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For my entire career I have relished making pitchers. It has something to do with the act of pouring and something to do with the way a spout and a handle animate a thrown form. Pitchers are naturally more dramatic than most functional pottery, emphasizing the sculptural quality of the form in much the same way that teapots do. I discovered the joys of throwing and altering pitchers at a salt glazing workshop I attended at the Memphis School of Art in the summer of 1972. Peter Sohngen taught me to apply the same uncompromising artistic standards to functional pottery as an artist would apply to purely sculptural pursuits. Pitchers taught me about function, but they also taught me about sculpture.
Over the years I have become more known for my pitchers than for anything else I make. The form that I nicknamed Melon Pitcher, actually grew out of a pitcher form I was making as far back as the mid-70’s. Over time the form gradually got fuller with a narrower base, and eventually it seemed to have the plumpness of a melon!
Along with my initial influence from Peter Sohngen, I absorbed the forms of historical German Salt Glazed Jugs. My next major influence was Wales potter, Mick Casson. Through looking at Mick’s Jugs, I learned to leave generous amounts of clay at the rim in order to pull a more dramatic spout. In the early 90’s I began noticing Jeff Oestreich’s pitchers, with their extended bird-like beaks, and was no longer satisfied with a simple pulled spout. This led to attaching an extension, but I never abandoned the fluidity that comes so naturally with the pulling process.
This website will always have lots of pitchers on it. I hope you can see why I get excited about making them!
Email us at gallery@centerstreetclay.com or call (815) 570-2030