“The summer I was 9, my dad sold everything he had and bought a boat, a 30-by-18-foot wooden trimaran. He, my older brother, and I left Oklahoma and sailed the Verdigris, Arkansas, White and Mississippi Rivers down to the coast. We lived on the boat all that summer. In the fall, I went back to Oklahoma to be with my great-grandmother, but my dad and brother stayed in Long Beach, Mississippi. When I turned twelve, I joined them, and we lived on the boat until I was fifteen. There was no privacy, so we had to learn how to get along with each other in small spaces. Plus, everything we owned had to have a purpose. That philosophy carries over into the pieces I create now, which I would describe as hand-made, utilitarian, stoneware pottery. If I sell a piece to someone and find out they’re actually using it, it makes me really happy. Even though I studied ceramics in college, my dad is the one who taught me how to throw pots, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Erica Bodine works out of a studio at the Art Factory. See her work at http://www.facebook.com/ericabodinepottery. You can also catch her in action at the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market most Saturdays. It is fascinating to see her beautiful pots take shape right before your eyes.
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