The Beginning
This 18" high stoneware "coil" pot is featured here because it is the very first piece of pottery that I ever made. I was 15 years old and took my first pottery class in high school. David Morrison (Dow High School, Midland, Michigan) was my instructor and under his tutelage that year, I found my "niche." He showed us how to make coils and instead of the small ashtrays or bowls that most students make their first time with clay, I constructed the above pot. My mother still has it. And after all these years, I find it a very nice piece. I knew I was really hooked on clay when I started to dream about their forms. The second large coil pot I made (which came to me in a dream), was taller than this one, with a wider, shorter base and a longer neck. Our neighbors bought it for $25. The following year my family moved to Petoskey (Michigan) when my father was transferred with Michigan Bell Telephone. When David found out I was moving, he phoned a former teaching colleague, Todd Warner and asked Todd if he could take me under his wing. Todd was and still is a very well known sculptor, and I was lucky to work in his studio in Charlevoix for several years until my university years took me on another path. While working for Todd, I learned how to do production wheel throwing, glazing, firing and also much of the "business" of a potter's studio. |
