love all the symbolism. So, I took my tattoo- I have the Eye of Ra – and I made a little pyramid,” Rives said.“ It was a coil pot. I just took coils and put them in a square and slowly tapered the square in and then I put some Egyptian symbols on it and glazed it to look like a pyramid.”
He said the pyramid vase was a class project and he likes it. He also stated there were a lot of things he could have done better and he used that knowledge to improve his work.
Rives said he and wife Allison were living with his parents in Flint while he attended college. They moved to Jacksonville when they found affordable housing. Because he had fallen in love with pottery, they searched for a property that would allow him to have a home studio.
“ The house that we found had two sheds in the back yard with electricity in them, all ready to go. It was like, perfect. All I had to do was drop a plug in for my kiln,” he said.“ I wanted to have a studio at my house so whenever I was not at the studio at the school I could continue working. In turn, you’ d have a bunch of work to sell, so I’ d go sell my stuff.”
When he began to sell his creations, people began to ask Rives if he provided lessons.
“ In my little home studio I wasn’ t able to do it, but opportunities opened. I did a lot of praying and doors opened and I walked through.”
Some of those doors belonged to Neighbors Coffee, where Rives was working part time.
“ Once we put our roots in Jacksonville, we decided to stay here,” he said.“ I was working in Tyler for several years, driving back and forth, then I saw Neighbors was hiring. I went and chatted with them and started working at Neighbors. From Neighbors,
8 Jacksonville Progress | Spring 2026