Len Conte's first memory working with clay was as a six year old living in New York. His mother asked Estelle Halper, a well-known sculptor and potter to come teach her children in their house. Len now remembers the fun part of playing with clay but not much more. However, 16 years later, after graduating from college during the time he was scouring the want ads for jobs, something serendipitous happened. With plenty of spare time on his hands he wandered over to the White Plains community center and signed up for a pottery class. The person teaching the class was none other than his childhood teacher Estelle. This feeling of coming full circle with his childhood teacher Estelle resonated at a core level with Len.

In 1982 when he and his wife moved to Natick, he quickly signed up for a ceramics class at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln . Over the next five years, he became a student of a Japanese potter named Makoto Yabe. Len fondly recalls his teacher, "Makoto deeply influenced me. I owe him so much. I remember proudly showing him the first large bowl I ever threw. He said, 'Leeeonard make a 100 of them'. Then he laughed and said, 'Well, maybe just one good one.' I remember Makoto picking up one of my heavier pieces and telling me 'Great pots are the ones that fool you –when you pick them up their weight should surprise you.' He taught me more than I can even remember because some of it is now so deeply ingrained...how to spiral wedge to align clay platelets, trim with homemade tools like banding wire, throw off a hump, trim, feel the form of a pots with my eyes closed, bounce to the rhythm of the clay, and get pure joy out throwing."

There are parallels in Len's work as a software designer and his passion for pottery. He explains, "My life work is designing software that is easy to use. The guiding principle of the profession is putting users at the center of the design process. They call this 'user-centered design'. To make great pottery, you must also find both the physical center and the human center of your work."

His favorite forms to throw these days are teapots, plates, and especially bowls. He says, "I really don’t know why, but making bowls always relaxes me and sets my mind free. No matter how many other forms I play with, I always seem to come back to bowls. Makoto used to say 'they are like people; it's what's inside that makes them beautiful.' So, I try to create them from the inside…out. The last step is always the same, closing my eyes, tracing the inside of the bowl with my fingers and then tracing the outside with my other hand to see what can be taken away so the outside conforms to the inside."

"Teapots are actually more challenging than fun. In fact, they are the polar opposite of bowls. They have lots of pieces that become a battle field of form over function. I like the challenge of getting them to work as a whole while trying to make something that is pleasing to the eye. I also like to throw teacups off a hump. The process is like sketching; you can create a set of forms very quickly and discard the ones you don’t like."

"I've always been enamored with patterns in nature. Many of my pieces are finished by chattering which is making a piece of banding wire jump across the surface of a leather hard pot to create uniform indentations. Lately, I've been experimenting with carving and faceting pieces by dragging stretched springs across the wet surface of my pieces." Next Len hopes to explore larger forms perhaps water sculptures. He likes shapes that look like they’ve been torn apart and put back together and enjoys combining thrown and hand-built forms. On the glazing side, he leans towards more high fire and raku processes.

Len makes a commitment to get into a studio once a week to make pottery. He has taken classes at Worcester Arts Center and for the last four years he has participated in the ceramics adult education program at the Bromfield School. He also uses the studio at Southborough's Art Center in exchange for helping out there. When he is in the classroom settings he enjoys mentoring less experienced throwers and watching them get past the throwing plateaus and sharing what he has learned. Len has also sold his work at Southborough's Art Center Show and at a craft show where he works.

Len recently bought a wheel and is creating a studio in his home which he is very excited to see come to fruition. Now that he has his own wheel he finds himself making pottery more often, one day for throwing and another for trimming. Clearly, Len has been in his element from early on. "I can’t imagine a world without throwing. You don't meet many people involved in ceramics that aren't centered and happy…at least while they’re working with clay."

To find out more about Len's pottery, local classes or to purchase a piece from him send email to uiguy0701@gmail.com.