In 2009 after 30 years of working in pharmaceutical research, Amy Jakowski retired and decided to take a class in pottery. Richard, her husband, by his own admission, made fun of this new interest of Amy’s saying “It is so simple, how could you be interested in that?” Amy patiently and wisely endured this ridicule and at Christmastime in 2010, after Richard had retired from his 40 year career as a pathologist (30 years for Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine), told him that she was giving him a class in pottery. Feeling obligated, Richard went and was immediately humbled by how truly difficult it is to create pottery on a wheel. This inspired a sense of challenge in him, and so he spent the next six months totally frustrated as he tried to bring the clay under his control; it was after this that he began getting the mastery over it and was finally starting to make things. This was the beginning of what ultimately became “Aspinock Spring Pottery”.
Digging into the history of pottery Richard says that for him, “It is . . . the ultimate of making something from nothing; there is nothing more basic than dirt, clay, of course, being a form of dirt.” He talked about the chemistry that goes on between the clay and glazes saying, “It all has a kind of an elemental almost mystical aspect to it, so there was that aspect of getting involved with pottery that really, sort of, turned me on.”
Richard, began creating his own home studio including building a propane fire kiln, which he prefers over using an electric kiln, saying, “There were certain things you could accomplish in the glazing process, certain appearances, textures and colors of the glaze that you could only get by firing in a fuel fired kiln, whether wood or propane. Having a flame in the kiln you can control the amount of oxygen inside which has a dramatic effect on what happens to the glazes.” He goes on to explain that there is the functional aspect of pottery and the artistic aspect of pottery. He considers himself a functional potter, a craft person. He says that, “maybe there is a simple sort of art in what I do, but it’s certainly not intentional art.”
Amy, on the other hand, began with pottery, and although she still dabbles in it, her main focus has become the science and art of “warm glass”. Warm glass is glass that has been fired in a kiln at a range of high temperatures from 1,200 °F to 1,550 °F in order to fuse together thin sheets of layered glass to create patterns or images. Slight differences in temperature have distinct effects on the resulting glass texture and shape. When you see her finished pieces you realize that Amy is the artist in the family. Amy uses the sheet glass and different mediums to create, one of a kind, pieces that are both functional and artistic. She works from her home studio and teaches 1-day workshops, 6-week group classes and private classes at Sawmill Pottery in downtown Putnam.
When asked what satisfaction they get from doing this, Richard responded, “I loved what I did for 40 years, retiring at the age of 70, so it was nothing I rushed into. Everyone hopes their retirement will be heaven and hopefully it is, but still every human has to feel useful. You still have to feel that your needed somewhere and I know that Amy feels the same.” Going on he says, “If someone told me I would be doing pottery in my retirement, I would have said, “you’re nuts”! Yet he explains, “But now that I have fallen into this, I do feel a certain attachment to something now. It’s a different sense of accomplishment.”
Richard and Amy have been long time
customers of Subaru, having purchased at least five, Richard says,
starting first with Tri-State Subaru and continuing on after the
dealership was sold to Long. Richard says they enjoy the friendliness
of the staff at Long Subaru and the Subaru brand itself. Richard said,
“You have a great product there! It really sells itself!” Their Subaru’s
gave them a sense of security and safety when they were driving long
distances to their places of work. Amy said she appreciated the
reliability and safety features of the Subaru during winter months while
commuting to and from work. Thank you, Richard and Amy, for sharing your interesting story with us and for being loyal customers of Long Subaru!
Aspinock Spring Pottery will be joining us for our 10th Anniversary Celebration 10/10 @10am
where they will be displaying their pieces for purchase!
Pieces can also be purchased at the Putnam Saturday Farmers’ Market, Open Artist Studio (glass), Sawmill Pottery (glass) after December 6th and, of course, by direct contact.
