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Jeremy Kalin | Episode 1161
Jeremy Kalin has made pots for 35 years – first full-time, woodfiring, in his 20s, now making porcelain pots in his basement studio while also practicing law. Jeremy is a dad, husband, volunteer, collector (like most potters), and a former state lawmaker who worked at the White House for a bit.
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How is it different being a potter in your fifties compared to your twenties?
Our bodies have changed. I noticed that. I think I am a tiny little bit slower and more careful about details, without getting too fussy. I want to get the balance right and make the most of the time I am in the studio. And obviously my process has changed.
How is life different compared working in the woods compared to working in the city?
In the city my studio is in the basement of our house and I have to move pots several twisty flights of stairs to get through the mudroom and then out to the garage and then stage the garage to load the electric kiln. And then bring the pots back inside and down back to the studio. There’s a lot of schlepping because I bult the studio within my life of parenting and working and supporting my full time doctor wife who’s constantly delivering babies etc.
Whereas as a full time county potter I would get up and make pots all the time and then maybe go down to the coffee shop and hang out for a little bit and make more pots and just keep making, making, making, and one day realize you have enough pots to start thinking about firing, firing, firing.
What are the advantages of being a collector and a maker?
The pots I learn from are not my own. I mean, I love, Linda Christianson is a dear, dear, friend and oh, my goodness, the way that her two fingered cup fit in my hand this morning. I had a cup of coffee at home this morning and took the cup with me driving to work and I just learn so much from seeing other people’s pots and using them. I love learning and being surprised by other people’s pots all the time.
What are the similarities of being a politician and now being a marketer for your work?
As we were talking about authenticity and just be yourself, live within yourself. Accept that you do the best you can and it’s going to be what it’s going to be. If the pot isn’t perfectly round, tell people why. Tell them about the process.
Why is it good for your kids to see you, a busy person, also being a potter?
I think the kids get to see that I care about having beauty in the world and also that, I remember someone asking me very early on, one of the teachers who taught me how to work with wood a little bit. Tell me what the definition of success is? And it’s not bottom line, it’s not money, it’s not something that’s on paper, it’s how much good you bring into the world and how much beauty you bring into the world and improve the world. And I think my kids get to see that. Plus, since they were 4 or 5 they would pick out their own pots at sales and the have their favorite plates and bowls and mugs and they get to see what it’s like to be surrounded by beauty.
What’s got you most excited in the studio right now?
I am excited to figure out, I mentioned this a little bit in the glaze exploration, I am excited to figure out whether I can take the glaze colors and combinations that I have redeveloped for porcelain and find anew way to apply them so that I can get layered patterns that make sense to me, that kind of mimic or echo some of the pattern work that I was doing with simple wax resist and dipping and cleaning up and letting the wood kiln bless it with its flames.
Book
Wendel Berry selection of poems
Contact
Instagram: @jeremy.kalin