Bob Pool

I was born in 1946 in San Francisco, California.  My original training was in Biology (A. B., University of California, Berkeley; Ph. D., University of California, Los Angeles).  I took a casual course in pottery in 1979 and fell in love with clay.  Soon I found that I wanted to devote all my energy to making pots, and in 1982 I gave up my career in science to become a studio potter. I am past President of the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California.  I was artist-in-residence at the 2006 International Wood Fire Festival, Goshogowara, Aomori, Japan and at the 2007 Macsabal Festival, Osan, Republic of Korea. I received Honorable Mention for a flared bowl in the Red-Net series at the 2007 World Ceramic Biennale, Republic of Korea.

I am inspired by Asian and African motifs, particularly as expressed in fabrics.  I like to emphasize the surface of the pot, as if the piece is fabric suspended in space.  To create the patterns, I use sponges into which geometric designs are burned to apply layers of glazes.  When fired in a reducing atmosphere to stoneware temperatures, the effect is a surface of great depth with intense colors