Thoughts

I would like to thank my family for being so supportive. They have for years tolerated late, left-over diners, electricity rations during nights of firing in the summer heat, clay dust in the house and clay chunks in the dog’s fur. The big one is that our 3-car garage has never had a car in it for fifteen years because I claimed 2/3rds for my studio long before my husband knew I would never give it back. (I will admit he has never complained).

I would also like to thank Harry Hearne, a fine Raku potter from Murfreesboro, TN, who has been my teacher, mentor, and friend. He has taken me from being a mom at home that messes with clay to where I am today. With weekly classes for years, he has expanded my understanding and love for the medium beyond what I had ever imagined.

I would also like to thank the guidance from Professor Art Sennett formally from the Art Department at SUNY Potsdam, NY.  It was under his teaching that the development for the love of clay began.

I know many potters that have tremendous work in clay. Some of their work evokes humor, child’s play, and decades from long ago. Some of their work gives masculine strength, boldness, power, and a solid statement. Some potters create with a fine touch and grace while others create pieces that are timid and almost insecure and yet others are colorful and spastic. My work is varied and quite diverse right now but I know as the years go by it will start to narrow and focus. My effort is to create work that projects in each piece calmness, strength and beauty.

I find great joy and peace with what I do. I just pray that somehow the comfort and joy I feel working with clay can be shared within my pieces for others.

– Catherine Grace McMurray