For Cyndy Ira Reynolds, pottery began as a refuge, an artistic counterbalance to the hustle of her decadeslong career in the hotel industry. What started as a creative outlet quickly evolved into a passion that would define her retirement years. Today, she is the force behind CIRAMA Pottery and More, a ceramics studio in Jacksonville.
Her work began over twenty years ago in a small pottery studio outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, she learned to throw on the wheel and soon became proficient, producing everything from custom dinnerware sets to expressive serving platters and charming, functional bowls. “There’s something meditative about the rhythm of the wheel,” she says. “It helped me find balance.”
Reynolds transformed her father’s old workshop into her own studio.
A certified Master Gardener in both states, she brings the natural world into her pottery. Her pieces often echo the textures of tree bark, the form of leaves, or the movement of flowing water. Mid-range clays and richly layered glazes give her work a depth that invites both touch and use. “My goal is to make art that people live with,” she says. “Not just to look at, but to hold, to serve with, to enjoy every day.”
Her functional yet artistic pieces have found enthusiastic audiences at local and regional art festivals and garden shows.
Reynolds is always cultivating beauty if she’s shaping clay or planting seeds. In either case she enjoys sharing her creations with the world, one piece at a time.
For more, visit facebook.com/cirama.
