As a child, Lisa Jacobs was known as a doodler, creating designs on every available surface.

"I've done them my whole life," Jacobs said. "It's kind of a way to focus and center myself."

Today, the Montclair Village resident's doodles have become an integral part of her clay creations, trademarked as Holey Domes. Jacobs will display her one-of-a-kind, hand-sculpted vessels that radiate light at the Clay Arts Guild of Walnut Creek's annual holiday ceramics show Dec. 4 through 6. Her works can be seen as sconces, ceiling light figures, tabletop lamps and more.

A San Francisco Bay Area native, Jacobs spent part of her youth in La Jolla, where she spent a lot of time at the beach and soaked-in all things marine — sand dollars, starfish and sea urchins — and collected pen and ink drawings of sea creatures.

These spherical marine shapes formed the basis of her interest in the mandala, an ancient Sanskrit word for circle, symbolizing wholeness, balance and harmony. "This mandala form feeds into the entire imagery of my current work," Jacobs said.

Although she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from University of California, Santa Barbara and studied graphic design at the California College of the Arts and Crafts in San Francisco, Jacobs did not begin working seriously as an artist until 15 years ago, when she began exhibiting and selling pastel landscapes of the Bay Area hills she'd photographed near her home.

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Her artistic evolution continued as Jacobs turned to three-dimensional expression and began working in ceramics, learning to throw pots on a wheel. That's when serendipity played its hand. "What happened was as I was trimming a bowl, I accidentally poked a hole in the bottom, and that threw me back to my past fascination with luminaries," Jacob said. "I thought 'Oh well, I'm just going to poke some more holes.'"‰"

From using a random series of holes, Jacobs turned to incorporating her doodle designs and creating a luminary-inspired ceramic dome. When a light is inserted within and the dome is suspended, it shoots out pin pricks of light in a Mandala-like pattern.

"The whole experience of being in a room with this light creates a really peaceful and healing environment," Jacobs said.

Creating Holey Domes is a true labor of love, requiring patience and time. After the pot is thrown, Jacobs waits for it to reach the "leather-hard" stage, then holds the pot gently while she proceeds to poke in the pattern of holes.

"Because of my long history of making these symmetrical designs, I just eyeball the pattern," she said.

Jacobs is a member of the Walnut Creek Clay Arts Guild, where she continues to take classes, learning from different teachers and trying different processes, including Raku, salt firing and porcelain. Next she wants to learn more about glazing, experiment with different forms and perhaps pursue a master's degree in clay.

"I want to keep pushing myself," Jacobs said. "I feel like this is my path in life, to be an artist. It's what I have to offer."

All Clay Arts Guild members may participate at the annual holiday ceramics show, and Jacobs will be among the 40 displaying their work.

Another important achievement is the upcoming Bedford Gallery national exhibition of contemporary ceramics, Objects of Virtue, a juried show where Jacobs will display two of her domes.

"I feel very honored to be in this show," she said. "I feel there's something resonating with me now working in ceramics that can be a spiritual and creative experience."