Like any form of art, people fall into two camps with the clay. There are those who can't wait to get stuck in and make something and those who won't even touch it. They will say that they can't do it, that they can't make anything, that they are rubbish at it and I really get this because, many years ago, I was that person! I went on a creative workshop day and I was horrified to be given a chunk of clay - even just holding it felt too much - I simply didn't know what to do with it but the wise teacher told us all to close our eyes and let it do what it wanted to do and, to my amazement, something truly unexpected appeared. It is true that working with clay can be exposing and take us to a vulnerable space where, by its 3D nature, we are going to make a shape which will be an expression or statement or a beginning of something so, if someone is really reticent, I would just give them a chunk to hold and tell them not to work it but just to feel it in their hands. But they can't do nothing of course, because it simply isn't possible to 'just hold' a piece of clay, it won't let you - eventually you have to pinch it or indent it with your finger or squeeze it; it makes you work it and perhaps that's why it's scary stuff. I wonder if sometimes the clay knows our secrets and the moment we let go and relax, then just what we need to express will appear, and it's often an accurate reflection of who we are at that moment in time, often surprising, sometimes moving, but always beautiful.