The early days
Years before meeting Linda, and during my years teaching at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, I would walk to what was called “The Pot Shop” and take pottery lessons from Nancy Pawel, one of the premier ceramicists in the Southwest. Each Wednesday and Friday, after teaching, I would show up for what I needed to learn in my next step, be it how to mix glaze, knead the clay, prepare and use the wheel or mold the clay free-hand, always with the sharp eye of and gentle way of Nancy as guide. We became fast friends during these years of pottery making. I found the process its own form of therapy; I also let a creative side of myself that I was not conscious of express itself in creating a variety of shapes: bottles, pots, bowels, plates and other forms more whimsical.
