We think you will be delighted with this week’s Featured Zibbeter’s work. Marsha R Taubenhaus’s hand thrown stoneware pottery is unique and beautiful.At Dovecote Design you’ll find useful pottery for every day and for entertaining guests. Marsha also creates unique OOAK porcelain earrings and pendants.
Marsha currently lives in Saint Peter, Minnesota after quitting her job as a criminal lawyer in New York City. Be sure to see the photos of her studio on her profile page.
Please enjoy the interview, leave Marsha a comment, and then use the Share Tools so others can read it, too. Please spread the Zibbet Love!
I must have been a potter in a prior lifetime, because I intuitively knew I would love it before I even learned how. 12 years ago, I packed up my New York City apartment, got rid of most of my stuff, and moved to a small, rural town in the middle of the country. Taking pottery lessons seemed like such a natural next step, and I instantly fell in love with the craft. I opened my first online shop about six years ago, and have never looked back. I love the idea that my pieces are being used, and hopefully loved, all around the world. When I’m not making pots, I’m representing criminal defendants. I write appeals, which means that I help them after they’ve already been convicted. Probably one of the reasons I love ceramics so much is because, until I started making pots, I spent my work life using my brains; now I get to use my hands and my heart. Now I split my time between my two insanely different careers.
I find inspiration at the intersection of form and function, the idea of making something whose form is both beautiful and useful at the same time. When I make a mug, I think about how it will feel in someone’s hands, how the rim will feel when someone drinks from it, and whether it will give someone pleasure to look at it. I also love taking ancient forms, altering them, and coming up with something new. When I first began selling online, I tried out two of my inventions: an all-in-one ring holder/earring bowl and a stoneware mug with a lid that doubles as saucer. To my delight, when I googled them, I couldn’t find anything like them at the time. (Of course, on the internet, all good ideas eventually get copied, but it still gives me a thrill to know that I dreamed them up!). Now they are two of my best sellers.As a potter, I look up to Gina Phenix (she has a shop on Zibbet called “PhenixPottery”).
She is the person who first taught me how to center clay, throw pots on the potter’s wheel, fire and glaze them. To this day, she is my go-to person for any pottery question, idea or problem. She can also throw the “perfect” pot like no one else I know!First and foremost, my daughter, a beautiful, kind and talented up-and-coming songstress. You can hear here HERE. I consider her my only true work of art.After that, I guess I’d have to say that nothing riles up my passions more than injustice of any kind. Which of course explains how I ended up defending the poor and despised. I am a proud progressive, and am always up in arms when I feel that someone is getting screwed!
Most of all, I love that Zibbet is truly a ‘handmade’ site, not one that is trying to compete with Ebay or Amazon or Walmart. I’m really impressed with the openness of the administrators, who genuinely seem interested in what their users think. I like feeling like I am in on the ground floor of a marketplace that is getting ready to take off, hopefully to the stratosphere.I am hopeful that the category of ceramics will be taken out of “fine art” and put into the “handmade” category. Although of course ceramics is artistic, and some pieces are beautiful works of art (think Ming vases!), I don’t think of work like mine as fine art. And I think of myself as an artisan or craftswoman, rather than an artist. I aim to make functional pieces that are lovely to look at and pleasing to the touch, rather than pieces of fine art. I think many potters feel the same way. And I’m pretty sure my customers wouldn’t think to look in the ‘fine art’ section if they were looking for a good mug or bowl.I’m also looking forward to the rebuild, when the search function will be strengthened. And I can’t wait to see what the new front page will look like.
Because I have been selling my pottery online for a number of years, I have developed a wonderful, loyal customer base. Beyond my “regulars,” I use Pinterest, Wanelo, Facebook and Google+.First of all, make something great! Then take great photos. And like some others have said, fill up your shop. Finally, the forums are a friendly place to get answers to questions and meet like-minded craftspeople.known as the woman who sold you your favorite mug, the one you wash out every morning (even though you have plenty of others), because your coffee just tastes better when you drink out of it, and it’s the one that makes you happy.Tags: Dovecote Designs, Featured Zibbeters
