Roni Cohen
Pottery with a splash!
(914)761-5532
reac@optonline.net
Pottery with a splash!
(914)761-5532
reac@optonline.net
I am passionate about doing pottery. The moment I first centered a ball of clay on a potter’s wheel, I felt a kind of
magic that I still experience now. It makes me feel connected to the very basic core of humankind. I imagine myself
as no different that the earliest human when I create something from clay spinning on the wheel.
I started my exploration of pottery during college, when I “escaped” from Brooklyn, NY to Eugene, Oregon to
attend summer school classes at the University of Oregon. I was almost closed out of the very popular ceramics
class I’d hoped to take, but luck kicked in and there was a space for me. The professor of this intensive 5
mornings/week course covered all aspects of pottery making – from preparing clay to wheel throwing and hand
building, trimming, glaze creation and application and firing in the kiln. I had two exceptional memories of this
introduction to pottery that come to me clearly even after these many years. One was the feeling I had the first time
I realized I had centered a piece of clay. I sat for at least 5 minutes feeling the clay STAY PUT against the pressure
of my hands while the wheel was spinning! I still enjoy that feeling and have to remind myself sometimes to move
along. My second image stems from my excursion into central Oregon, where I scooped up a few loose pieces of
lava rock which had long ago been deposited in a now old lava bed. I took the rocks back to the pottery studio and
was instructed to just grind them up, add water, apply to pots that were ready to be glazed, and see what I’d get.
Well, once applied, the water quickly evaporated and it looked like I had sprinkled garden soil on my pots! But
when removed from the kiln, I saw that the iron in the rock had produced a beautiful rust-brown metallic sheen on
the finished pieces. I feel very fortunate to have had such a great start and have not lost my interest in working
with just about all aspects of pottery today.
Although I never had my own equipment or studio, I have continued to find good places to do pottery on a regular
basis. I’ve taught adult pottery classes and also find time to take intensive workshops to broaden my experiences
with clay. Workshops have included Raku work with Rosemary Aiello and Brett Thomas’ Mobile Raku, Shino glaze
workshop with Malcolm Davis, and a workshop with Mark Shapiro at Greenwich House Pottery.
“Pottery with a splash” refers to the primary way I like to glaze my pieces. I enjoy making pieces that look good
together, but are unique, given that the “splashes of color” are always different! I prefer working with porcelain and
mostly produce functional wheel-thrown pieces.
Currently I work on my pottery at the Pelham Arts Center. Prior studio work includes:
Westchester Art Workshop Rising Pottery, Larchmont – Dick Rising
Greenwich House Pottery, NYC Richard Rappaport, NYC – “Me/You” pots
YWCA Pottery Studio Instructor University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
magic that I still experience now. It makes me feel connected to the very basic core of humankind. I imagine myself
as no different that the earliest human when I create something from clay spinning on the wheel.
I started my exploration of pottery during college, when I “escaped” from Brooklyn, NY to Eugene, Oregon to
attend summer school classes at the University of Oregon. I was almost closed out of the very popular ceramics
class I’d hoped to take, but luck kicked in and there was a space for me. The professor of this intensive 5
mornings/week course covered all aspects of pottery making – from preparing clay to wheel throwing and hand
building, trimming, glaze creation and application and firing in the kiln. I had two exceptional memories of this
introduction to pottery that come to me clearly even after these many years. One was the feeling I had the first time
I realized I had centered a piece of clay. I sat for at least 5 minutes feeling the clay STAY PUT against the pressure
of my hands while the wheel was spinning! I still enjoy that feeling and have to remind myself sometimes to move
along. My second image stems from my excursion into central Oregon, where I scooped up a few loose pieces of
lava rock which had long ago been deposited in a now old lava bed. I took the rocks back to the pottery studio and
was instructed to just grind them up, add water, apply to pots that were ready to be glazed, and see what I’d get.
Well, once applied, the water quickly evaporated and it looked like I had sprinkled garden soil on my pots! But
when removed from the kiln, I saw that the iron in the rock had produced a beautiful rust-brown metallic sheen on
the finished pieces. I feel very fortunate to have had such a great start and have not lost my interest in working
with just about all aspects of pottery today.
Although I never had my own equipment or studio, I have continued to find good places to do pottery on a regular
basis. I’ve taught adult pottery classes and also find time to take intensive workshops to broaden my experiences
with clay. Workshops have included Raku work with Rosemary Aiello and Brett Thomas’ Mobile Raku, Shino glaze
workshop with Malcolm Davis, and a workshop with Mark Shapiro at Greenwich House Pottery.
“Pottery with a splash” refers to the primary way I like to glaze my pieces. I enjoy making pieces that look good
together, but are unique, given that the “splashes of color” are always different! I prefer working with porcelain and
mostly produce functional wheel-thrown pieces.
Currently I work on my pottery at the Pelham Arts Center. Prior studio work includes:
Westchester Art Workshop Rising Pottery, Larchmont – Dick Rising
Greenwich House Pottery, NYC Richard Rappaport, NYC – “Me/You” pots
YWCA Pottery Studio Instructor University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
