Bright Leaf Pottery

ABOUT PHYLLIS--
I first threw on the wheel in the late 1980’s at my friend Claudia Cartee’s pottery studio, which had an electric wheel. As I remember it, Claudia had to help me center anything I attempted to throw. While I enjoyed the end result of my first efforts at throwing pottery – the final product generally being a smallish cereal bowl – I now realize that those casual sessions at Claudia’s studio were the beginning of discovering my love for the sensation of clay and slip on my fingers and the quiet concentration required while throwing on a wheel. As the years went by, I learned to “feel one with the clay” and I have learned to enjoy communal throwing sessions as well as solitary time at the wheel.

I now throw on a handmade kick-wheel, which I first learned at Scottie Allen’s studio in Maryland. I began throwing at Scottie’s in the fall of 1995. Now I use the kick-wheel at her studio as well as at my home and studio in Washington, DC. At Scottie’s we glaze for Cone 10 reduction firings but here at Bright Leaf Pottery I fire to Cone 7 or Cone 8 in my electric kiln.

All of my functional stoneware is microwave, oven, and dishwasher safe.

I have found that I prefer a certain unevenness in my work, a little wabi sabi, a wrinkle here or there. I am not looking for the perfect, symmetrical bowl; I want to make a bowl that feels comfortable in my hands. I want my work to have a feeling of timelessness, earthiness and practicality. Take a look at the Gallery and you’ll see what I mean.

ABOUT THE STUDIO--
Phyllis offers lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a class of two hours each week. The six-week session costs $120, which includes the use of studio tools, glazes, firings, and one 25 pound bag of stoneware clay.

Wednesday evenings are reserved for experienced potters to come throw on the wheel -- no need to be part of the classes, just have some background and confidence in working on your own in the studio. Hours for Open Studio are also 7-9 PM, Wednesdays only. The fee is $5 per hour and $3 per piece for each firing.

In addition to teaching at Bright Leaf Pottery, Phyllis also works outside the studio with Washington DC school children in hand-built clay projects. Her time is sometimes paid and sometimes donated -- but either way the reward, in the end, is in what a child envisions for their work and later seeing their pleasure in the clay piece they have formed with their imagination and their own hands! Look for their work here in the photo albums on the Bright Leaf Pottery page.