Lorna Meaden's Work Is A Real Dream

One of my favorite potters doesn’t care for me. She thinks I'm too odd, too weird. That was the impression I picked up during a weeklong workshop I took from her.  I found her view of me hilarious, since her pots strike me as being filled with whimsical irony.

Most likely she doesn't remember me after all these years. In actuality, I probably shouldn’t have been in her class. At the time I only had a year of pottery making under my belt, and the class was for advanced students. So I/my work at the time stuck out like a sore thumb.

I'm talking about Lorna Meaden. That woman can make soda fired porcelain  like no one else I’ve seen (unless they copy her work – boo! hiss! to that!). 

As weird as it sounds, I first ran across her work in a dream I had experienced. I remember thinking about making some cups with a King Lous XIII diamond point style for a project when I fell asleep. I dreamt about those cups with flashes of orange in them. When I woke up, I immediately dashed to the computer to see if  I could find the process that made that look.

Lorna’s pottery turned up fairly fast. Shivers ran up and down my back. A search on Lorna brought up a workshop class that she was planning on teaching out in Lake Tahoe, NV. My hubby and I enjoy visiting there so I attempted to sign up for the class. The paperwork stated that no place was held, even though a person paid. The places were first come, first serve. I was not willing to commit the money for the class and airline tickets without some confirmation that I had a place in that workshop.

When I called the registrar of that college where the workshop was to be located, I was told that the person I needed to speak with was out of town for the week. I left a message and I anxiously awaited that lady’s return. (Airline tickets have to be purchased a certain length of time in advance to get decent rates.) On the day of the workshop coordinator’s return, there was no return message. On the second day, I followed up with an email message. No response.

In desperation on the third day, I tracked down Lorna’s website, and contact info. Lorna kindly offered the information that she was doing a workshop in Asheville, NC, an hour away from me! I quickly phoned the location of the workshop and they were pleased to take my money. Good deal. ( Only after I’d been signed up in Asheville did the Lake Tahoe location coordinator contact me. Ooops! Sorry! )

So that’s how I know Lorna. Lorna has a wry smile, and she exhibits a lot of confidence in her mannerisms. She seems smart and witty. I greatly enjoyed meeting her. I learned a lot from Lorna in the workshop about altering pots, and about flashing slips and soda firing. I’ve not used the soda firing technique since, but I'm still very pleased with, and use much of the information I’ve learned. I also adore the tumbler I purchased from Lorna. I'm thankful to have met one of the modern day pottery masters.

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Lorna Meaden completed graduate school in 2005 and has been creating pottery every since. Her work has appeared in several ceramic magazines, is exhibited in many galleries and she travels extensively to run workshops.  Her website is http://www.lornameadenpottery.com/