My Life In Clay
John Micsko is a twenty-six year old man of few words. But if you were to describe John, several words come to mind: successful artist, published author, hopeful inventor, and proudly autistic.
John was born in Phoenix, Arizona. When he was young, his parents and grandmother noticed that he seemed to struggle in several areas of development. “He was very non-verbal,” said grandmother Dorian Rivera. “You could not understand him when he tried to speak and it was frustrating not being able to help him.” John was eventually diagnosed as autistic. The family eventually began receiving services through the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) and service providers. “When we first learned about DDD services, we were shocked,” said Dorian. “We had been paying for everything out of our own pocket. They were able to assist us in getting services that not only helped John, but the whole family also. I remember one worker who would sit on the floor with John and work on facial expressions and basic emotions. Seeing the faces they would make still makes me laugh.”
When John was nine, someone gave him clay to play with, and within a few hours, John had shaped animals and people out the clay. His family was shocked. They decided to introduce clay work into his routine, and as John’s development progressed over the years, so did his talents. “I love my creations,” said John. “Making the figures is like being a kid, playing with your toys.” But there is nothing childish about John’s work. He derives inspiration for his figures from reading, or watching TV or movies. “When I decide to do a series, I go online and research everything I can about the subjects; I want them to be as accurate as they can be,” said John. When he decided to do a series on the countries involved in World Wars I and II, John created figures of soldiers wearing their country’s uniforms, their unique weapons, and each country’s flag.
John’s favorite characters to create are soldiers and dinosaurs. “Dinosaurs are great to make,” said John. “There is a lot of detail work that goes into the teeth, scales, and coloring, but it doesn’t take me a lot of time to do it.”
Over the years, so many people have asked John about his creations that he decided to write a book. Entitled, My Life in Clay, John details how he created his figures and devotes several pages to different series. John has also written and published another book entitled, Stop Evil. John enjoys selling his figures because it makes others smile. He recently attended a farmer’s market in a local town where he sold his figures to the public. “I sell my figures for $1.00 each, and I came home with almost $200 that night,” John said with a smile.
John also enjoys encouraging others. “We all have bad days sometimes. The important thing to remember is tomorrow is a new day and to never stop believing in yourself.”
To learn more about John and his clay creations, you can find his books on Amazon.com. You can also visit his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/john.micsko.9 or on Etsy at www.etsy.com under the tag JohnsClayCreations.