Re: The Messy Side of Making Art No One Talks About | Marissa Childers
In this episode of the Arts to Hearts Podcast, host Charuka Arora chats with artist Marissa Childers about the unexpected paths that can lead us to a creative life. Marissa opens up about moving away from home for grad school, how working with her hands became something she couldn’t ignore, and how she went from studying accounting to falling in love with clay—completely by accident.
The two also talk about something a lot of us think but rarely say out loud—the fear of not being able to make a living as an artist, and the old idea that choosing art means choosing struggle.
This episode is an honest and down-to-earth conversation about fears, fresh starts, and the urgency to make the most of our time. Whether you’re just starting out, changing paths, or simply curious about what it takes to build a creative life, you’ll find something here that feels familiar, maybe even comforting.
So, grab a cup of something warm and come join us for a chat about figuring it out, one step at a time.
About Marissa Childers
Hello, my name is Marissa Childers. I grew up in the small town of Florence, Alabama where I attended The University of North Alabama. I started working with clay my junior year of college. Honestly, until then, I had no clue what ceramics was and never would have imagined it to be something I could become so passionate about. My plan was to graduate as an accountant, but believe it or not, playing with dirt was a little more exciting than dealing with numbers all day.
I decided shortly after to swap over my major and received my Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Ceramics. Following graduation, I moved to Snowmass, Colorado to be a ceramic intern at Anderson Ranch Arts Center. This internship opened so many doors for me as I was given the opportunity to work alongside many incredible artists, make connections, and learn the ins and outs of what goes into being a ceramic artist.
I left my internship and drove straight to Oklahoma to start grad school at The University of Oklahoma. It was interesting to have the majority of my graduate experience during the pandemic, but it was the best decision I could have made. It really pushed me outside my comfort zone and made me try things that I would have never considered beforehand. I can honestly say that I fully enjoy my process and the things I’m creating, and I’m excited to see where this new body of work takes me!
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From Numbers to Clay: A Winding Path
Sometimes, the clearest paths start with a wrong turn. That’s how it began for Marissa Childers, who originally set out to become an accountant. Surrounded by numbers, schedules, and calculations, she reached her junior year of college and realized: this wasn’t it. It wasn’t what she could see herself doing every day. So she made the bold move to leave.
The next few years weren’t mapped out in any clean or expected way. She picked up odd jobs. She worked with her dad, a skilled woodworker who made cabinetry, furniture, and flooring. Through this hands-on work, she discovered something important: she felt more at ease when she was building, crafting, making with her hands. But she still didn’t quite see it as “art” – just something practical, something familiar.
But then once I dropped out of college, I was like, “You know what? I thought, “I think that I am happier doing that, like something with my hands. So. I went back to college and was like, I really want to, you know, do something within the arts.S4E69
A Happy Accident That Changed Everything
When she re-enrolled in college years later, she knew she wanted to study something creative. But she hadn’t figured out what exactly that looked like. As fate would have it, the only open class left was ceramics. She walked in clueless, not knowing what to expect. But when she touched clay for the first time, something clicked.
It wasn’t a dramatic movie moment. Just a quiet, grounded feeling of, “This makes sense.” That connection became her anchor, and eventually, her career.
So I felt like that was, you know, my Ah moment where it was like, “Okay, this is what we are doing.”S4E69
Finding Meaning in the Everyday
Marissa’s work today draws from the things that fill our daily lives: cable knit textures, stitched patches, home objects. Things you don’t usually stop to think about. But in her hands, they become something worth pausing for. She uses clay like a storyteller, translating memories and habits into shape and form.
It’s not surprising, then, that her childhood and family have shaped her work. Growing up around her dad’s woodworking and being used to working with tools and textures helped her build a relationship with materials long before she even thought of herself as an artist.
The Fear That Comes With Starting Over
Like many of us, Marissa had to confront that classic fear: “What if I fail?” She didn’t come from wealth, and making a living through art felt like a gamble. The “starving artist” myth was always hovering in the background. Could she really make it work?
She had to be honest with herself. Was this something she could see herself doing long-term? Was she willing to trade comfort for the chance to build a life doing what she loved?
The answer turned out to be yes. But not without plenty of doubt, pressure, and long conversations with herself. One of the hardest lessons she learned was how to quiet the panic that comes with feeling like you’ve wasted time or made wrong turns. Looking back, she sees now that nothing was really wasted. Every experience, even the ones that felt like detours, added something valuable.
On Taking Things Into Your Own Hands
One of the most honest things Marissa shared in her conversation with Charuka was about the need to motivate yourself. When you’re on a path that doesn’t come with step-by-step instructions, you have to become your own guide. You have to decide you’re going to make it work—and then show up, again and again.
For Marissa, this meant saying, “There’s no turning back.” It meant staying with the discomfort, pushing through the fear, and trusting that even if she didn’t have all the answers, she had enough to keep going.
“Is this something that I could actually do and make a career out of?” I think at the end of the day, it was more like, “Is this what I want to do? Am I willing to kind of take those risks?” S4E69
Marissa Childers’ story reminds us that it’s okay to start over. That dropping out, changing direction, and asking tough questions doesn’t mean you’re lost—it means you’re looking. She didn’t step into clay with a grand plan; she walked in late to a college class and stayed because something clicked. Her path has been anything but straight, shaped by hard work, doubt, a love for making, and a quiet decision to keep going.
What we’ve learned through her journey is that fear of failure isn’t the end—it’s part of the process. That starting late doesn’t mean you’re behind. And that joy can come from unexpected places, like a lump of clay handed to you in a class you never meant to take.
At the heart of it all, Marissa’s story is about choosing the harder thing because it felt right—and trusting that doing what brings you alive is worth the risk.
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