WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — After 21 were killed in Uvalde and 10 in Buffalo, outrage has come from multiple groups, students, lawmakers, and now one local artist.

“I don’t want to say that when it’s close to home that it means more because every mass shooting is painful and tragic,” said Joshua Margolis, founder of Out of Step Clay.  

Colorado artist Margolis is heartbroken after the recent mass shootings and he is processing his grief in the way he knows best.   

“It’s really was me to process the tragedy, but also put the statement out there that there are things that we can do. We can be creative and channel it that way. We can look to elect leaders that support stronger gun regulation,” Margolis said.   

He’s using his medium to make a message: “fire pots not guns.”   

“I think it’s a gateway to a dialogue, like the one we’re having,” said Margolis. “The concept of fire pots not guns is just something that, to me, is taking this concept of creativity and trying to leverage creativity over chaos and destruction.”

Most pieces take 16 hours to fire in the kiln but the transformation is more than that.

“It takes weeks and weeks to process through from a lump of clay to a finished piece,” Margolis said.    

After more than three decades of throwing clay, he now teaches others who can also use this time to cope. 

“I think when we’re here, we are working through that trauma and finding some solace in an activity that I feel like has only a positive use to it,” Margolis said.      

To learn more about Out of Step Clay, visit the website.