🎧 Enough Clay Through Your Fingers Meredith McGriff

Appears in the January 2023 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.

When Mark Goertzen first came to Goshen, Indiana, to work with Dick Lehman, he lived in a tiny, cheap basement apartment; to hear him describe it, it was a rather unappealing place. But the condition of the place he called home was practically irrelevant, he explains, because “all I wanted to do was spend time in the studio.” He needed to have his hands in the clay as much as he could. Back then, he would put in the hours that Lehman required, and then spend hours of additional time continuing to throw, practicing and perfecting his own style.

I’ve probably heard Goertzen say it a dozen times: he never planned to stay in Goshen. After completing his undergraduate education at Bethel College in Kansas, Goertzen intended to go for a year to learn from Lehman instead of pursuing graduate school. His reasoning was that he wanted to make functional pots, and he wanted to learn how to run a pottery. That was over three decades ago now, and Goertzen is still there, running the studio, with interns of his own. Lehman told the story of their longstanding friendship and working relationship in Ceramics Monthly back in 2016 (“The Most Difficult Things,” September 2016).

Continuity and Evolution

Those who visit the studio in the Old Bag Factory that Lehman and Goertzen shared for so many years will still recognize some of the kinds of pots that were made when Lehman was at the helm. 

The two worked together for decades, and in that time, the aesthetic in the shop came to reflect them both, along with influences from many other assistants who came through the studio, and other regional potters they worked with, such as Tom Unzicker, who sparked their interest in wood firing.

Goertzen says he made various transitions slowly after he took over the studio from Lehman. For a number of years, he continued to run it nearly the same way Lehman did, and made only small shifts and changes to the production line in that time. The mugs Goertzen was throwing when I visited in the summer of 2022 were the same forms he’s made since he worked under Lehman, and the continuity was striking as we discussed the constant shifts and tweaks and changes to everything else around us.

As a whole, the production line is much more his own these days. A practiced eye will notice less brushwork, more ash glazes, many small differences in form over the years. But Goertzen still mentions—laments, even—the difficulty of moving too far away from those recognizable aesthetics from the past. The studio, regardless of whose name is on the sign, is known for a certain kind of ware, and folks still come in wanting to replace or match pieces they bought years ago. 

That constraint doesn’t keep Goertzen from experimenting, though, and if you want to really see his enthusiasm for the work, ask him about wood and soda firing. The wood kiln on his property near Constantine, Michigan, has typically been fired 2–3 times per year since it was built, and it was joined by a smaller wood-fired soda kiln in recent years. As Goertzen’s career progresses, he sees himself pursuing more one-of-a-kind work, possibly more larger pieces related to the production line, or more of the soda- or wood-fired ware. Already, his newest one-of-a-kind pieces out of those kilns are on prominent shelves in the studio.

Aesthetics and Mentoring

Goertzen sees himself as a more traditional potter, in part because he focuses so much of his time on his production line and making functional ware. To my eye, his work has a clear Japanese influence, likely due in part to his tutelage under Lehman and their partnership for many years, and also due to the time that Goertzen himself spent in Japan at the International Workshop of Ceramic Art in Tokoname. 

His forms are clean and precise. He brings to the studio a perfectionism that is perhaps a challenge for his own interns now, but the quality of work he produces is highly valued by his clients and worthy of interns’ aspirations. He has worked with mentees with a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels over the years, and as is true with all educational relationships, not every pairing of style and/or temperament is a perfect fit. While Goertzen’s own desire for perfection in his wares is not an unattainable goal for a new potter, per se, it is a stylistic choice that may not fit the personality of every intern who works with him. Some have their own path to follow, sometimes preferring to throw looser, or not minding more mars and imperfections in their glazes. 

Regardless, in order to develop their own style, they need to develop skills, and that takes practice. “They need to have enough clay going through their fingers,” he says as we discuss the challenges of internships. He knows the only thing that will make less experienced potters improve is to work more, to throw more, and a production pottery is the perfect place to gain that experience. When he was in that position, he spent as much time in the studio as possible, and I can see that he now looks for that same dedication in those he mentors. 

“Pottery is my way of building community,” Goertzen states on his website. He does this through sharing the pots he makes, and also through the mentorship he provides. Goertzen notes that, like Lehman before him, a primary reason he takes on interns is that he likes having company in the studio and works better with other people around. He often has up to three people working for him at once, though the hours they can commit to the position vary. He wishes he could offer the kind of position that would pay someone’s rent, so they would not need to hold down another job in order to work for him. The time to focus on clay would no doubt allow their skills to develop faster, without the fracturing of their time. But he offers what he can, for now, and looks for opportunities to expand in the future.

The Internship: Formula and Flexibility

When Goertzen has a new intern in his studio, he has a formula he prefers to follow, at least for the beginning of the working relationship. For every 5 hours in the studio, 4 hours of the time go to Goertzen’s production-line needs, and 1 hour of time is allocated for the intern to work on their own wares. The pair revisit the agreement every quarter or so throughout the year, and the intern’s progress is rewarded with an adjustment toward more time to spend on their own work. In the second or third quarter, they might shift to giving three hours to Goertzen, and gaining another hour for themselves.

Different interns have also taken on different roles in the studio, depending on their skills and interests. For example, Tasha Friesen, a previous intern, had design experience and worked on some of Goertzen’s social-media presence. And those who stay longer gain more specialized skills and might have the opportunity to work on unique projects, as Jacob Hostetler did when it came time to build Goertzen’s soda kiln.

Regardless of how the time is divided, the arrangement always includes plenty of access to mentorship, teaching, and critique. Goertzen earnestly provides as much feedback as his interns desire. He recalls, for example, that when one of his current interns, Lydia Richard, began, they set aside an hour each week where he would demonstrate any technique, method, or form that she was interested in. As their working relationship has shifted and changed over time, that hour per week has become less formalized, but the willingness to teach remains.

Some interns stay only for a year or so, moving on to explore new educational opportunities. But for some, like Norah Ruth Amstutz, the internship is a good fit and lasts much longer than the initial year. When I first met Amstutz in 2015, she was participating in her first wood firing at Goertzen’s kiln, not yet sure what college major to settle on, but already clearly enjoying clay and getting to know that profession. Ultimately, she stayed with Goertzen for seven years, starting in high school and working with him throughout her college years and beyond. Starting a graduate degree at Notre Dame in fall 2022 and opening her own studio in her home in nearby South Bend means she no longer has time to work for him regularly, but she has clearly learned much and is prepared for this new independence.

Investment and Experience

Being an intern takes time, fortitude, and commitment, but Goertzen’s career is a testament to the value of that investment. He benefited from the development of a meaningful and lasting relationship with his own mentor, and now in turn provides that to up-and-coming new potters in his community, knowing that those who turn clay into a career are relentless in their pursuit of time with the material. Sometimes that means dedicating hours of unpaid work to honing their skills, not giving up easily when a form does not go to plan or a new design needs more refining than initially expected. As long as they keep enough clay running through their fingers, eventually they’ll be ready to set out on their own.

the author Meredith McGriff, PhD, is a folklorist, writer, and designer and is the author of  The Michiana Potters: Art, Community, and Collaboration in the Midwest. Although she has worked as a ceramic artist in the past, McGriff’s engagement with clay currently involves researching and writing about pottery tours and other types of community development in the arts. To learn more, visit caughtupinclay.com/research.