The Leach Orphans

Well I feel a bit like an orphan today. One of the most interesting conversations in my ceramic history was started by Garth Clark in conversation with Warren MacKenzie in Studio Potter -The Leach Orphans. Clark in essence said that if Mac and his Leach orphans died today nobody in the world of ceramics would even notice. It may well be the end of an era with Mac's passing this week. Did anyone notice?

I bought this book in 1991 and loved it! I even used his clay body until I found the pots were weeping on the table. My grandfather Ron Roy took the body and tweaked it for me. I have used that clay for sigh now 27 years. Where the hell did the time go?????

Another tribute I always pass on to Mac was a tea bowl I owned. It had a thumb nail imprint in the side of it- period............ That was the decoration. I wondered WTF, WTF, WTF. Each time I picked up the cup I looked at the thumb print. Bulls eye he got me. The thumb nail is now part of my decoration palette. When the pots get bigger I use a crow bar.
If ya got some time to curl up this winter I recommend ya read Mac's book and read Clark's book Shards as well. We as potters no longer make pots that people need. We have to make work that people want.
To make pots into your mid 90's is something I hope for all of us. Ya had a good run, Mac. Cya somewhere where the fire is hot.