He Spoke To My Soul | Israel Davis | Episode 1163

Israel Davis | Episode 1163

Israel “Izzy” Davis is an artist, professor, and head of ceramics at Central Michigan University. Izzy has taught over 50 workshops and has been included in over 100 exhibitions. Izzy produces functional and non-functional works ranging in content from personal narratives, observations, and fun. Izzy lives with his wife and twin daughters in Grand Rapids, MI.

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Does having your artistic expression allow you to not be free from pain, but to understand the pain?

I think it helps process it, absolutely. I don’t think we can ever be free from those things because we are always going to grapple with those challenges presented us, and then the challenges that we create for ourselves, perhaps through those experiences. I do believe they help me process those experiences and find some measure of peace within myself.

How has the artist community helped you to process the heartaches of life? I know you are not living in pain all the time but when it comes to hard times how does community help?

Oh dude, I am going to speak to the clay community because that is mostly what I am in. They are number one. Absolutely. I have so many life long friends that I have been able to share these ups and downs of the artist’s life with.

How does having the next thing to do help a person in life to be joyful?

I think being productive brings about a sense of accomplishment, which adds to a measure of happiness in one’s life.

You are not only a maker but a teacher. How does being a giver like that make your life richer?

Oh boy, it’s something else. I have students who I have lifelong friendships with. At this point they are not even students. I may refer to them as students, but they are people I have the utmost respect for because they have embarked upon this way of life that I have in similar ways to create a lifestyle of creativity. They have enriched me probably more than I have enriched them.

How is that possible to be the teacher and come away richer than the student?

I think it’s a matter of perception and reception. What are you willing to receive and how are you perceiving it. So if you perceive yourself as the person always who teaches and that’s what you are, then maybe you are not going to receive what the student can offer you.