Natural light streams into Bettina Chow’s pottery studio, filtered through a carob tree just outside the window. “The light is pretty and inspiring and romantic,” she says. Largely self-taught, Chow, a researcher and educator in the health-care industry, has been throwing pots for about eight years and still feels humbled when someone wants to buy her work. “I absolutely love working with clay. The process is meditative, and the results are beautiful. I love connecting...