Ruby was a cantankerous 85-year-old woman who owned 3 dachshunds. In my earlier thirties I moved back to San Francisco and worked for 2 years at the Ruby O’Burke studios in Noe Valley. This is when I became convinced-I wanted to be a potter. We worked outside in a geodesics dome and had a grand old time living in an old western ghost town. In 1974, I drove to Nevada with a friend and spent a month at Tuscarora Pottery School, run by Dennis Parks, who fired his kilns with scrap oil. Paulus Berenson had recently published his groundbreaking book, Finding One’s Way with Clay, and it revealed to me a new way to approach life’s mysteries through the medium of clay. I continued pursuing my passion where finding my way in pottery became an adventure. It was a wonderful opportunity and grounding in the world of clay. I even had a chance to build a raku kiln while working as an assistant in the clay studio at Callanwolde. I immersed myself in throwing pots, mixing glazes, making clay, and had my first experience firing cone 10 reduction kilns. I learned so much from Rick, who was an inspiring and a generous teacher. Rick Berman, fresh out of grad school in Athens, GA was hired to establish a ceramics program. I was looking for something creative to do with my time and found Callanwolde Arts Center, where a new program was being offered by the City Parks & Recreation. At that time, I was a cook in a coop vegetarian restaurant and a single mom of a 3-year-old son. I began working in clay in my late 20’s while living in Atlanta, GA.
0 kommentar(er)
