My Pottery Mentors:
Joel Magen & George Dymesich
I
am thrilled to participate in 2013 Open Studios for my second time. I wanted to be a potter back in
high school, but Mom convinced me to go to college first; she said I could
do pottery later. Three decades
later: after college, a stint in Peace Corps/Nepal and a career in community
development work in Asia, I am now pursuing my dream to be a potter.
Thanks Mom & Dad!
And I've landed in Santa Cruz with its vibrant community of functional potters! I reconnected with pottery, as so many in Santa
Cruz have over the past three decades, through George Dymesich’s Santa Cruz
Adult Education ceramics program. After
I completed all of George’s classes and workshops, he introduced me to Joel
Magen. I apprenticed with Joel at
Santa Cruz Pottery and Dark Horse Pottery for three years.
George and Joel were students of both Bruce
Anderson and Al Johnsen, who in turn had both studied with Marguerite Wildenhain,
from the Bauhaus tradition. In 1942, Marguerite fled from Nazi Germany to Pond Farm Pottery in Guerneville, California where Bruce was her first American student, and Al was her first Teaching Assistant. Al Johnsen went on to establish Big Creek
Pottery and Scott Creek Pottery, taught ceramics at UCSC Cowell College, and continued
the age-old tradition of apprenticeships, which Joel Magen carries on
today.
Thank you George and Joel
for mentoring me and sharing the lineage’s knowledge and passion for pottery.
Drake Bialecki and I started our apprenticeships with Joel in September 2009. Joel's taught us the steps to the intricate dance of producing handmade functional pottery in his three kilns, including a wood-gas combination kiln that's fired during the rainy winter season. The days are already getting shorter, and we're happily anticipating the next round of firings!
Please come visit and see my newest pots during
Wendy King – Artist # 73
Double Happiness Pottery
Double Happiness Pottery
143 Mason Street
(westside) Santa Cruz CA 95060
831.421.1263