2024 : L'Dor v'Dor or As the Wheel Turns
L’dor v'dor, Hebrew for "from generation to generation”, is about making connections through the spiral of time. Like throwing pots on the wheel, we go round and round, but constantly continue onward and upward while honoring and remaining connected to what came before.
My partner, Gail, went from making landscape pottery to landscaping the gardens with old kiln bricks that encircle the studio. The bricks were yellow (now weathered and green) and inspired the "Yellow Brick Road."
Younger women have come into the studio and our life. Rachael came right before Dinghy Mania hit. As part of the boat building crew, she developed skills that enabled her to become a teacher in Western Maine, now mentoring the next generation. And now Emma has joined us. A potter with a life and studio in Harpswell, she builds the boats and Seth, aka the “schlepper”, helps with drop offs. We show her Zaftig Yenta pots at our studio.
And now a change in glaze materials has pushed me to find “new clothes” for my pots. I’ve tried some new glazes and updated some old ones, aiming for purples, greens and smooth textures that are pleasing to the eye and hand. It’s a process, with new tests and changes with each firing cycle.
So, as the wheel turns, onward and upward!
2023: Celebrating 50 years as a Production Potter!
50 years ago I learned to be a production potter at
Big Creek in California. That summer I worked as a potter at a community studio and sold my pots on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. I don’t have photos from those years, although I still have a few pots, and also remembered images. One is of a set of goblets, a huge order for me at that time.
My life is about lines of connections. Big Creek was the start of a line that led me to where I am today. A job as a pottery counselor brought me to Maine in 1975, which led to teaching and working in Brunswick. I bought my first little house (for less than you can buy a car for today) and built my first kiln in 1979 and spent a few years working in special ed and as an elementary art teacher. I ran out of career options and became a full-time potter in 1984, establishing Ash Cove Pottery in Harpswell in 1986.
I created the Double Dip Dinghy in 2016. Amazingly, after being a potter for 45 years, it was my moment of fame. Dinghies have improved our lives, enabled us to employ and mentor Rachael, and have been donated to many local fundraisers, contributing to others’ lives as well.
Making pots is my passion and my profession. I still get a thrill throwing pots on the wheel, “pulling” cylinders, forming shapes. At this point in my life as a potter, meeting my customers and seeing where our lives intersect is as important to me as the purchases they may make. I enjoy giving demos, and “having conversations from the wheel”—sharing my thoughts on clay and pots and life.
Not being trained in an art college environment I suffered from imposter syndrome. But after 50 years making more pots than I can count, that are in households around the world, I can proudly say that I am an excellent Production Potter, making functional pots to be used daily.
2022: Boats and Bowls in honor of immigration
My paternal grandparents immigrated from what is now Ukraine just before the turn of the 20th century. They came with the dream of a better life—a life of freedom and opportunity. I am not Ukrainian, but the towns they came from are easily located on a map, which brings the war in Ukraine closer to me. I am appalled that we are watching the devastation in Ukraine and cannot stop it. Ukrainians also want a life of freedom and opportunity. The least I can do is support those who are directly supporting Ukrainians in their fight. Boats and Bowls are this year’s special Pots for a Cause.
My grandparents came on a boat, sailing past the Statue of Liberty. HIAS was probably there to welcome them to the Golden Land. As a second generation American, I benefited from my grandparents’ leap of faith and hard work, and am privileged to have had the freedom and opportunity to pursue my life as a potter. My journey in clay led me to design Double Dip Dinghies, and their success has certainly led to a better life. In memory of Josef Horowitz from Sniatyn and Rose Rubin Horowitz from Koralifka, I will donate $9 for each Double Dip Dinghy sold at Maine Potters Market in June 2022 to the local HIAS Affiliate Network Partner, JCA of Southern Maine.
Bowls are the archetypical nourishment vessel. One can eat or drink from them, even cup a hot bowl to warm hands. I have made sunflower bowls and necklaces to benefit the World Central Kitchen, which is doing an incredible job cooking and feeding those in need (including babies and pets), in Ukraine and around the world. $18 from the sale of each Sunflower Bowl, and $9 from each necklace will be donated to World Central Kitchen. Please join me in supporting all who are on journeys pursuing the dream of a better life, whether by choice or not, by helping the World Central Kitchen feed them on the way, and help HIAS welcome some of them to new homes here in Maine.
2021: Ash Cove Pottery Celebrates 36 years!
I established Ash Cove Pottery in 1986, when I left all other jobs behind and became a full-time potter. I have been making pots for over 50 years, 36 of them here in Harpswell.
I was going to celebrate last year, my 35th, but then the pandemic happened. And, 36 is a better number! In Hebrew, letters have numerical value. The letters that spell “Chai”, which means Life, have the value of 18. 36 or “Double Chai” is a special number for Good Luck, and donations and gifts are often in multiples of 18.
This photo was sent to me by a long time customer. Many potters use a mirror to see their pots while they are throwing. I tried it for a short time when this photo, published in the Times Record in 1987.
"36" BOWLS
I made these “36” Bowls during the Jewish holiday of Passover, which is celebrated by telling the story of the 10 Plagues, the escape from slavery, and the pursuit of freedom. We are reminded to love the stranger because we were once slaves in a strange land, and also acknowledge that we are not free until all of us are free.
My pots are the medium I use to connect with people. The threshold between my showroom and studio is where I meet people, talk about pottery and life, and develop long-lasting relationships as customers become friends. I give back to the community that supports me by donating pottery to most local auctions and fundraisers that ask. My “Pots for a Cause” help raise awareness of groups that I support, and also to fundraise for particular causes. The “36” Bowls will benefit ILAP, Maine’s Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, which helps low income immigrants improve their legal status and works for more just and humane laws and policies affecting immigrants. They will receive $18 for each bowl sold.
L'Chayyim! To Life!
April 2021, newly vaccinated and with hope that the end of the Covid pandemic is in sight, surviving a plague and moving towards freedom is a story that resonates personally. As we emerge from the restrictions of Covid, please continue to stay safe. I invite you to fill one of the “36” bowls with your favorite libation, and say L’chayyim! To Life!