I discovered clay in College and switched from Industrial Design to Ceramics.
We built and fired kilns. My instructors were Bill Daley, Paula Winokur and Petras Vaskys.
I continued designing and building kilns in graduate school and published our retro fitted
Oil burner in Studio Potter’s second issue.
I began teaching ceramics in 1975 at Eastern Montana College, now Montana State University-Billings. I built all the gas kilns and wood-fired raku kilns that were used in the program during the 25 years at the University. My research developed with 2 Fulbright Scholars’ Awards. In 1985-86 12 months were devoted to visiting 48 pottery manufacturing centers across Spain with a home base in Agost/Alicante with the Museo de Alfareria hosted by Ilse Schutz. I published numerous articles about the experience and the documentation of the traditions othe folk potters who were rapidly disappearing. In 1993 I had a residency at Banff for Fall semester and in the Spring my second Fulbright was in 1994 to Uzbekistan. I was fortunate to visit Samarkund and Bukhara along the Ancient Silk Road. The architectural ceramics were inspirational.
In 1987 I received a Summer Stipend from the National Endowment for Humanities to participate in a seminar with Dr. Ewert Cousins, Director of Spirituality at Fordham University. All these experiences helped develop my outlook on Ceramics as well as Life. After retiring in 2000, I sought out residencies every few years for my personal growth. These included Straumur Artists’ Commune in Iceland, The Archie Bray Foundation in Montana, The Mary Anderson Center for Creative Arts, The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, AIR Vallauris in France, CRETA in Rome, La Meridiana in Italy.
We left Montana in 2006 and returned in 2016. I have a studio at my home in Red Lodge , Montana. I have continued teaching workshops in the US and abroad as well as an online course Alternative Firing Techniques on Teachinart.com. My work over the past 30 years has focused on Alternative Firing Processes. I have a DVD produced by Ceramic Arts Daily ,Raku Firing, Expanding the Potential of a Raku Kiln with Marcia Selsor
