Apprenticeship Program

 

 

 

 

Approximately every three years, Mark takes on a new apprentice. The apprentice is in charge of wood preparation (for both the kiln and studio), studio maintenance and management, clay and glaze preparation, packing and shipping, bisque firing, pre-firing preparation including glazing and wading, and a myriad of odds and ends. In exchange he or she is able to work in the studio under Mark's guidance with endless access to materials and wisdom.

Here are some things Mark was thinking about apprenticeships when preparing for a panel he moderated at NCECA in 2005. He hoped that the panel might encourage other potters to offer apprenticeships as not very many do.

For the same panel, Mark's asked his last two apprentices to reflect on their experiences. Maya wrote about the business side of the apprenticeship and Michael addressed the influence potters working in the same space have on each other.

Jeffrey Lipton is the current apprentice, and Michael, Maya and Daniel preceeded him.

Daniel Garretson	Maya Machin	Michael McCarthy