Favorite Pots

Congratulations to all the correct guessers, and thank you to all who participated! We hope you enjoyed the challenge. Read on for our interview with Andrea Gill, one of the most extraordinary potters of the last 50 years. This influential potter has been making dynamic work for over 40 years and teaching college students for nearly as many.

The maker of our Mystery Pot 43 is Helen Naha, the matriarch of a Hopi-Tewa clan of potters who sign their pots with a stylized feather. Our pot is a beautiful example of her Black on White pottery. The Awatovi star design was revived by Feather Woman over her lifetime. One of several designs she developed from shards she collected from the Awatovi ruins.

Read on for a detailed biography of this remarkable Native American Pottery Legend by Grey Wolf Gallery in Arizona. Visit their website https://greywolfgalleryaz.com/ for old and current Native American Artist.

Wayne Higby is an acclaimed ceramic artist, beloved Professor of Ceramic Art at Alfred University, and Director of the Alfred University Ceramic Museum. Wayne Higby was born in 1943 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He received his BFA from the University of Colorado/Boulder in 1966. The landscapes of his youth were a lasting influence in his life and work.

Ephraim Pottery's Kevin Hicks tells us about the collaborative studio he founded, "Right now is a profound time of appreciation. My studio has spent the last 24 years refining our collaboration model and the mood in the studio is dynamic and thriving. The future seems as wide open as it has ever been."

Born into a long lineage of accomplished, traditional pueblo potters in 1970, Cavan Gonzales has added his unique 21st-century interpretation. He has been a leader in the revival of San Idelfonso polychrome pottery. This technique involves the application of three or more layers of colored slip to create designs. Cavan's fine graphic arts skills have been applied to creating new designs inspired not only from the past but also the present by adding elements of technology such as solar energy.

“This technique provides a wide range of bright, sharp colors. More importantly, I feel the majolica technique best allows me to convey the kind of attitude or feeling I want my pottery to invoke – that is one of lightheartedness.”

Stanley Mace Andersen’s functional earthenware tableware certainly achieves his goal. The exuberance of his flowing brushstrokes creates a rush of good feelings, like a walk through a meadow on a perfect summer day.

In England, where Richard Batterham was born in 1936, he is considered the leading living maker of domestic stoneware. It’s a reputation that has been made by a life spent diligently working with discipline and talent to perfect his functional forms and lovely muted glazes.

Interested in craft and design from a young age, Richard studied at the Bryanston School. He was taught pottery by Donald Potter who had worked with Eric Gill and Michael Cardew. After his National Service, he apprenticed with Bernard Leach at St. Ives for two years. He married Dinah Dunn in 1959, and they set up housekeeping in Durweston, Dorset.

As has been our tradition at this time of year, Jim and I wanted to share our favorite mugs with you. These are not new mugs you are looking at or mugs you could buy in a store today, but mugs we have been living with for many years now.

Two giants of the contemporary studio pottery movement passed away on the same day last Thursday. Both were important and influential leaders. We send our condolences to all who knew them and to their families who surely will miss these two dynamic potters.

The Perfect Jar by Potter Chris Staley