Interview with Geraldine McMahan

Interview with Geraldine McMahan on 9/19/10


1. Where are you from? What is your background? Where do you live now?

I was born in Portland, Nov 1947, but grew up in Puyallup Washington. This small town about 30 miles south of Seattle, sits in a lush river valley; lots of daffodils, hyacinths and tulips, berries of all kinds…lots of color and nature and summer jobs for kids. We were avid campers and fishermen; I spent a good part of my childhood putting up tents, launching boats, and cleaning fish. I majored in math and journalism in college and worked in the healthcare computer industry all of my professional career, first as a programmer and then as a quality assurance analyst. My job took me from Seattle to Los Angeles to Minneapolis to Orlando, and finally to Tucson. My husband John and I moved to Florence Oregon in 2001, to get back to moss and tall trees and a little more rain; I guess we both forgot just how much rain!


2. Have you always worked with clay? How have these elements affected you as an artist?

In the mid 1970s, I took off from work once a week and took an afternoon neighborhood park department pottery class as a way to use up the overtime hours I had accrued. I was immediately hooked on the techniques of pottery making and the, what I call ‘zen’, of just getting your hands in clay. For the next 15 years (Seattle, LA, Minneapolis, Orlando), I potted just for my own amusement and for xmas presents for family and friends. When I moved to Tucson, I had a job that took all my time and my pottery equipment languished in packing boxes; all work and no clay!

When I moved to Florence, my husband was still working and doing a lot of traveling, I knew no one…so I signed up for the pottery class at the local community college, just to make friends. I still take this class every quarter, for the studio space but mostly for the camaraderie of being around other potters. In 2005 I was invited to join the Backstreet Gallery artist’s co-op; having to think about inventory makes one get much more serious about their craft.

I worked on the wheel until moving to Florence; now, I use hand building techniques for all of my pottery. Yes, the wheel is still packed!

My pottery has a distinctive ‘southwest’ look. I use mostly browns and blacks and teals in my glazes and in the last two years, have decreased my use of glazes, using the look and texture of the raw clay itself as a decorating technique. My years in Tucson, even though I was doing no clay work, define my current style.

3. What other mediums have you experimented with?

I have always been fascinated with little boxes; I’ve actually moved empty boxes all around the U.S.! A couple of years ago, I bought a particularly nice box, about 3”x3” at an art gallery, and thought…could I do this? I checked out a book at the Library, Making Memory Boxes and taught myself. Now, in addition to my pottery, I also show at Backstreet tiny handmade boxes. Most are 2”x2”, no larger than 3”x3”, covered with a variety of decorative papers, with bead feet and spacers, and always with some embellishment as a topper. They are colorful and whimsical, and, are totally opposite from my pottery. I joke that this is the ‘mary engelbreit’ in me coming out. I love the ‘mathematics’ of making a box and wrapping paper around inside corners, the feel and look of diverse papers…and just the raw joy of something that makes you smile.


4. What do you do if a work turns out differently than expected or you do not like how the piece is coming together?

My years as a software analyst convinced me that planning is the key to success. So, if a pot turns out badly, that’s a learning experience. One of the joys of clay is opening the kiln…you always have to be prepared for something awful, or, for something unanticipated. If it’s bad…it goes in the trash. Pottery keeps you humble.


5. What/who are your inspirations?

In pottery, everything is an inspiration. I devour books and magazines showing other potter’s work; I get ideas from mail order catalogs. To me, clay is a malleable material that waits to be formed into shapes; it is a canvas that can hold a multitude of decorations. Anything, a thought, a word, an object, a view…can be an inspiration. You just have to think, ‘how would this ‘thing’ be interpreted in clay?’

There is one potter who has seriously inspired my work; Patrick Horsley, a studio potter from Portland, Oregon. His pieces make me want to get to work!

6. What has surprised you about being an artist?

I am always surprised when people say “I’m not creative; I can’t do anything artistic…” I think this is leftover from my computer days. When people say that they can’t work a computer...I always think, “can you turn on your car, can you drive, can you make a cake…what makes you think a computer is anything other than just another tool?” Yes, there are some among us who are artistic geniuses but the vast majority of us just haven’t tried it, just haven’t tried to learn.


7. Has being a member of Oregon Arts Alliance (formerly Oregon Crafted) helped you?

I am associated with OAA because Backstreet is a member.

8. Can you tell us a little bit about Backstreet Gallery and how it started?

Backstreet Gallery is a local artist co-op, established in May 2005 in Florence, Oregon, by a small group of local artists. Currently, there are 26 members. Members pay dues and work at the store; there are essentially 26 owners. We have a board of directors and a set-up of committees that perform the tasks of the business. Every member has a vote on decisions; every member is responsible for the smooth running of the gallery. One of our goals is to encourage and support arts in the community. We have two monthly events to which we invite the public and supply food and beverage. We have an ‘artist of the month’ that is celebrated at these events.

A co-op gives an artist the chance to show and sell their work without the overhead of the typical gallery commission rate. And more importantly, it gives the artist a chance to interact with other artists.

9. What is your role there? How has that helped you as an artist?

I have served a term as president and treasurer of the gallery. If an artist wants to sell their work, it is important to know the business side of art, and a co-op provides that experience in a relatively ‘safe’ and cost-effective environment.

10. What is your opinion of the current state of the arts?

As is true in most walks of life, we artists would be better off with a little more humility. I suppose that this has always been true, but it seems to me that artists who sell their work, or, want you to think they sell their work, are incredibly arrogant. When you read the artist profiles in Ceramics Monthly…you wonder if these people are from the same planet! What on earth are they talking about? As opposed to Pottery Making Illustrated, where artists share their techniques, answer questions, talk like real human beings. The act of making something with your hands, your mind, your soul, is such a human joy…we should all encourage this. I personally don’t ‘get’ altered books, but bless their hearts, altered book artists are making a ‘thing’ out of nothing, that brings joy to themselves and to others, and that’s worth celebrating.