Kristin C. Thacher

Artist's Statement:

At first, the potter’s wheel fascinated me. I began working with clay in 1969 and spent countless hours learning to center and throw pots. Creating hollow forms from solid lumps of clay was quick and magical. I wanted to be a functional potter who made useful vessels to hold food and drink. Years later, I am still learning to make pottery. Some days I sit at the potter’s wheel but more often I stand at my worktable. I am engaged in the slow, meditative process of handbuilding. There is more time to think about the clay and the long tradition of potters-especially the Anasazi and Mimbres of the Southwest. Now I am a functional potter making metaphoric vessels to hold the imagination.

Most of my pottery is made from stoneware clay fired to Cone 10 in an electric kiln, a gas kiln, or a wood-fired anagama kiln. My glazes are made from commercially available materials or from local deposits of clay, minerals, and wood ashes. Each pot suggests its own firing method and surface treatment. Some receive many coats of glaze, some receive no glaze at all. Each pot has its own story to tell and speaks with its own voice.