Marlin Ann

BRINGING CLAY TO LIFE
By Kathleen Hay
Standard Freeholder
October 8, 2008

Ann Marlin literally, fell into pottery more than 30 years ago when she was distracted by the beautiful beads someone had brought to her macramé class. She is a founding member of the former Seaway Potters Guild.

It is given that when something looks easy; odds are it's not. Ann Marlin has a real knack of throwing a pot look easy.
There's a five-pound piece of clay sitting on her pottery wheel, and beside it sits a container of water and a few crafting accoutrements. With the ease born that only 30 years experience brings, in a matter 10 minutes Marlin has pulled the clay up into large bowl, occasionally sprinkling it with water to keep it moist. .
The vessel spins and spins while she firmly, yet gently, takes one of the tools to it ridges. Inside the bowl, she presses her thumb into its' centre to make her mark, she
jokes.
"I'll let it sit until tomorrow, until it's leather-hard," Marlin explains. "Then I'll turn it upside down, and turn a foot. '
"You then let it dry very slowly which, depending on the size of the piece, can vary from a week to10 days before you bisque fire it."
In potter-speak, turning a foot is equated to making a base, while bisque firing is the first of two firings completed on prospective pottery - the second being the glaze firing,
"This bowl will probably need to dry a week, before I first fire it," she adds, "From beginning to end, it will take roughly two weeks to complete."
It's a labour and time-intensive process..
Founded by the now defunct Seaway Potters' Guild in 1987, it's now become an annual arts pilgrimage for potters eager to share and' sell their wares, as well as 'those keen on what day can become when a few well-applied spins or pinches are applied.
Marlin got the pottery bug more than 30 years, strangely enough when she was crafting macramé. Another woman in her c1ass had "beautiful beads'' for her work and when Marlin asked her where she got them, she replied she had made them herself.
"One thing led to another," she says. "I was very busy with the business at that point, so it was about 10 years before I really got into pottery.
"I'm, not saying I was all self- taught, I did take workshops here and out of town, but pottery is all about being persistent, and I was persistent."
Although, she began making pinch pots, it didn't take long for her to discover the wheel. The most difficult aspect of creating a piece, she feels, is learning to center the clay.
And practice is the only way to accomplish the feat.
"I've taught six-week courses," she says. "Students would get a one-pound piece of clay and think they'll be able to create an elaborate piece by the end of the course.
"But the best way to master centering, is to practice making basic cylinders." ,
Over and over again, she adds. In addition to her own work, each year she strives to represent a broad range of styles from artists who come from throughout Montreal, Ottawa and local areas for the annual Glen Walter Show.
In addition to her own work, Marlin has rounded up 17 other potters for this year's show. Each year she strives to-represent a broad range of styles from artists.
Little did Marlin ever realize that her interest in macramé would lead to a passion for pottery , all those years ago. For her today, surrounded by pots of glazes, tools and a mound of clay upon her wheel, it's one of her greatest pleasures and personal satisfactions.
"It looks easy, but it isn't. There are so many things to learn, I'm still learning;" Marlin says.