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 How did you get interested and started in clay?
My first experience with clay was provided when I was five. My family vacationed on a farm where a small stream ran through the property. My brother and I would play in it and he excavated a gray clay from the banks. I would take this treasure to the picnic table by the side of the house and create doll size dinnerware. I used sticks, pencils and tools taken from the kitchen&to this day some of my best-used tools. Mom would bake the creations. I don't remember decorating them after "firing". When I was in high school my English teacher was Jack Troy, now a well known potter and writer. He introduced me to a wheel he had made, and it was back to clay. I took Saturday classes at Moore College of Art where I threw and hand built wall pieces and learned some glazing techniques. I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture and Art. There I was able to expand my knowledge of glaze formulation, firing and working with clay while my main area was printmaking. In graduate school at the University of Massachusetts, majoring in printmaking, the ceramics studio was my haven to unwind and play. While working on my MFA show I went to work in commercial art for a few years. I was lucky to meet Joyce and Jessy Clancy during that time. They had opened a clay studio in Cincinnati and rented out space. After working on newspaper ads all day I would stop by the studio and create. Not needing every thing I made and finding people interested in buying my work I started to sell it in their sales room. I became the chief glaze mixer and helped with the firings. . In 1976 I quit my day job, traveled to the west coast, and looked at lots of pots. I then went to the east coast to do the same and decided there were a lot of wonderful functional potters around and I could concentrate more on the decorative aspect. That September I declared myself a full time potter. My first show was the Craft Producers show in Vermont that fall. I met people there who would set me on the course of success. Glenn Johnson, a fiber artist and owner of The Gifted Hand in Wellesley Ma. took me under his wing and explained wholesaling to me. He placed an order for his gallery. After over 30 years I am still represented by The Gifted Hand, and have endured two new owners. Glenn moved on and eventually came full circle to having a new gallery, Handworks Gallery in Acton, Ma. I am happy to be with him once again. The other person I met at that same 1976 show was Joe Porcari. He later started the Artful Hand Gallery on Cape Cod and in Boston. He wonderfully represented me for 20 years. How have craft shows changed? In the 70's, shows were outside, there were no "Craft Huts" and it was homespun displays. By the mid 70's thing started going up-scale. By the 80's I had a chrome and glass display and was starting to do the major wholesale shows. At that time there were some wonderful small shows promoted by non-profit groups. Now many of these have been put out of business. . I have never done more than four retail shows a year. Between 1986 and 1995 I gave up all retail shows and just did ACE Baltimore or ACE Columbus or the Philadelphia or Boston Rosen show. I would do one every two or three years. These shows enabled me to have a good selection of sellers throughout the country for many years with a proper waiting list. . The Rosen Boston show was my wild one. In 1989 I sold out of space for the next year by noon the first day and worked off the waiting list for four years&those days are over. I've down-scaled from those years and now do three to five local retail shows a year. I still wholesale to six buyers and am active in Collections Unlimited, a co-op craft and art gallery on Rt. 6A, East Sandwich here on Cape Cod. . The new young craftsmen have it a lot harder than I did when I began. The immense number of promoters and shows out there with no jury standards have hurt the public's impression of shows. There are still wonderful shows produced by nonprofit organizations that care about quality craftsmanship, and the long-time well-juried shows. But how does the majority of the general public know what is being offered? Also coming into play is the fact that artists' designs are being stolen and sent to China to be reproduced. Then the market is flooded with cheap knock offs. It's a tough time for dedicated artists. . Two thousand seven is my 31st year as a full time potter. I work in a low fire white earthenware I developed with the help of Carl Miller. I also work in a mid-range stoneware. The work is both wheel thrown and hand built. Im serious about my technical ability. I start each new piece with a sketch on paper. If the design is to be a construction (like the Ark) I build it out of paper to test the stress points, then do a clay mockup. I have a lot of fun creating pieces to bring out a smile as people come into my booth. . My color pallet, decorative detailing and humor distinguish my pottery from others. I try to capture the essence of an animal, not render it. Where is your work available? The Gifted Hand Gallery, 32 Church St., Wellesley Ma,. Handworks Gallery of American Crafts, 161 Great Rd., Acton, Ma.,Artful Image, 16 A Walden St., Concord Ma., Oceana, Main St. Square, Orleans, Ma., Collections Unlimited Coopertive, Rt. 6A, East Sandwich, Ma., The Sign of the Dove, Seasonal Store, Cambridge Ma., and The Glasseye Gallery, Rt.6, Eastham, Ma. Each February I have a special piece in the Expressions of Love Show at Handworks Gallery in Acton, MA. What is your funniest craft show moment? I have to preface this with first it was sad, then funny. In 1981 at the Cincinnati Crafts Affair, I saw one of my buyers from Tennessee approaching my booth. All of a sudden he turned white and and looked like he was going to faint. He sat down staring at me. I walked over and he took my hand and said "I thought I was seeing a ghost! Well, turned out for the second time in my craft life rumors had gone around that I was dead. Once recovered we had a good laugh. I was battling Hodgkins at the time. I am happy to report I am 23 years clear. . Nancy can be reached at: 508-432-8817 |