“[ Bernard] Leach was the one who taught us that, because he, too, had started out as a painter and an etcher and had only gotten into ceramics by chance when he was in Japan trying to teach the Japanese how to do etching, which, as he said, they were not ready for yet.” TryingSaidChanceTeachTaughtReadyPainterJapanNot ReadyTaught UsCeramicsEtching Author:Warren MacKenzie
“[Kathleen Blackshear] just said, "Have you thought of looking at this?" and so on and so on and so on. And it was a discussion group where everyone had a say, and it was a tremendous learning experience.” SaidGroupsDiscussionLearning Experience Author:Warren MacKenzie
“We [with Alix MacKenzie] had decided we needed further training, and certainly Leach was the one we turned to. So we went to England this summer and we took examples of our work along with us and showed them to Bernard Leach and told him what we were trying to do. And of course he took one look at our work and he said - very quickly he said, "I'm sorry, we're full up," and this was his way of politely saying, you just don't make the cut.” WayTryingLooksSaidCoursesCuttingExampleNeededSummerTrainingDecidedEnglandSorryI'm Sorry 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
“We had a wonderful trip, a seven-day trip, talking and sitting in the sun and so forth [with Bernard Leach]. And as we were approaching England, Leach said, "Do you have a place to live?" And we said, "No, we didn't." We hadn't worried about that. But Bernard had just separated from his second wife, which we had not realized, and Bernard was a person who could not stand to live alone. So he said, "Would you like to share my house with me?" Naturally we said yes.” PersonsSaidHouseTalkingSunWifeWonderfulShareSittingEnglandSevenWorriedPlaces To LiveSeven Days Author:Warren MacKenzie
“We became more familiar with [Bernard Leach], and with this familiarity came, I wouldn't say contempt, but certainly an awareness that everything that he said was not necessarily what we were thinking. That doesn't mean it was wrong, but Leach was a person out of a different generation.” ThinkingMeanPersonsSaidDifferentGenerationsAwarenessFamiliarContemptFamiliarityDifferent Generations Author:Warren MacKenzie
“I do remember that when we left [Bernard Leach] after two and a half years, we went home on a boat again - this was before air travel became really easy - and Alix [MacKenzie] turned to me and she said, "You know, that was a great two years of training, but that's not the way we're going to run our pottery."” KnowsWayYearsSaidTwoHomeRunningRememberLeftEasyHalfAirTrainingBoatTwo YearsPotteryHalf A YearAir Travel Author:Warren MacKenzie
“We never had a catalogue; we never said we were going to duplicate these pots this year and next year and the year after that and so forth. We did make many pots which were repeated, but we allowed them to change and to grow as we changed and grew, and I think that was the big difference. And that's all right; we were working for ourselves. We didn't have anybody we had to pay.” ThinkingYearsSaidBigsNextGrowsDifferencesPayChangedGrewPotNext YearCataloguesDuplicate Author:Warren MacKenzie
“Bernard [Leach] was, as I said , trained as a painter and an etcher.” SaidPainter Author:Warren MacKenzie
“I'm striving to make things which are the most exciting things I can make that will fit in people's homes. And in that respect, working on the wheel is economically about the only answer I know, because one can, as Leach said, make 50 pots in a day. You can make 100 pots in a day. A really good potter can make 400 pots in a day.” PeopleKnowsSaidI CanHomeAnswersFitExcitingStriveWheelsPotPottersExciting Things Author:Warren MacKenzie