Recently, while admiring some ceramic totem poles at a home I was visiting, I was told that the sculptor who created them didn’t come to ceramics until after she had a stroke in her early sixties. Another senior working creatively within her constraints, I thought to myself, and an inspiring figure.

While she always collected art, Jane Bridges, 77, who had six children, did not have time for it. Instead, with her small windows of time, she got her property management certificate, her broker’s license and her builders license. For 31 years, she worked full time, built 94 homes and sold so many she stopped counting. Prior to selling her real estate company, Jane had five agents working for her.

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Unfortunately, just as she retired she discovered she had a heart problem and had to have surgery. One year after the surgery, she had a stroke and following that, seizures, requiring her to give up driving. “That was hard,” she told me.

“It affected my left side, my hand and arm, my foot and leg. And my short term memory. I had about 10% use of my hand after the stroke. By nine months, with lots of physical therapy, I had about 30% use. After about a year and a half, I got it up to 70% and that’s when my doctor said, ‘we can’t do any more. Find something you like that requires you to work with your hands and improve your memory.’

Her son Brandon had a client who did pottery at Pullen Arts Center and so she started taking classes. She had never done pottery before.

“It was difficult and depressing at first,” she said. “I started on the pottery wheel, but because I couldn’t apply steady pressure with my left hand, it would throw everything off center.”

Jennifer Stass, who taught at Pullen Art Center at the time, suggested she try hand-building, which she fell in love with.

“I could tell it was helping me physically, but also mentally. It got me out of the house and in contact with very interesting, talented people and artists at Pullen, Sertoma Arts Center and NCSUCC,” Bridges said.

What advice would she give to someone else with stroke?

“I think the primary thing is find something you really, really like and that makes it easier. There are some days I don’t want to do it, but sometimes I force myself to--even if only for 30 minutes. If you choose clay, have patience. If you mess up, it’s only dirt. Start over.”

“It might sound odd,” Jane added, “but life can actually be better afterwards.”