by Gwen O’Neill

Photo courtesy of Carolyn Lieberman.

March, 2011 —

Have you ever wondered what draws a person to a particular art? Why do some people develop a lifelong passion for creating art objects? I recently had a conversation with Carolyn Lieberman about her pottery work.

Q: Of interest to me is where a passion to create develops for people. When did you realize that shaping pots was something you really needed to do?

A: I’ve had a passion for making things since I was a young child. I wanted to make beautiful things. I was always drawn to clay and glass, it just never occurred to me that I could do that. They were these mysterious art objects. I was in my 30s and had completed an MFA in printmaking before I took a pottery class. The minute I put my hands on clay I thought, “Oh, I get it,” and signed up for as many classes as I could fit in around my job.

Q: So, why pottery?

A: I think it’s because it is both tactile and kinesthetic. The first thing I ever wanted to be was a dancer, and I have described making pots as a dance with the material. And then there’s the feel of clay slipping between your hands and through your fingers. My love of the feel of the material got me through the early, frustrating stages of learning to center. But I think the necessity of centering is most important. You have to get centered to make pots, which is also very grounding. Come to think of it, pottery involves all the elements — earth, air, water, fire. I also love the utility of it — the aspect of bringing art to daily life.

Q: Did you apprentice with anyone or follow a formal course of study?

A: I took most of my clay training through the community college in San Francisco over six or seven years. Once you have the basic techniques the clay is the ultimate teacher. I have also taken several workshops with some tremendous potters over the years.

Q: With the large variety of raw materials to choose from, how do you narrow your choice of clay to use? Could you describe how it affects the end product?

A: There are dozens of prepared clay bodies available, but I keep coming back to the same two — a fine-grained white clay that looks like porcelain and is necessary for lighter, paler colors, and a buff stoneware clay that has a lot more iron oxide and fires a deep toasty reddish-brown color that deepens colors.

In throwing, the finer-grained white clay is much more plastic and takes on water more quickly, so you need to work faster. The pieces I make with it tend to be more refined, more delicate. The buff stoneware has larger particles of sand and grog — fired clay particles — so it’s easier to throw large pieces. I work with it more sculpturally, even though I’m working with the same shapes.

Q: Tell us about your favorite finishes.

A: I use six glazes, all containing iron oxide as the colorant, which I love because of how it responds to the clay and the firing. All of my colors involve blending and layering the glazes over one another. After 20 years I’m still thinking up different ways to combine the same six glazes. The most important thing I do is ask “What if?”

Lieberman said, “This year marks my 25th anniversary, so when I hold open studios later this spring I will show my archive along with the pottery for sale. Usually I’m working on the weekend and visitors can see how the pots in the showroom get started.” Her Half Moon Bay studio is open for special events or by appointment. You can reach her at 650-728-2024 or by e-mail at tidepoolpottery@me.com.