Sonali Setia left a career at Deutsche Bank more than two decades ago. She returned to clay in 2011 and never put it down.

Her wheel-thrown vases, glazed with flowers, peacocks, and textures drawn from Indian tribal art, fill the lighted glass display case at the Livingston Public Library through Friday, July 31. The exhibit, titled "Earth, Fire and Flowers," is free and open to anyone during regular library hours. No registration required.

Setia, a Livingston resident who holds master's degrees in comparative literature and business administration, became a stay-at-home mother in 2001 after her time at Deutsche Bank. A decade later she enrolled in ceramics and etching classes at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit, where she has studied for 15 years and from which her work was selected for a juried exhibition at the MFA Gallery in Frenchtown.

"My love of clay began in childhood, when I first discovered the joy of shaping something from a simple lump of mud," Setia wrote in her artist statement on the library's exhibit page. "That fascination resurfaced years later when I began studying ceramics and learned to throw on the wheel."

Among the pieces on display: a white vase decorated with peacocks and goats inspired by tribal art from India, and a tall dark brown clay vase with a purple glaze that cracked at the rim when a piece of wood shattered it during firing. The library schedules its entrance display case months in advance, reserving the space for local schools, civic groups, and artists.

When she's not at the wheel, Setia gardens, hikes, and walks her dog, Joey. But it's that cracked purple vase she keeps coming back to. She calls it one of her favorites.

Visiting the exhibit

The Livingston Public Library is open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. The library is located at 10 Robert H. Harp Drive. The exhibit runs through Friday, July 31. For more information, call 973-992-4600.