AITKIN — Pottery wasn’t Marie Brown’s first foray into art. As a kid she was always into drawing classes and early sculpture work. It wasn’t until middle school, though, that she took her first pottery class. She had the opportunity to further explore the art form in high school, and that’s when she got hooked.
Brown initially had a tough time deciding between ceramics and jewelry when deciding which art form to pursue after college, and in the end, ceramics won out. She said she really loves how pottery artwork can be a part of someone’s daily life.
“Handmade pottery kind of adds an element of specialness to the everyday kind of thing," Brown said. "A painting you might see every day on the wall and interact with it then, but a piece of pottery you can engage more of your senses. It's kind of a fuller engagement with the piece.”
Time to create
Brown tries to carve out time daily to work on pottery when she can. She has other responsibilities, like taking care of her 8-year-old child and a small farm, so when she does have studio time, she already has a general idea of what she’s going to accomplish in the day.
“There is kind of a routine that I have when I get in the studio ... kind of set my mind in the right place for making,” she said.
She said having her own studio helps her get into that creative headspace. She’s worked hard to make the studio as sustainable as possible. She uses a lot of slab wood, pallet wood or deadfall for her wood firings. Her family also uses those materials to heat up the studio and the house.
Injury setback
This year, Brown was gearing up to focus on her pottery work full time, and as she and her husband were working on remodeling the studio she fell off a step stool and broke both bones in her left wrist.
“The first thing I thought about was, ‘Am I still going to be able to make pottery?'" she said. "'Am I still going to be able to pursue art in the way that I had been before?’ And it was a scary process.”
Brown immediately went to the ER, and the doctors set her bones. Shortly after that, she saw an orthopedic surgeon, who put a titanium plate in her wrist that she will have for the rest of her life.
Today, Brown has regained most of her mobility in her left wrist, but for a while, she had to adapt her pottery-making. She couldn’t throw or do any wood firing, so she did some slab work instead. Slab work means rolling out a thin sheet of clay and using different tools to cut and assemble pieces. She would make things like ornaments and other smaller projects.
“I did have to kind of relearn a few things and accommodate a different style entirely for a bit there,” Brown said.
Gallery show
Her show Shaping and Reshaping is at Ripple River Gallery until Sept. 22. Some of the pottery featured includes works made from three different firing styles: gas-fired, soda-fired and wood kiln. There will also be functional tableware, mugs and a series of mobiles.
Brown will be attending the gallery’s annual fall open house on Saturday, Sept. 21, which is also a benefit for Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Organization. It’s an organization that the owner of Ripple River Gallery, Amy Sharpe, has been supporting for years.
The organization is based in Garrison, and if anyone comes across any wildlife in distress or needing medical attention, people can call them, and they will help.
Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation takes care of about 700 injured wild animals annually. They will be doing a wildlife release at the Saturday event, and their work is something that has been important to Brown since she was a kid, so she is happy her art is playing a part in spreading the word about the organization.
Brown has a website where people can view her work and keep up to date on shows. She’s also hoping to get a newsletter out soon to update everyone on her latest projects.
Tell us about upcoming arts events where you live in Northern Minnesota by emailing psa@kaxe.org.
Area Voices is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
