In a small room adjacent to a garage in Pine, Sister Charlotte Tolliver sits hunched over in her chair.
Her hands are clasped around a wet ball of clay that slowly takes the form of a bowl under the gentle pressure of her fingers.
Sister Tolliver, 54, of McCandless, substitutes jeans and a T-shirt for the traditional black habit and rosary and spends her days touching others through her pottery.
She said she is passionate about what she does, especially in the way her work "meets hearts." The collection title, "Vessels of Hospitality," reflects her desire to minister to others through her ceramics.
"It's important to me that the vessel be used and not placed behind glass, so that it provides some form of hospitality," she said.
Sister Tolliver was born in West Virginia and grew up in Rochester in Beaver County. At 27, she converted to Catholicism and entered the novitiate in August 1980. She took her final vows with the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1991.
Although her work with the Sisters of Divine Providence led her to serve in various shelters, Sister Tolliver always has had an eye for the arts. Before she joined the Sisters of Divine Providence, she was a sign painter and painted beer trucks. She laughed while recalling how she still can paint the Pabst Blue Ribbon if she takes her time.
Eventually, her work with the homeless and single women led to burnout, and Sister Tolliver took a six-month sabbatical, craving something different.
"I needed to do something else with my hands, I had been doing social work. I wasn't painting beer trucks anymore," she said.
While in Canada during her sabbatical, Sister Tolliver was introduced to a pottery class and got "hooked on mud." She enrolled in Edinboro University and completed her master's degree in ceramics in 1997 and created Vessels of Hospitality as her thesis project.
She now teaches classes at Sweetwater Center for the Arts in Sewickley and sells her pieces at various spots in the North Hills.
Sister Tolliver talks about pottery as a way to heal, especially after the death of her sister, and a way for her to be close to God. She told the story in Jeremiah of going to the potter's house and said pottery "gave me a personality of God I can relate to."
"I'd like to make pottery until I'm 96, just so I can keep having fun with it and have my students appreciate the art and appreciate what it takes," she said.
In a stress-driven society, Sister Tolliver encourages her students to "take life a little easier." She finds that pottery forces her to be patient.
"Clay has it's own time. I can't make it do what I want it to do, I have to do what it wants to do," she said. "Usually, when things blow up in my kiln, it's because I thought I knew better than my clay."
She tells her students that in addition to slowing down, dreaming is essential to pottery and life. "Don't be afraid to dream, and then follow your dream," she said.
