The Potter

 

Jim Smith of Fish River Pottery


“I love seeing shapes  and colors come together. Something about it just makes me crazy!”

 

32 Years of working with clay

Jim fell into making stoneware in the way so many of us fall into things. Unawares and not purposefully looking. Being in the right place at the right time.  He was working as a plumber and began helping out an older gentleman who was recovering from a brain aneurysm.  Jim did all the handyman work and heavy lifting required by his new friend Fred, who also happened to be a retired art school teacher.  Little did Jim know the wonderful gift Fred would be in his life and the creative power he would spark.

So in exchange for work, Fred patiently taught Jim how to throw pots on the wheel and shared his techniques for glaze and clay mixing. Some of those secret “if I told you, I’d have to kill you” formulas are still used in many of Jim’s glazes. 

Jim has worked with porcelain and stoneware. He has worked at the Archie Bray Studio in Helena, Montana and also had a studio in Sycamore, Illinois where he did some teaching.  He works with salt and ash glazes as well as wood and electric kilns.

Someday, Jim would like to create large-scale architectural pieces.  Looks like we might need to add a room onto the studio for that.