FIRST STUDIO

I found this picture the other day and though not exactly the best photo it clearly shows a series of teapots and pouring vessels that date back to 1993. The photo is from my first studio since leaving Cleveland State, the shelves were made out of scrap wood that was found in the two separated basements of a duplex in Cleveland Heights which my ex-partner and her mother had just bought that was where I worked for about 2 years or so. All of the work at this time was terra cotta and fired in two brand new electric kilns with about half of the work I made going to my ex-partner to decorate in her signature style. Half our time was spent making pots and the other half went in to the initial rehab of the building, truth be told, I am not sure which one of us was less tethered to reality but both tasks got done despite the fact that most times we worked in over 6" of water on the floor! Ultimately my wife and I bought a house and I moved my clay, supplies and kilns to that location though I continued to make "blanks" for my ex-partner to decorate as she saw fit, this was studio number two where I began working all by myself with no one else moaning about my music or hours.

If memory serves me correctly, I was making teapots, pouring vessels and pitchers for shows in Washington State, Massachusetts and in Cleveland at the GBF Gallery. The truth is, I had been making pots for only about 3 years and winging the forms and decoration as I went along, in other words, little has changed. I have always liked making pots that needed some assembly required and the pieces parts of teapots in particular where always both a challenge and time well spent. I realize this isn't a great photo but when I ran in to it, I just couldn't resist posting it up.