Pottery, Patience and Purpose

by Hannah Diles 

After 33 years, Dave Towell is bringing his time at Harding University to a close. His journey has brought him to Searcy three separate times in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in art. Despite challenges and detours, he discovered a love for pottery and a calling to combine his talent and profession into one unified pursuit. 

Born in Seattle, Towell lived in Alaska as a teenager. He first heard of Harding when some high school friends planned to move to Arkansas to pursue a Christian education. One phone call to the University’s art program was all it took for Dave to make the leap and join them in 1992, enrolling as a Bachelor of Fine Arts student.

After two years, Dave’s grandfather became ill, and he returned home to be closer to family. He enrolled in a local arts institute, but due to its evolving curriculum, he was unable to complete the courses required for an associate degree. To make ends meet, he took various jobs — none of which were fulfilling.

In 2007, he met Katie Howard online while she was living and working in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite the distance, they discovered a shared connection to Harding and began a relationship. They eventually moved back to Searcy so he could resume his degree. A few years later, during his annual arts mission trip to Ghana, he proposed. The couple married in 2013 and lived in Searcy until relocating to the West Coast to care for Dave’s mother when she became ill.

In 2017, the Towells returned to Searcy so Dave could resume his coursework — this time, taking one or two classes at a time. Katie worked in the Office of Testing before transitioning to the Carr College of Nursing. Dave officially became a full-time student again in January 2024.

During this second stint at Harding, he took a pottery course and fell in love with throwing on the wheel. He used the opportunity to deepen his skills through several independent studies. In 2021, he faced a new obstacle: he developed an allergy to clay. This made it difficult to feel the texture and form the material by touch. Undeterred, he spent a semester retraining his muscle memory to work with medical gloves, adapting his method while staying committed to his craft.

As he prepares to graduate in May 2025, Towell’s work is on display in a collection titled “Thirty-Three” that maps his journey as a student and an artist. The show centers on his first pottery piece: a geometric lamp he designed and fully wired to function with bulbs and plugs. He initially intended to color it using a smoking technique, but the lamp cracked at the seams after its first firing. Dave repaired it using epoxy, sanded down the surface to remove imperfections and finished it with stone paint. The entire process was one of labor and love, creativity and struggle. Throughout his educational development, the lamp sat on his desk as a reminder to keep going and growing. In his final segment, he created a lampshade using film negatives from his last few semesters.

Towell believes he has been molded and guided by the divine Creator. He sees his work as a continuation, a partnership of creativity, to bless others.

“God made me. God molded me. Now I can take something that God made and make it into something else,” he said. “I like creating for other people — making something somebody else enjoys. I want to make functional and artistic pottery. I've worked so many jobs over the years — jobs where I just punch the clock, go in, do something and leave. I want to be a business owner where my work and passion are one and the same.”

The Towells hope to open their own studio and coffee shop or bakery where they can combine their talents and joys and invite others to join them. Their story is a powerful reminder that learning and growth are lifelong pursuits — and it is never too late to develop new skills, pursue a calling, and make your dreams come true.