April Artist of the Month is potter and Bromfield high school art teacher Julie Cook. Julie was first inspired by the massive brick beehive kilns of Bendigo Pottery in an old gold-mining town in central Victoria, Australia. The beehive kilns stood over 40 feet high and would roar like a furnace when they were firing. She explains, "As a teenager I would visit here and stand in awe watching the skill and speed of the production potters. They would effortlessly throw pots of traditional shapes from huge lumps of clay. There were boards of mugs, jugs, tankards and bread crocks waiting for the decorator's hand. The sheer volume of work was awe-inspiring."

It was among the eucalyptus trees and sheep country of Victoria that Julie took her first job as a potter's apprentice. "I was fresh out of school having completed a Fine Arts degree in Ceramics. The area was a haven for craftspeople, potters, spinners, weavers and blacksmiths. I worked for a number of years as a production potter perfecting my throwing skills and techniques to make production ware- mugs, bowls and bottles, and learning the process. It was the process that I really fell in love with. From wedging clay to throwing a form, waiting for the perfect moment to trim the piece to refine its shape, firing it twice and then never being absolutely certain how it would turn out. There are so many variables that shape a piece of pottery. The forming, glazing and firing all leave their mark and create a unique expression."

"It is when I am throwing clay on a wheel that I feel most liberated. Free of any pressing thoughts or daily concerns, it is just me and the clay. It is a very centering process that becomes quite meditative. There is an effortless grace of clay rising from a formless mass to a structured and symmetrical form. I always gravitate towards round or ovoid forms. They are organic with clean and simple lines."

Julie jokes, "I think at heart all potters are pyromaniacs! It is a fascination with the power of fire and how it can transform a soft and pliable substance to a vitrified lasting form. " She is inspired by the work of American potters like Warren MacKenzie whose traditional, wheel-thrown stoneware vessels are simply glazed and reduction-fired in a wood kiln. She explains, "He follows an oriental aesthetic which appeals to me for its simplicity of form and awareness of nature's influence, sometimes unexpected, to shape or color the final form."

Currently, she is working with high-fire stoneware clay and glazes fired in a gas kiln at the Sharon Arts Center in Sharon, NH. She is playing with the evolution of forms and the idea of related forms by throwing sets of plates, mugs and bowls. She is exploring questions such as "How can forms be dramatically different but still read as a set?"

Julie is also drawn to Raku ware which is fired to a red hot heat and removed with tongs to a reduction atmosphere in order to create metallic colors and deep, rich blacks. Traditionally raku is characterized by hand-molding the clay giving each piece a one-of-a-kind look. The pieces are fired at low temperatures which result in a fairly porous body. Then glazes are applied and the pieces are removed from the kiln while still glowing hot and put directly into water or allowed to cool in the open air. Julie is particularly fond of the surface textures of the traditional Japanese glazes like Shino and Oribe originally used in the Japanese tea ceremony. She recently visited Japan and was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of pottery shops in the streets of Kyoto. She discovered, "Pottery is greatly respected in Japan and most homes will have a collection of pottery pieces that are prized for their skill and artistry."

She imparts all this in her pottery classes which are very popular with the Bromfield students. As well as teaching eager students pottery and studio art at Bromfield, Julie has taught adult pottery classes during the evenings in the community throughout the year at the school via the community education program. Through these classes community members can learn ceramic hand-building techniques, throw on the wheel and experiment with glazes. She hopes to run classes someday at her own studio in the barn she and her husband built overlooking their gorgeous gardens. She muses, "I envision my studio as a place to design and develop my own aesthetic in clay. I also plan to run classes in the summer months for children and adults. My goal is to also study for a MFA in Ceramics within the next five years."

Julie's work will be for sale in the summer when she sets up her own studio in her barn. If you would like more information about her work or classes, please contact Julie at cookjulie8@gmail.com.