I just found this brief interview of Nancy Sweezy, author, folklorist, and potter. Someone had asked about my ball opener that I used in the previous post to make the large jar. I made it based on a drawing from Ms. Sweezy's book ,"Raised In Clay" , which is one of my favorites. It's full of anecdotes from potters all over the Southeast. Many of those potters have since passed away and this book is a great record for contemporary potters, as well as collectors and lovers of history and folklore. She also co wrote "The Potter's Eye" with Mark Hewitt. I would reccommend both as must haves for your pottery library
I hope to get some pictures of my ball opener soon. It is a great tool, especially if you want to make large pots.
I love the Potters Eye book - it's one of my favourite and most visited books - I don't really read the text I just sit and flick through the fantastic pictures. I can sit and stare at them for hours. As soon as I saw your blog, with it's pots, I knew where you came from - that tradition, those shapes, just so distinctive. Lovely stuff.
ReplyDeleteI've ordered the Raised in Clay book... three weeks to wait, though :(
I would highly recommend reading "The Potter's Eye" as well. Besides being one of my favorite potters, Mark is also a fine writer. Ms. Sweezy's interviews in the "PE" are very good, also. I'm sure you will love her "Raised in Clay. Thanks for reading the blog. Cheers, Michael
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