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By the time I heard about Pewabic I was ready to quit my teaching job and devote full time to working with clay. The program at Pewabic was non degree ,which was fine because I had two degrees and didn't need another one. I just wanted to learn about clay. Because so many people wanted to get in, students were limited to three years.
Talented people from all over Metro Detroit were attracted to the vibrant atmosphere established by our teacher Jim Powell, a recent Cranbrook graduate. Many were practicing artists and art school graduates. I was to understand only later, how unique it was ,not only that we freely shared information with each other and collaborated on projects but that we had full access to the pottery and its equipment for as many hours a day as we wished.
Soon I had an infant daughter to take care of and knowing that my time at the pottery was ending I began to create a workspace in my laundry room. I did my last firing just before my second child was born.
By that time I had done enough work with porcelain to know that I wanted to continue with that exclusively. In my home studio I would be limited to oxidation firing ,something I knew nothing about. With the internet available today, it's hard for people to understand how limited information was then. Looking back, I can't believe that I ordered a whole ton of porcelain mixed to Warren McKensie's recipe when I didn't have a single glaze I could work with.
One of the colleges near me was firing in cone 6 oxidation, but I found the glazes disappointing and the glaze chemistry was also too different from the cone 10 glazes that I knew. Finally, I was able to alter a clear cone 6 recipe to work at cone 9/10 in oxidation and combing through old books at the library, found a white matte glaze by a British potter that worked well. Some Pewabic recipies, especially the saturated iron glazes worked quite well in oxidation without any alteration.
I studied at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit for three years, which was all that one was allowed, because so many people wanted to take classes there at that time. Many talented people from all over the Detroit metro area were attracted to this almost forgotten historical building that was being restored and was a very stimulating and exciting place to be.
During my time at Pewabic I began outfitting a makeshift studio in my basement laundry room wedged in with the washer and dryer. I ended up working there for 4 years.
When my daughter was 6 and my son was 4 I found a small building I could buy on a land contract very close to my home. I established my first real studio there.
Elizabeth Lurie