Fired-up artists: Louisville Potters have kept tradition alive for 50 years

By RUSS BROWN 

Ceramics is one of the most ancient industries in the world, going back thousands of years, born when humans discovered that clay could be found in abundance and formed into objects by first mixing with water and then firing. The oldest known ceramic artifact is dated as early as 28,000 BCE, during the late Paleolithic period. Today a small group of artists, the Louisville Potters, is helping keep that tradition alive locally and has built its own legacy over a half-century. 

“People really need handmade things in their life,” said Amy Elswick, owner of Clay House Pots on Chestnut Street in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood and a Potter since the late ‘90s. “The world is full of so much manufactured stuff. Yes, you can buy a vase, a coffee mug, or a bowl at Target or wherever, but it’s not the same. Someone will put that out in a yard sale in a couple years. Whereas if you buy a piece of handmade art, you’re going to pass it on to someone because it has a soul. We are all professional artists. We are creating ceramic art, teaching the public about clay, all kinds of things that can be made.” 

The Potters consist of nearly a dozen professionals, most of them friends with a common bond, who love working with clay and spreading the word about their craft. It’s an informal group and their get-togethers are almost as social as professional. 

“It’s so nice that we can come together and share our story and our art,” said Suzy Hatcher, another long-time Potter who owns Suzy Hatcher Pottery, a workshop where she holds weekly classes and meets clients by appointment. “We support each other and have the opportunity to talk shop.” 

“What I like about it is we’re sharing common work experiences, life experiences,” Elswick said. “If you need something like cobalt carbonate at midnight, you can get it from somebody. And you can share ideas. ‘Check out this new work I made. Is it crap or is it good? What do you think?’ We’re serious about our work.” 

Wayne Ferguson put it a different way in a Courier-Journal story several years ago, saying “We’re hooked on clay. We’re pyromaniacs. Every single one of us has an affinity for clay.” 

The Potters’ signature events are two sales, one in the summer and the other near the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season. This year the summer sale is set for July 4 on the grounds of the Masonic Home on Frankfort Ave., while the second sale will be on Nov. 14 at the Waterfront Botanical Gardens. 

Because of the independent nature of artists, there are challenges planning the sales and any other matters that need attention, according to Hatcher. “We’re not working in a community cooperative space,” she said. “Each of us has our own place, so in some ways I feel it’s like herding a group of cats. Like meow, meow, meow, everybody is doing their own thing. It’s like, ‘Come on, let’s get it together.’” 

Several factors set the Louisville Potters’ sales apart from the famed St. James Court Fine Arts and Design Show held annually in early October. Foremost, St. James offers a wide range of handcrafted art, whereas the Potters’ events are all about clay, a designation that encompasses ceramics, porcelain and stoneware in various styles. Furthermore, participating artists plan and operate it themselves and it is not juried. 

“It’s important that people value work by hand, and in a temporary, throwaway society I think it’s even more important,” Elswick said. “It’s nice to make those connections with people who come to the sales.” 

The Potters can trace their origin from the small sales that well-known and highly respected artist Sarah Frederick had at her Crescent Hill home in the early ‘80s. Frederick traveled throughout the U.S. and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Louisville. 

“We call her the matriarch of the Louisville pottery scene,” Elswick said. “It’s not an easy way to make a living, you’re not going to get rich. You can certainly make a living if you work hard, but you have to figure out how to do it. The competition is tough. It’s tricky.” 

Hatcher was mentored by Frederick while she was finishing her Master’s Degree in ceramics at U of L. “She had a slightly bigger than a broom closet area and she told me if I did so many hours of work for her, I could have that area to do my own work,” Hatcher recalled. “I helped her with various chores, make glazes, fire up the kiln. And she introduced me to other people in the ceramics community.”

Mike Imes began participating in Frederick’s pottery sales when she was hosting them in either her home in the winter or her back yard in the summer and he was living in Nelson County, Ky. Since moving to Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1987 to teach ceramics courses at Carroll University, Imes hasn’t let time or distance discourage him from returning to the Bluegrass State with his wife Dawn to attend both Potters’ sales. 

“I still enjoy selling my clay work,” he said via email. “I do eight or nine art fairs each year. Louisville is a city where my work is well received. I also enjoy going there because I have many good friends and it’s such a beautiful place to visit.” 

An important goal of the Potters is to continue trying to attract young artists to take an interest in the group to assure future success. One such person is Alex Adams of AA Clay Studio on South 4th St., founded by Adams in 2013 and offering classes, memberships and workshops for all skill levels. 

“We are always on the lookout to add younger people to our group,” Elswick said. “It’s something we look to all the time. We’ve got some new people in our mix and we’re hoping some of the young people will stick with us and carry this on because that’s our goal, to continue the legacy. 

“It seems to me that there’s a lot of people that do ceramics part-time or use it as a creative outlet they can also monetize, but that’s not really what we’re looking for. Ceramics aren’t going anywhere, we just have to keep reinforcing that it’s a good thing to have this creativity around and in your life, so come support us.”