Pottery that works
Denise Moline prepares a lump of clay. Photo by Barb Mosher
By Barb Mosher, Contributing Writer
Denise Moline thinks about soup bowls a lot: how she picks one up and how it balances in her hands, how big they are and how they stack in a cupboard. Then she takes her thoughts and throws them together with a lump of clay on a potter’s wheel and continues her quest to create the perfect vessel for soup.
“I have to think about how I want something to work,” she explained. “It has to be not just pretty but functional, practical, convenient, and durable.”
Tucked off Hickin Road on a woodsy acre overlooking Torch Lake, Silly Sister’s Pottery Studio and Gallery houses Moline’s potter’s wheels and electric kilns, bags of mid-range high-fire stoneware clay, her own made-from-scratch lead-free and toxin-free glazes, and wooden shelves showcasing her finished products: serving bowls and platters, casserole dishes, mugs, teapots, pitchers, French butter keepers, salt pigs and frogs and fish, and, of course, soup bowls.
Inspired by the creative talents of her two children, Moline began what she calls her own “journey of artistic discovery” two decades ago in Virginia. It proved to be a short trip as she was instantly and completely hooked on clay after her first pottery class, despite the challenge of learning to control a ball of it on a potter’s wheel.
“Four classes in and I still couldn’t do it, and I was moaning and whining,” she recalled. “Finally, lightning struck, and I centered a piece and opened it and pulled up a side. My hands went up in the air and I literally saw stars. My teacher said, ‘Good, do it again,’ and I said, ‘No. I have a bowl, and I’m stopping while I’m ahead.’”
But the concentration required at the wheel was just the therapeutic relaxation the self-employed attorney needed, so Moline made more bowls and took more lessons. She began selling her work and eventually bought her own wheel and kiln.
“Sitting at the wheel, you have to focus on what you’re doing,” Moline said. “You don’t think about other things. Even music fades into the background. It’s like yoga in that regard, and so the world goes away and stays away.”
A move to Chicago opened up new opportunities to develop her skills and market her pottery. She took classes, participated in a variety of art shows, and was a regular vendor at festivals and markets. She joined an art league and helped start a non-profit pottery cooperative that shared a facility, equipment, and materials.
After retiring, Moline and her husband, Karl, an avid sailor, decided northern Michigan was an ideal launching place to explore the waters and coastal towns of the Great Lakes and the North Channel. They found a house in 2017 with enough space for Moline’s studio and gallery, put their name on the waiting list for a slip at Elk Rapids’ Edward Grace Memorial Harbor, and tied up their 40-foot sailboat, “Voyageur,” in the Charlevoix City Marina in the meantime.
“Karl really enjoys sailing, but he never had enough time to travel around the Great Lakes by boat,” Moline said. “There’s still so much that needs to be explored, and this is a much better jumping off place than Chicago. And Grand Traverse Bay is a good place to sail when the weather on the big lakes gets iffy.”
It’s a balance, she said, between making the most of the six-month sailing season and taking advantage of opportunities to sell her pottery at area farm markets, festivals, and art shows. Moline hopes, however, that as she establishes herself in the regional arts scene, her gallery will bring people her way rather than having to cart her wares from one venue to the next.
She also plans to share her knowledge and experience with others interested in clay work by reconfiguring her studio to accommodate two more wheels, “three if I can fit them.” Watching people discover the simple joy of imagining a finished piece and bringing it into being with their own hands would bring Moline full circle in the artistic journey she began two decades ago.
“Old potters never die,” she said. “They just teach.”
Moline will showcase her pottery during a gallery open house December 7 and 8, from 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. both days. Refreshments will be served, and she may demonstrate throwing clay on the wheel if time allows.
Silly Sister’s is located at 11421 Hickin Road, Rapid City. The gallery is open during variable hours, so call before visiting: 630-408-1405. For more information, visit www.sillysisterspottery.com or its Facebook page.
Denise Moline thinks about soup bowls a lot: how she picks one up and how it balances in her hands, how big they are and how they stack in a cupboard. Then she takes her thoughts and throws them together with a lump of clay on a potter’s wheel and continues her quest to create the perfect vessel for soup.
“I have to think about how I want something to work,” she explained. “It has to be not just pretty but functional, practical, convenient, and durable.”
Tucked off Hickin Road on a woodsy acre overlooking Torch Lake, Silly Sister’s Pottery Studio and Gallery houses Moline’s potter’s wheels and electric kilns, bags of mid-range high-fire stoneware clay, her own made-from-scratch lead-free and toxin-free glazes, and wooden shelves showcasing her finished products: serving bowls and platters, casserole dishes, mugs, teapots, pitchers, French butter keepers, salt pigs and frogs and fish, and, of course, soup bowls.
Inspired by the creative talents of her two children, Moline began what she calls her own “journey of artistic discovery” two decades ago in Virginia. It proved to be a short trip as she was instantly and completely hooked on clay after her first pottery class, despite the challenge of learning to control a ball of it on a potter’s wheel.
“Four classes in and I still couldn’t do it, and I was moaning and whining,” she recalled. “Finally, lightning struck, and I centered a piece and opened it and pulled up a side. My hands went up in the air and I literally saw stars. My teacher said, ‘Good, do it again,’ and I said, ‘No. I have a bowl, and I’m stopping while I’m ahead.’”
But the concentration required at the wheel was just the therapeutic relaxation the self-employed attorney needed, so Moline made more bowls and took more lessons. She began selling her work and eventually bought her own wheel and kiln.
“Sitting at the wheel, you have to focus on what you’re doing,” Moline said. “You don’t think about other things. Even music fades into the background. It’s like yoga in that regard, and so the world goes away and stays away.”
A move to Chicago opened up new opportunities to develop her skills and market her pottery. She took classes, participated in a variety of art shows, and was a regular vendor at festivals and markets. She joined an art league and helped start a non-profit pottery cooperative that shared a facility, equipment, and materials.
After retiring, Moline and her husband, Karl, an avid sailor, decided northern Michigan was an ideal launching place to explore the waters and coastal towns of the Great Lakes and the North Channel. They found a house in 2017 with enough space for Moline’s studio and gallery, put their name on the waiting list for a slip at Elk Rapids’ Edward Grace Memorial Harbor, and tied up their 40-foot sailboat, “Voyageur,” in the Charlevoix City Marina in the meantime.
“Karl really enjoys sailing, but he never had enough time to travel around the Great Lakes by boat,” Moline said. “There’s still so much that needs to be explored, and this is a much better jumping off place than Chicago. And Grand Traverse Bay is a good place to sail when the weather on the big lakes gets iffy.”
It’s a balance, she said, between making the most of the six-month sailing season and taking advantage of opportunities to sell her pottery at area farm markets, festivals, and art shows. Moline hopes, however, that as she establishes herself in the regional arts scene, her gallery will bring people her way rather than having to cart her wares from one venue to the next.
She also plans to share her knowledge and experience with others interested in clay work by reconfiguring her studio to accommodate two more wheels, “three if I can fit them.” Watching people discover the simple joy of imagining a finished piece and bringing it into being with their own hands would bring Moline full circle in the artistic journey she began two decades ago.
“Old potters never die,” she said. “They just teach.”
Moline will showcase her pottery during a gallery open house December 7 and 8, from 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. both days. Refreshments will be served, and she may demonstrate throwing clay on the wheel if time allows.
Silly Sister’s is located at 11421 Hickin Road, Rapid City. The gallery is open during variable hours, so call before visiting: 630-408-1405. For more information, visit www.sillysisterspottery.com or its Facebook page.
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