Skip to main content

Search form

Shopping cart 0 items
Subscribe
Donate
Login
Share
Login
Home
  • Become a Member
  • Journal
    • Current Articles
      • Interviews
      • Narrative
      • History
      • Technology
      • Criticism
      • Other
    • Print Archive
  • Announcements
    • General
    • Classified
    • Events
    • Newsletter
  • Calendar
  • Participate
    • Write for SP
    • Internships
    • Donate
      • Partners
      • Underwriting
  • About
    • Mission
    • History
    • Masthead
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact
    • Privacy Notice
    • FAQ
  • Grants
Clockwise from top left: The Hatchers appraising a load from their wood kiln in 1985, the woods of Pine Mills, Daphne Hatcher teapot, and Gary Hatcher teapots.

Gary and Daphne Hatcher: Formed in Place

Barbara Frey

By and for potters

Gary and Daphne Hatcher are certainly not unique in their pursuits and accomplishments; thankfully there are potters across the country who share similar trajectories, success stories, and longevity. Yet their forty-two-plus years running Pine Mills Pottery near Mineola, Texas, bears honoring and celebrating. They epitomize the core constituency at the origin of Studio Potter journal, “by and for potters.” Their list of accomplishments begins with apprenticeships. From 1976 to 78 they studied with Michael and David Leach in England. From there the accomplishments continued: building their studio and wood kiln in rural East Texas; establishing a loyal clientele who have now returned through three generations; and adapting their marketing and sales to the digital age. The simple fact of sustained self-employment for more than forty years is significant, but this accomplishment is amplified by their unflagging commitment to high quality production and the full integration of their livelihood into a holistic lifestyle. Married when they were twenty, they have spent their lives wholly committed to each other and the shared belief that making art would sustain them financially and in all other facets of their lives. That they pioneered a model of astute entrepreneur and passionate creator is perhaps most noteworthy in a day when this combination of skill sets seems standardized; it was not when the Hatchers began.
But seriously, living in Wood County in East Texas, in the woods, firing a wood kiln? Is this a fairy tale? In one sense it might seem so if you reduce their experience to a “follow your dream” simplification. And Gary does emphasize that this all came to pass through visualization and holding fast to that vision. But their enduring energy, discipline, hard work, and adaptability is what really converted their vision to a lived reality.  

(The following is excerpted and adapted from nine hours of recorded oral history of Gary and Daphne Hatcher’s life together in clay.) 

...
Read more

Author Bio

Barbara Frey

Barbara Frey has a BFA in ceramics from Indiana University and an MFA in ceramics from Syracuse University. She taught ceramics for forty years at State University of New York, Oswego, and Texas A&M University, Commerce, retiring in 2018. She was the recipient of the 2013 National Council of Education in the Ceramic Arts Excellence in Teaching Award in recognition of a career devoted to teaching ceramics. Her work has been widely exhibited and is included in many private and public collections including the Everson Museum; the Icheon World Ceramic Center, Korea; de Young Museum, San Francisco; San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin; the Kohler Company corporate collection, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; the John Michael Kohler Arts Center permanent collection, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; and The Kamm Foundation Teapot Collection, Statesville, North Carolina. 
“I believe in the powerful potential of art objects to resonate seductive beauty and meaning, all wrapped up in one enticing package. To hold someone spellbound is quite an accomplishment and that intensity of experience is one of the special functions that art can offer. The enduring attraction of making art is the adventure of not knowing the answer and not knowing where a particular idea will lead. It is a significant privilege to create something that has never before existed in the world and to be the first person to see it. I particularly love the enduring art form of ceramics that has played such a vital role in human history for millennia. My own lifelong journey in the world of ceramics has been immensely fascinating and fulfilling. It is an honor to be a small part of this great skein of human endeavor.” 

Website

CONTACT  |  NEWSLETTER SIGNUP  |  COPYRIGHT © 2020 STUDIO POTTER  |  SITE DESIGN

Design by Adaptive Theme

Member Log in

Enter your Studio Potter username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
Forgot your password?
Continue as Guest
Become a Member
Library IP Login