Snotty nosed kid

It must have been 20 years ago I had a woman visit my studio in the Niagara region from Memphis, TN. She bought a piece for this young snotty nosed kid that she thought was such a wonderful potter. Subsequent years she would have a request to buy a cup or something. I just thought she was an old cougar taking home gifts for the pool boy.  It took me over 20 years to find out that that young man that Carol was buying pots for was Eric Botbyl. Now it turns out I find Eric's work amongst the most interesting work being shown on Instagram. His pots so fulfill my criteria that good pots should be seen by the blind.
Thank you Eric for the shout out in your recent article in Ceramics Monthly.
"Aesthetically speaking, contemporary potters like Kris Nelson, Dick Lehman, Jennifer Allen, Matt Schiemann, Tony Clennell and Tara Wilson have been influential sources.
It ain't hard to understand why we like each others work. I got a short note from Eric the other day when I posted these slabs. He was encouraging me to listen to Tom Waits -Come up to the house.
He mentioned the texture of the song......and then said " I think we're both looking for something like this sound in clay. He means it so damn much he broke his voice saying it."
We also share a love of many of the same singer songwriters music. Funny thing Eric I've been cranking up Watermelon Slim while making these bird houses. It would probably disturb me when throwing but with the houses I find his guitar work adds energy to me and then the work. I'm like the roofers with their boom boxes blaring.
Send me a jug when ya get one. I'd like to give ya some of your money back. Keep up the great work.




Comments

Anonymous said…
Gotta love those cougars (aka collectors)!

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