and art is just part of that natural process. But it gets really it gets taken away. And as we get older, art becomes that one class you have to take to graduate or and, you know, an extracurricular activity. And it's just really hard to watch creativity kind of be forced out of our lives and out of the workplace. And I don't think it's helping society in that way. We aren't using our imaginations like we need to be. So I just really challenge the reader to tap into that aspect of their life that they had when they were young. And maybe they have pushed it to the side or forgotten about it. But there's still a passion there. 

Rich Bennett 29:32
So if with your book, do you think this is something and I believe it is, but do you believe this is something that the reader can go back time and time and time again and read that? 

Morgan McCarver 29:47
That would definitely be my hope is as you're growing and getting more information about yourself, as you're reading, you're also gaining that relationship with God and your relationship with your own craft. And so my hope would be that you would go back and maybe something that you read at surface level the first way through. Now you're able to understand it even deeper or with a different symbolism that's specific for you in that way. 

Rich Bennett 30:13
All right. Crazy question for you, because I've seen this with music, especially even even from the composer's standpoint, where after time it has new meaning. Do you see that with your pottery as well to where you. Yeah, when you designed it, I'm sure it has a certain meaning at the time. But now after time, over time it gains a whole nother meaning. 

Morgan McCarver 30:43
That's a great question and that's honestly something that I haven't really thought about until recently. And yes, I would say yes. I was answering questions for another thing project I'm working on, and basically it it kind of hit me that things that maybe subconsciously I put into my work are coming out. And even though I might not have intentionally put that in a specific way, it's interpreted in that way. And I think that's really beautiful. And it also speaks to my training. That's kind of how my professor would teach us. She had us have these super elaborate journals of pictures and graphs and drawings and note taking and all of these things of just gathering source material and then creating art. And so we had all this background that we didn't necessarily realize was flowing into our work, but it was in our minds because we had been creating those journals. And I'm able to see that in my work now, even though my work has deviated from what it was in college. Right. And I'm able to see that now just from pictures I take on my phone or different little snippets of things that I collect and keep around my desk or my work area, and I'm able to see those things kind of come back into my work. And for example, I have a painting that I had done when I was in college and it was overlaying I had overlaid a sheer piece of fabric that I had painted flowers on, and I kind of overlaid that over a corset sewing pattern. And I looked at that and that's been hanging in my my room forever. And I love how it looks, but I never really made the connection, which now seems so obvious. That's what I do on my parts. I have the corset lacing that I directly put onto my pottery. So all these like subliminal things kind of coming into play, especially the delicacy between wildflowers and their strengths, as well as the delicacy between and me with my scoliosis surgery and the strengths I have comparing that to the delicacy of porcelain and how actually strong that is. And so all of those kind of ideas are playing with each other. 

Rich Bennett 32:58
Have you and especially with going to the festivals and everything, have you ever had somebody come up to you and tell you that your art is talking to them? In other words, it speaks to them, you know what I mean? Because I know what. 

Morgan McCarver 33:14
You mean when you. 

Rich Bennett 33:14
Study art, it speaks to you in certain ways. 

Morgan McCarver 33:18
Yeah, I would say yes. It's very interesting how personal people are willing to get or not willing to get, and sometimes they'll just tell me something about there's a specific flower that they like, or sometimes it's a very detailed story about, you know, this flower symbolically represents this specific relationship that they have, and they're buying this piece because it reminds them of a family member or friend. So there are really deep connections that I could never possibly know about that people are able to see right in my work, which is really, really cool to connect with them over. 

Rich Bennett 33:53
That sounds like it could be part of the next book. 

Morgan McCarver 33:58
Oh yeah. 

Rich Bennett 34:02
So if all that's on your plate, your work, faith, community involvement and personal time, how do you actually manage to keep everything in balance? 

Morgan McCarver 34:13
That is a great question. And the easy answer is I don't I don't balance everything every day. So I know it's not a wow. Right. It's not it's not an answer that you would expect. But I think that was it. 

The beauty is prioritizing. So some days I am able to be in the studio more than others. Some days I'm, you know, serving in the church longer than other days. And so it really is about prioritizing what needs to be done in the moment, which I'm such a planner and I want to look ahead and plan ahead. And we all know with COVID that does not work. And so that that type of fast paced schedule really does keep me in the moment about what do I need to do right now, I can't focus on what's already been done because I can't change that. If I liked it or didn't, I can't change it. And I don't I don't have time to look forward to what's coming way down the line. I need to focus on what's going on right now and prioritize that. And on top of that, just recognizing everything I do, whether I am working in the studio by myself or being around people, whatever that might be. And I have a purpose and God's given me that purpose. So in that moment, whatever needs to get done, just finding ways to glorify him through that. 

Rich Bennett 35:36
So what is next for Morgan? 

Morgan McCarver 35:39
Oh, some good things and I'm sure things I don't know. They're all. 

Rich Bennett 35:43
Good things. 

Morgan McCarver 35:43
All good things. Yes. I have a solo exhibition coming up this spring, so that will be April May in Asheville. And then at the end of May, I am participating in the Blowing Rocks Edgewood Cottage Artist Residency Program. So this will be my third consecutive summer up there that I've been invited back and I'm so excited. It it's really the highlight of my year. I look forward to every year. Good. And yes, so I'll be going back to that and, and then who's to say I'm always applying to shows, always getting into different galleries or festivals or things like that? I've got some ideas this way. I know I need to. I would love to. People keep telling me like Virginia had their state flowers, the dogwood, which I do incorporate on my pottery. So I'm like, maybe I could do like a Virginia Maryland kind of circuit one day. 

Rich Bennett 36:36
I think, Yeah. 

Morgan McCarver 36:38
It'd be fun. 

Rich Bennett 36:39
I think I should. 

Morgan McCarver 36:41
But yeah, yeah. Actually, you never know. 

Rich Bennett 36:44
Actually, it's. Yeah, it's Virginia. Because a friend of mine wrote a book about ferry stones. 

Morgan McCarver 36:50
Oh, yeah, I've heard. 

Rich Bennett 36:51
Of her. That ferry stones. 

Morgan McCarver 36:52
Yes, I always so to find them, but I haven't. 

Rich Bennett 36:56
Well there apparently there's a place in Virginia is like a ferry park or something. Yeah. But I think I don't know if they have festivals there or not. If they do, you need to go there because what's also known when it comes to ferries, I always think of, like, gnomes and mushrooms. And you made these awesome mushrooms, right? I thought, Didn't you make them. Yeah. I think you had them on your Facebook page or something. 

Morgan McCarver 37:27
Oh, I don't know. 

Rich Bennett 37:30
With pottery. 

Morgan McCarver 37:32
Yeah. Oh, I have a friend who makes mushrooms. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 37:35
Oh, that was a friend. 

Morgan McCarver 37:35
Yeah, I'll have to. We'll have to get the cook there. 

Rich Bennett 37:39
Yeah, I just saw that. I was like, that is. That's talent. That is good, because they look like those. I forget what you call them. The skinny looking like towers, which are wonderful, but very good to eat. 

Morgan McCarver 37:54
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 37:55
It made me hungry. 

It definitely made me hungry. So before I get to my last question, is there anything you would like to add? 

Morgan McCarver 38:05
I mean, honestly, you've done a great job asking really in-depth questions and keeping the conversation going. We've covered just about all the bases, and if there's one thing I could just add for the reader to kind of and get a hold of is just that. And we are all creative. And I think that's beautiful. And it doesn't mean that my creativity looks the same as yours. And I think social media can hurt us in that way because we think that if we're not the best, then we're not successful. And that's not true. I know I'm not the best potter. I know I don't sell the most pieces, but that doesn't disqualify me or just discredit my art from being what it is. And it means I'm still an artist, whether I'm the best or not. And I think there's just something so powerful about social media, the lies. It's just easy to forget that, that even if you aren't the most successful or the best or whatever, this world is measuring success by these days. And it shouldn't take away your joy from doing what you love. 

Rich Bennett 39:06
Right? All right. Crazy. This is not my last question. I just thought about this, you know, because of your faith and how involved you are in the church and everything at a Baptist church. 

Morgan McCarver 39:19
I think it started out as Baptist. It's probably more denominational than anything else. 

Rich Bennett 39:23
But have you thought about becoming ordained. 

Morgan McCarver 39:28
Sarah Now, I haven't really. 

Rich Bennett 39:33
Yeah. No, seriously, I am shocked because I figured, you know, you be teaching and everything and I'm surprised nobody's actually asked you to marry them yet. 

Morgan McCarver 39:43
Well, thank you. Yeah, I think we need to get some signal singleness right now, and I stay too busy these days. No, I. 

Rich Bennett 39:50
Didn't mean that way. I meant first. I mean, for you to perform the wedding of a couple getting married. 

Morgan McCarver 39:57
No, no, I've never considered that. But that is interesting to consider. 

Rich Bennett 40:04
Yeah, Yeah, I mean, because, I mean, the way your faith is and everything, I'm. I just. And I know, I'm sure kids have no problem listening to adults. I have no listen. No problem listening to you either. Yeah. I just think you'll be very good at it. Oh, thank you. The church asked you. 

Morgan McCarver 40:25
Depends on a church. Some. Some churches don't think women frown upon their leaders. Yeah, which that's a whole other. And yeah, that's a whole other thing. 

Rich Bennett 40:36
But between between you and I, I believe that 

women make the best leaders so. Well, and of course, now the listeners as well, between you, I. 

Morgan McCarver 40:48
Well, they. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 40:51
So you've been on a lot of interviews so far and many, many more to come up. Is there anything a host has never asked you that you wish they would have asked you? And if so, what would be that question? What would be your answer? 

Morgan McCarver 41:06
Mm. Okay. Um, I don't think a host is ever asked me, which I think it's something that you don't really think about is the responsibility of Potter specifically. But artists in general, but specifically pottery because you're using it and what that responsibility is in terms of customers health, which I didn't really realize until I got into it. And but I think it's important, especially since ceramics is becoming more of a hobby now and it's gaining that footing that people are aware if you're selling a product that you're going to market as food safe, then it needs to be food safe. And in that case, you need to do the appropriate to make sure it's food safe. So for instance, I had to reformulate my glaze because the clay that I get from Kentucky, they reformulated their clay and then it didn't react with my glaze in a great way. And so it caused. Wow. Yeah, it caused some creasing in my pottery, which basically is like these fine hairline cracks in the glaze. So the functionality of the pot was still useful, but those cracks can harbor bacteria or different things staining. So that's something that people don't really take into consideration, especially when they're making and getting excited and first starting out. But if you're selling your pottery to be used, it's the responsibility of the pottery to really consider what you're giving the user. You know, if they are going to use this for years and years, it needs to be a glaze that doesn't have lead in it. It needs to be nontoxic food safe. If you say it can go in the dishwasher, in the microwave, do some tests, make sure it can. And there are some there are plenty of tests out there testing acidity, whether the acid in foods erodes your glaze or not, all these different things. But that that's a question that doesn't really come up because people don't necessarily consider it as an issue. But in my eyes, it's a very important topic to to mention. 

Rich Bennett 43:09
That's interesting that you say that because I don't know how I you come up with that question because when the one podcast I did with the health department, we were talking about lead and they mentioned how some spices from other countries will have lead in it to give it that red color. Oh, even some of your pottery. And I, I didn't even think about that. Yes. I realize here in the states are still making glaze has live in it. 

Morgan McCarver 43:39
Right it's not as common these days but there's glazes with magnesium in there, 

cadmium. You know, those are elements that are in paints as well. And you do have to watch out for that. For example, like if you're making an oil painting, you're going to sell that to a house with family, with young kids. You need to make them aware of these things and also protect yourself to make sure your environment has the appropriate waste bins or whatever you need. Right. But yeah, pottery, the glaze companies do a good job about telling you which glazes are toxic or not, and that even if they are foods safe, you need to test it with your clay because not all are compatible with our glazes and all firing temperatures and there's so many variables that get involved. So yeah. 

Rich Bennett 44:26
So have you been able to find out a way to where whatever you make is food safe, microwave safe and dishwasher safe? 

Morgan McCarver 44:35
I have. And basically it is a lot of work. Yeah. Yes. I ended up reformulating my glaze and I was using commercial glazes at the time because it was quicker to just buy them and use them. But it got to where, especially during COVID when materials were harder to find and the glaze companies and clay companies were just replacing or substituting ingredients and not telling anyone, which meant chemicals react. When they go up to 2000 degrees, they react differently. You never know. So on the most honest part, it'd be fine. But you never know when it's not fine until something bad seems to be happening. If your pot comes out of the counter and it doesn't look right. And so basically that means I need to take more control over what I'm making. So I still do buy my clay that's still outsourced, but I make my own glaze. I follow the recipe just like you would in baking measuring out dry ingredients and mixing it with wet. Mm. And so that way I know this glaze, I've tested this glaze. I know how it works with my porcelain. I know how it's going to be. I know it's food safe. I know it passes the acidity, tests, all those things. So it really just means taking more of that into my own hands to make sure that it's safe for my customers. 

Rich Bennett 45:52
Well, okay, you opened up several more questions now that this has not. And that's amazing because I would have never thought and I'm wondering how many people even think about that when they go to these festivals and buy a mug or something. I'd even bother to ask if it's food safe. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people don't. I wonder how many people that make it even know that. 

Morgan McCarver 46:18
That's that's my fear, especially working in the environment that I was working for a ceramic supply retail shop and selling things to people who you could tell over the phone, they weren't really sure what was going on. That's my fear, honestly. And I think that that should not be that should not fall on the consumer. That really should be the responsibility of the potter to know what they're making and to know that it's appropriate to be used in a way that it's designed to be used for. 

Rich Bennett 46:48
Yeah, especially if they have little kids, too, right? 

Morgan McCarver 46:51
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 46:51
You got to be extremely safe. And. Wow, I never thought about this. How many pieces do you make in a day? Average, right? Let's see, because I'm sure there are some days where you don't make any. 

Morgan McCarver 47:04
Yeah, it depends on the day and the way like my body is. I have to kind of plan accordingly. So for instance, this weekend I was throwing on the pottery wheel and Friday night I was in the studio and I think I made about 12 creamers. I'm trying to restock some, so I made about 12 creamers then. And then Saturday I came in and made roughly 20 baskets and I was able to put molds and other things while I was in there. But yeah, it's those, those are full days. Those are those are long days, but it's fun. And but I usually plan to throw on the wheel when one day a month or one weekend over the months, just to give my body some time rest. And for the next time I throw on the wheel. And but it just depends. And the molds do help. I think I mentioned that I slip past mostly, and so I'm able to just pour my molds and they do the hard work for me for the most part, so I can pour as many molds at a time as I have slip for usually that's four or five molds, and then it takes about a day to do mold and everything. So it just depends on what I'm making. When of course ornaments I can make 50 of those in a sitting. Yeah, physically. 

Rich Bennett 48:15
Would be honest. Do you have ghost playing on the TV while you're doing your pottery Ghost? 

Morgan McCarver 48:22
No, 

I hadn't seen that movie until college because my ceramics master had said No ghost in here, no ghost. We're not doing Ghost. And I said, okay, I've got to know what's going on so I can only watch that movie. And yeah, that's yeah, that's my my pottery experience is not that romantic. I'll say, you know. 

Yeah, 

I get pretty, pretty dirty in there. So it's, you know, depending on the seasons it can be hot. You know, I'm not I'm not looking my best. I mean, I'm not having that romantic moment, but yeah, that's a funny movie. Just for the pottery things like, yeah, they get some of it right and then some of it I'm just like watching it laughing. That's not how you do it. 

Rich Bennett 49:15
Yeah, right. Uh huh. She is a you just keep looking behind you for Patrick Swayze. 

Morgan McCarver 49:22
Yeah. Really? Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 49:23
Well, hopefully not now, but. 

Morgan McCarver 49:25
Know, you. 

Rich Bennett 49:27
Should tell everybody your website once again and how they can get in touch with you. Especially because people could buy your your art from anywhere. 

Morgan McCarver 49:35
Yes, they can. So you can shop my Etsy site or my fair site. And if you want to spend a weekend in blowing rock, I'll be there Memorial Day weekend and then through the rest of that week. But my website is just my name. WW dot Morgan McCarver dot com and from there I post all the galleries I'm in all my upcoming shows and you can shop online and you can buy book online as well Connect with me on social media, do all that good stuff. 

Rich Bennett 50:03
And all of you listening when you purchase Morgan's book, after you read it, make sure you leave a full review, whether it be on good reads, Amazon or whatever, because that's just going to help her sell more books. It changes something in the algorithm and it's going to push it out there. So make sure you leave a full review, even if it's a four star, three star review, leave it. But I know it's all going to be all five star recipes anyway, so. 

Morgan McCarver 50:31
Hey, I prefer mixed reviews over anything else. 

Rich Bennett 50:34
Well, the thing is, when people see that it's nothing but five star reviews sometimes are like that. Wait a minute. Something ain't right here. Because a lot of times they think there's a lot of fake reviews. Sure. So there's four stars, four star reviews, and three star reviews are good sometimes. Yeah. You know. 

Morgan McCarver 50:53
Tells me what's best for the next book. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 50:57
There you go, people. You heard it. She's working on the next book. 

Morgan McCarver 51:01
Oh, not yet, but more yet. 

Rich Bennett 51:04
Thanks so much. It's been a true pleasure. 

Morgan McCarver 51:06
Thank you so much for having me. This has been awesome.