Forestdale woman reaches others with clay creations

Mille Caffee of Westwood Baptist Church, Forestdale, likes to laugh.  She also likes to work with clay. 
   
So she’s combined the two loves with her Christian faith in a special ministry of her own. Caffee creates whimsical pottery figures for those people she wants to cheer or remember in some way.
   
“It started when my niece, Christie Wall, was in the hospital,” said Caffee. “I made a little clay grandma holding a bowl of chicken soup. With it was a note telling Christie I was sending grandma to take care of her, since I couldn’t be there with her all the time.”
   
Many of Caffee’s clay figures are caricatures of their recipients. All the figures have long arms, short legs, bulbous noses and big smiles. 
   
“They aren’t portraits, but I try to pick up some physical characteristic, like gray hair or a bald head, and exaggerate it,” Caffee said.
   
Terry Samplaski, Westwood’s minister of music, laughed as he described the special figure Caffee presented to him.
   
“The figure is 6 feet tall and is holding a hymnbook,” he said.  “I can’t say it looks like me, but you can tell who it is.”
   
Caffee also created a Superman figure caricaturing Pastor Rick Holcombe, and says she’s “been working on the minister of education. He’s balding on top and has a little mustache, so he’s a good subject.”
   
For her pottery figures, Caffee uses special clay available in art and discount stores.
   
She forms the figures by hand, without using molds, then fires them in her kitchen oven and paints them with acrylic paints. 
   
In addition to her caricatures, she creates cherubs, women sitting on a beach, opera-goers and other generic figures.
   
“They’re not beautiful people, but they’re always smiling,” Caffee said. “I name them all, and when I give a piece to someone, it’s like parting with a member of the family.”
   
If Caffee has the time and inspiration, she can make one of her clay caricatures in a day. Otherwise, it may take two to three days. 
   
Reaction from recipients is worth the time expended.
   
“It blesses my heart to see people enjoy these clay pieces,” Caffee said. “I could put them on a shelf and sell them.  But when I give them away, it’s like giving a part of me, too.”