Artist’s Statement
“After 30 years of doing this, I still love making pots!
In part, this is because of the teachers who have had such
an influence on me. My mother, my first teacher, whom I worked with
in restaurants from the age of 10, taught me that one should learn
to love the work you do and stay with it. Don Bendel, my instructor
at Northern Arizona University, taught me that the creative process
is everything, and the finished product is of minor importance.
And I am learning every day from my students and the people around
me. Inspiration is never a problem — I still see
possibilities in everything.”
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About Jerry McGlothlin, Ceramicist and Teacher
Jerry started working with clay in 1976 while attending the University
Nevada Las Vegas, where he took classes with Mike McCollum. After
a few years, he moved to Flagstaff to major in ceramics at Northern
Arizona University. There he met Don Bendel, a ceramics professor
who soon became Jerry’s mentor. After receiving his BFA in
ceramics, Jerry joined the “Mars Hill Visual Arts Consortium,”
a community of artists living at the Lowell Observatory, where he
built his first pottery studio and kiln.
The Lowell Observatory became permanent home to Jerry and his wife
Susan in 1982, when he was hired as Assistant Buildings and Groundskeeper.
Throughout his tenure at the facility, he has continued to create
stoneware and porcelain works, honing his craft. In 1990, he instigated
the first annual Holiday Pottery Show / Party in the rotunda at
Lowell Observatory — an annual event that has become a local
institution. In 1999, he built his studio and kiln in the renovated
C.O. Lampland telescope dome (shown below). He continues to work
there.
Jerry has taught Ceramics I and II at Coconino Community College
for the past few years. He and his wife Susan still live at Lowell Observatory, and their two
sons Micah and Nate live nearby in Flagstaff.
The Mars Hill Ceramics studio in the old C.O. Lampland
building at the Lowell Observatory.
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