A Master Potter Celebrates
50 Years in Clay
By Shelly Prevost
In the early 1960s, as a young lady raised in the
South, Mary Law grew up addressing people as Sir
and Ma’am. “I was used to telling my elders what
they wanted to hear.”, Mary recalls. Those were
times when women were expected to marry a nice
man and raise a family. Very few women had careers.
Sexism worked in Mary’s favor. “My brothers were
expected to have a career, but I didn’t have too. I was
allowed to take anything in school, but my brother
couldn’t.”
Mary started college as a Humanities major with
an emphasis on Foreign Language. She applied to
Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. They
asked for her portfolio, but she didn’t have one.
They accepted her anyway. “I went there with no
expectations, but it changed my life.”
One of Mary’s first ceramics teachers and a big
influence on her was Karen Karnes. Karnes is
internationally known, and her work is displayed
in numerous galleries and permanent collections
worldwide. While working together, Karnes said
something to Mary that put her on a new path for
the rest of her life. “Are you going to continue in
clay?” Mary replied “Yeah, I guess so.” “Well good,
I think you should.” Karnes said. As simple as that
little bit of encouragement was, it was all that Mary
needed to recognize in herself how much she really
wanted to continue.
Mary Law, a ceramics teacher for nearly 30 years at Contra
Costa Community College, in her studio in Berkeley.
Allen Perlof and Annie Van Blaricom after loading the kiln at
Contra Costa College.
Mary remembers, “The first pot I felt really good about
when it came out of the kiln was a Raku fired glass that had
yellow in it. So, when it came out of the kiln I burst into
tears, I liked it so much. Anyway, I was completely hooked
on pots.”
Mary went on to apprentice with Bryon Temple, a
production potter, where she honed her skills and learned
the value of making pots for everyday use. Mary knew that
once you end being an apprentice you must start making
your own pots with your own style. Your body knows how
to make the master’s pots but not your own. It took Mary
ten years to figure that out. “Things that matter to me about
thrown pots: it should have a freshness, not looking labored
over. So, it doesn’t look like it was made on a lathe. I want a
pot to look alive.”
Later, after Temple was in a terrible car accident that
prevented him from teaching his class at Pratt School of Art
in New York, he recommended Mary. There were people
that worked for him that were a lot more advanced and