Clay Times Back Issues Volume 3 Issue 11 • Jul/Aug 1997 | Page 17

“People always chuckle at me
because I use a lot of tools. I like tools,”
Glick said, adding that the tools he
makes for specific purposes are “never a
waste.” They always teach something, he
said, and once the tools become obsolete,
he saves them for potential use again one
day.
Glick makes mostly functional
objects, including platters, trays, teapots,
mugs, bowls, ewers, and various other
forms designed for utilitarian use. “My
background is in functional clay,” he
said. “There were not a lot of role models” when he began his career. “Those
that were, were influenced by the English
and Japanese traditions” such as those
revealed in Bernard Leach’s A Potter’s
Book.
“I no longer adhere to that pure
functional orientation—but I don’t deny
it,” said Glick.
Glick throws on a Soldner wheel,
which he says provides an “exquisitely
slow” rotation. He likes to alter many of
his pots while the wheel is turning, so
the lack of jerky movements is important
to the quality of his final product. His
clay body is composed of five different
types of clays blended together at 20 percent ratios. This way, he says, he reduces
the chance of a “bad batch” because he is
not relying on the quality of just one type
of clay, which often goes through
changes at the mine.
Tools for surface treatment are
among Glick’s favorite gadgets. He even
modifies such everyday items as plastic
yogurt lids by cutting them into flexible
combs of different shapes and sizes to
scrape unusual patterns into his wet clay
pots.
To discover how Glick constructed
JULY/AUGUST 1997

PICTURED WORKS BY JOHN GLICK

the above-pictured teapot pair, turn to
the photo series on page 19. To see more
of the work Glick makes at his Plum Tree
Pottery studio, just pick up one of your
favorite pottery books! At age 59, Glick’s
work has not only achieved recognition
in dozens of books, but has been honored with many awards and become part
of numerous permanent collections of
museums and universities worldwide.

Top left: Ewers, 1995. Thrown, extruded
stoneware. Reduction fired to cone 10.
Top right: Plate, 1996. 23” diameter.
Decorated with multiple glazes, wax resist,
glaze trailing and painting, then reduction
fired to cone 10.
Bottom right: Teapots. Finished versions of
handbuilt series depicted in step-by-step
photographs on page 19 of this issue.
continued on page 19

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