Working with clay can be a heart-breaking experience. It can take countless hours to mold the material into a precise, desired shape. Care must be taken not to have it dry prematurely. And when fired, clay can take a devastating turn.

“Ceramic students are always glass-half-full kind of people,” said Frank Jacques, ceramics instructor at Oak Harbor High School. “Their work can be derailed easily and catastrophe is always around the corner. But you live for the moment it all works out.”

For two Oak Harbor High School students, working in clay has turned into more than just an art, or even a passion. It has become a triumph.

Last month, seniors Logan Archer and Brendan Kays delicately packed up two pieces of their art, “Wombat Flavored Suitcase Machine” by Archer, and “Factory” by Kays, to be included in the The National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition, held in conjunction the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts’ annual conference March 14 to 17. Their inclusion in the show is a prestigious honor as the contest received more than 800 entries from which only 151 were selected for inclusion.

The National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition is held in conjunction with the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts’ annual conference.

The students’ work is juried in and judged by professionals for a chance at scholarship money. The show is also prime time for public exposure. Exhibition attendance exceeded 6,000 in 2005.

Jacques is proud of his students’ accomplishments. And while the high school’s round career and technical buildings have gotten a bad rap over the years for crowded quarters and awkward spacing, Jacques says his students continue to produce quality work in their slice of the building.

“It’s exciting to have two pieces included in this national show that are created by two students from this dusty little room,” Jacques said. “Our students always produce work that just blows me away.”

It was during Kays’ first and only semester studying ceramics last year that he created his teapot called “Factory.” Jacques calls him a Renaissance man for his busy schedule of academics and activities such as football and baseball.

Kays applied his love of math, science and technology classes to his ceramics works and says he intends to carry clay into his future.

He plans to head to Washington State University where he will major in either chemical or mechanical engineering.

“I’ve already got my eye on taking ceramics as an art there,” he said.

Kays said when preparing for a project he brainstorms design ideas he knows he can put his own distinct twist on. He found that in his metallically glazed “Factory.”

Archer is in his second year of ceramic arts at Oak Harbor High School. Once he walked into the C-8 classroom where dusty footprints lead to the door that’s permanently smudged with clay, he was hooked.

“I spend most of my free time here,” he said. “With WASL testing I don’t have to be to school until 10 but I show up by 7 a.m. some days just so I can work my ideas out.”

Archer’s piece selected for the show is a 14-inch tall teapot called “The Wombat Flavored Suitcase Machine.” The piece gets its name from Archer’s admitted inability to name things, but desire to boggle the mind.

He finished the piece just in time for the annual “Arts and Appetizers” art show held in May sponsored by the American Association of University Women. The piece was an award winner at the show and drew so much interest that a woman purchased the teapot for $100.

“It was great money, especially for my first piece sold, but I miss it,” Archer said. “I also realized my mom really liked it, and this lady was not my mom. I had to get it back.”

Luckily the purchaser was kind enough to sell it back, and now the “Wombat Flavored Suitcase Machine” is a prized possession at the Archer home and loved by Mom.

After high school Archer plans to apply for art school, but he also has a backup plan — of sorts.

“Maybe I’ll do concrete construction,” he laughed.

Jacques has been an art instructor for more than 15 years, and has spent the last five at Oak Harbor High School. He’s been involved in the ceramic arts since 1978, during which time he has seen much evolution and growth in the field.

“Ceramics has long been a part of art in the schools but in a very different way,” he said. “Before it was more of a craft, but it has evolved into a true art in which students create pieces with a museum resonance.”