“At that [childhood] time, of course, if you were involved in art, it was going to be drawing and painting, because that's the only thing that was taught in the schools.” IfsArtSchoolCoursesChildhoodTaughtPaintingInvolvedDrawingDrawing And Painting Author:Warren MacKenzie
“In searching for further training we turned to England and Bernard Leach. We thought since we had responded to his book so strongly that this would be the sort of training that we would like to have. We saved money, during the summer went to Europe, and the first stop was to go to England, visit the Leach Pottery and ask Leach if he would take us on as apprentices.” IfsFirstsBookWould BeAsksSummerTrainingEuropeEnglandSavedApprenticePottery Author:Warren MacKenzie
“Finally if I had a pot that needed decoration, I would hand it to Alix [MacKenzie] and I would say, "Can you do something with this?" And she'd look at it for a while and then proceed with a brush to embellish the form and enhance the form, and it was wonderful. She could bring the pot to life, whereas if I did it, it was a disaster.” IfsLooksHandsFormWonderfulNeededDisasterPotBrushesDecoration Author:Warren MacKenzie
“We thought [with Alix MacKenzie], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think that it should be any different in mid-North America 20th century? And we decided then that our work would center around that sort of utilitarian pottery, and that's what I've done ever since.” IfsThinkingShouldKindDifferentDoneAmericaCultureInterestCenturyDecidedPot20th CenturyNorth AmericaPotteryUtilitarian Author:Warren MacKenzie
“It was a figure painting class, where you had a model, and [Robert von Neumann ] would wander around and he'd come up behind someone and say, "Well, what are you trying to do?" And if you told him what you were trying to do, he would then proceed to discuss this with you and suggest things that you might look at and ways in which you could improve what you were attempting to do, etc - never worked on your painting, never touched your painting but talked extensively about what you were trying to do.” IfsWayTryingWellsLooksMightBehindsClassFiguresPaintingModelsCome UpWanderEtcTouchedAttemptingVon NeumannFigure Painting Author:Warren MacKenzie
“If you didn't know what you were trying to do, [Robert von Neumann] wouldn't say a word. He would just turn and walk away. So you very quickly learned to think that you'd better be attempting to do something in that painting class.” IfsThinkingKnowsTryingTurnsWalksClassPaintingAttemptingVon Neumann Author:Warren MacKenzie
“At the end of that two weeks Bernard [Leach] asked us if we would like to sit with him tending the kiln, the big oil-fired kiln that they had. He was still sitting what we call a kiln watch at that time, and he wondered if we would like to sit the watch with him and talk. So naturally this was our last opportunity to talk with him, so we said yes. We didn't realize Bernard's kiln watch was from 1:00 in the morning until 4:00 AM.” IfsSaidStillsTwoEndsBigsLastsOpportunityRealizingWatchesMorningWeekSittingOilTwo WeeksBig Oil Author:Warren MacKenzie
“[Bernard Leach] talked about painting, but we never talked about ceramics in that evening. But at the end of the evening he said to us, "Well," he said, "I've changed my mind, and if you want, you can come back a year from now and apprentice in the workshop."” IfsWantYearsMindWellsSaidEndsChangedPaintingEveningWorkshopsApprenticeI've ChangedCeramics Author:Warren MacKenzie
“When we worked at the pottery, we did learn to make pots, that is, the physical act of making the pot. We learned to control clay, to put it where you want it and not just wherever it wanted to go, and that was valuable. At the end of about six months, though, I think if that was all we had, we may have been inclined to leave because the workshop did not challenge us so much as living with [Bernard] Leach did.” IfsThinkingWantMayHas BeensEndsWantedChallengesMonthsSixValuablePotSix MonthsClayWorkshopsPottery Author:Warren MacKenzie
“Looking back on it now, I understand why that was not possible [to express ourselves], because the pottery employed a dozen people, not all of whom are making pots. And these people had families, children, and they had to have a wage that would allow them to raise their family and they had to get a paycheck every Friday afternoon. So if we had not made pots that would sell it, would not have been possible for these people to be employed.” PeopleIfsChildrenHas BeensMadeRaisesSellsPotAfternoonDozenLooking BackEmployedFridayPaychecksPotteryFriday Afternoon Author:Warren MacKenzie
“Bernard [Leach] had acquired many [Shoji] Hamada works. Some of them, it was interesting - first of all, Hamada worked in St. Ives for about four years before returning to Japan to start his own pottery. He had exhibitions in London, and if these exhibitions didn't sell out, the galleries were instructed to send the remaining work down to the Leach Pottery, where they would go into the showroom for sale. If Bernard saw one that hadn't sold that he really admired, then he would take it (he would buy it), and it would go into the house.” IfsYearsFirstsHouseInterestingSawsFourSellsLondonJapanFour YearsGalleryExhibitionsPotteryShowroom Author:Warren MacKenzie
“If [Bernard Leach] didn't like the drawing, he'd X it out and do another one and change the form a little bit. And when he was all done, he would stuff these pieces of paper in his pocket and go off to the pottery, and when he wanted to make pots, he would then take these out and he'd begin to produce the pot that he had designed on paper in front of us.” IfsLittlesDoneWantedFormStuffBitsPiecesFrontsProducePaperLittle BitDrawingPocketsPotPottery Author:Warren MacKenzie
“I make a lot of pots in a year's time and some of them are good and some of them are mediocre and some of them are bad. If they're really bad and I'd be ashamed of them, I throw them out, but if they're mediocre and they'll serve the purpose for which they're designed, that is, a mixing bowl or a soup bowl or a plate or whatever, I sell them. And this income from the sale of these pots permits me to go on and make other pots. It's even more important now that I've quit teaching, because I do not have a teacher's salary to fall back on.” IfsYearsImportantPurposeFallTeacherTeachingGoes OnSellsQuittingIncomeAshamedPotPermitPlatesBowlsMediocreSoupSalaryMixingFall Back Author:Warren MacKenzie
“We got a great benefit from our contact with those people [Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Richard Batram] and met people that we wouldn't have probably met if we had simply worked at the pottery.” PeopleIfsMetsBenefitsContactPottery Author:Warren MacKenzie
“I don't know, it's very difficult if you're in a strange country to just barge in and say, "Hello, I'm Warren MacKenzie, and aren't you happy to have me as a guest," you know? But artists did accept us and we remained friends for many, many years, many of them as long as they lived; like Lucie Rie and Hans Coper were very good friends, and it was wonderful.” IfsKnowsYearsLongCountryArtistDifficultAcceptingWonderfulStrangeVery GoodGuestsGood FriendHelloVery Good FriendsBarges Author:Warren MacKenzie
“If you take Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, their work didn't even relate to what we were trying to do, because they were moving in a different direction, both of them coming out of Europe and the Viennese school of design, which Lucie came from, and Coper learning from Lucie and then springing off on his own when she encouraged him to explore more widely. So he created his own work instead of just working for her and doing her forms. So that was a wonderful thing.” IfsTryingDifferentSchoolMovingFormWonderfulDesignEuropeRelateComing OutWonderful ThingsMoving InDifferent Directions Author:Warren MacKenzie
“If you press-mold a pot or if you slab-build a pot, the work has got to take much, much, much longer than if you work on the wheel. And I to this day have the ideal that I want my work to be not too expensive, so that if people buy it and break it, it's not going to be the end of the world. I'm not interested in having things in museums, although some of our work has ended up there, but that's not what I'm striving for.” PeopleIfsWorldWantEndsBreakIdealsPressesStriveWheelsExpensiveThis DayMuseumsPotNot InterestedEnd Of The WorldMoldSlabs Author:Warren MacKenzie
“Since your time is your main involvement here - I mean, the clay doesn't cost very much. Even the glaze and the firing doesn't cost a great deal. But your time is the cost, and if you can keep your time to a minimum and still come out with the results you want, that means the pots can be sold for an economic price.” IfsWantMeanStillsResultsDealsEconomicCostPotMinimumClayInvolvementFiring Author:Warren MacKenzie