Inspiration

My friend Niel called Friday afternoon. Niel and I always have a good pottery talk when we call each other. We met at Penland several years ago and have kept in some sort of random contact. As we talked on Friday, Michael Simon's name came up. We both like Michael's pots a lot and both of us own quite a few. Michael (who lives near Athens, Georgia) was diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago and his output of pottery has dwindled. I am not sure what the state of his health is at this time and I don't want to speculate.

Niel mentioned that there was a good article in Studio Potter (June 2006) about Michael and also an interview online, from which the article was written.

As luck would have it I was meeting my friend Julie for supper that evening and she had a copy of the Studio Potter. When I got home that night I sat on the couch and read it. I was very moved by the article. It reconnected me with my passion for pottery that I think has become a little diluted over the years as I have had more things added to my life, and as the worries and concerns of marketing my work or finding my personal 'style' have sort of occupied much of my thought.

There were several things said by Michael in the article that surprised me, and some good insights too. I will be writing more about those later.

If you get a chance I hope you will read the interview online. It's rather long and I took it in a couple sittings. Michael's work is really some of the best pots I have ever seen and used. His sense of volume and form are amazing. Also the marriage of pattern to pot is unmatched I think. The Studio Potter article has a nice portfolio of his work included and I guess you can do a Google image search of 'Michael Simon Pottery' and see some good examples too if you are unfamiliar with his pots.

Anyhow I do want to write more about what I personally took from this. So if you are interested check back in. For now I have to get started on my workday.