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Troy & Suzanne Drake | Episode 561
Troy Drake is a potter who was born with Down syndrome. Each piece of pottery is handmade by Troy, sometimes with the help of his mom, Suzanne. 100% of the proceeds from his pottery are donated to non profit organizations at the end of the year.
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What is one of the challenges that working with clay, as a down syndrome person, what is a challenge that comes with that?
Suzanne: Tactile issues. We have tried the wheel but I just think the feel of the clay with its spinning bothers his hands. He doesn’t really like it and he has a tough time centering, if anyone can tell me a good way to try and teach him to center we would be willing to try it again. The clay I think we used was the wrong kind of clay, I think it had too much grog in it maybe, because we thought it would be an easier clay for him to use but I think the grog in it really bothers his hands. So maybe if we used a clay that didn’t have as much grog in it and we can figure out how to have him center it, I am not the best teacher because I am a beginner. He also struggles with things that are really detailed like the octopus with its eight legs. But he has impressed me so much because he is just really artistic with drawing and everything else. I show him something just a couple of times and he gets it.
Troy, do you like to glaze your pottery?
Troy: Yes.
It is the one thing that most potters hate is the glazing.
Suzanne: I don’t think that is his favorite and we are not good at that one either.
Troy, what is your favorite part of pottery?
Making Christmas stars and I make snowmen.
Suzanne, now that you are in a production pottery studio do you find yourself planning ahead for the upcoming seasons?
Suzanne: Well, we are planning definitely for Christmas. So right now for the next two months he will be concentrating on Christmas ornaments. Because he sells out so fast. I mean his last Etsy store, I think in five hours he was completely sold out and within the first hour almost everything was gone. I mean it’s crazy. He doesn’t have the physical stamina to work hours on end and it takes him a lot longer than it would take someone else, obviously, to make them. So we have a goal of making 25 ornaments 4 days a week. And some day, like yesterday, he made…how many ornaments did you make yesterday?
Troy: I made 44.
Suzanne: So it is kind of like see how many we make. And we plan on selling them in November because Thanksgiving through Christmas we are pretty much gone because we travel a lot.
I asked Troy what his favorite part of ceramic making was. What is your favorite part?
Suzanne: Opening the kiln, by far. When it is a good opening.
Troy, do you like opening the kiln?
Yes!
I noticed you do image transferring. Do you like doing image transfers?
Troy: Yes.
Suzanne: That is actually quite fun.
It’s very fun. I like watching you do it, Troy.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years, Suzanne, with Troy and pottery?
I hope we are still doing the same thing. I don’t think we will grow it or anything like that because it is a hobby. And it is something to keep his brain active because, you probably don’t know this, but they think Alzheimer’s has something to do with the 21st chromosome so by the time an adult with down syndrome hits 40, I forget the percentage, but I am guessing it is about 30 percent start to show signs of Alzheimer’s and when they have done autopsies of older adults with Alzheimer’s 100 percent of them had the plaque that you have with Alzheimer’s but not all of the showed the signs of Alzheimer’s, but by the time they are 60 the percentage of them that have Alzheimer’s is super high. So they are thinking that it has something to do with extra 21st chromosome. So I am really working hard on just keeping him healthy and keeping his brain motivated.
Suzanne, this question is for you. If you had a billboard and you could say something about downs syndrome what would you put on your billboard?
I would probably put one of my favorite quotes: Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it’s stupid. You know the Troys of the world, academically they are not there, they are not going to be the best in the world academically but they can teach the world a lot about kindness, how to treat other people. Troy has a lot of gifts, I mean, look at what he is doing. Obviously with the help of me, but he’s doing all the work. So his life does have value, his life has purpose and I think that is why I agreed to do Instagram, is because I want people to see that.
Book
Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
Contact
Instagram: @troymadeit