HD Totter Watch: Potter on a Totter

Yourist Pottery builds new kiln, holiday show, floating on totter
Teapot on display at Yourist Studio Gallery.

Teapot on display at Yourist Studio Gallery.

Many readers of Teeter Talk will have surely seen Yourist Pottery Gallery’s sign from the Plymouth Road side as they’ve headed into or out of Ann Arbor across Broadway Bridge. A smaller number will have seen the signage from the more lightly traveled Broadway Street side. And some readers will have also seen the place from the inside. Last Friday, I took the totter to the potter: Kay Yourist.

Navigating a 12-foot long board amongst some really pretty pottery is not for the faint of heart. But we managed to do it without wrecking the place, preserving the perfect safety record of the totter to date.

Skeptics who think I must have busted a pot or two are invited to verify for themselves that the floor is not littered with shards of broken pots–when Yourist Pottery hosts its annual holiday sale. The opening reception for that (including wine and appetizers) is Friday, 5 December from 6pm-9pm.

Off the totter, Kay related a great story about her first wheel–she bartered it away when she was short of the cash that she needed to pay the entry fee to the Ann Arbor art fair.

Kay Yourist demonstrates the treadle-style wheel she purchased for $175 when she was in high school.

Kay Yourist demonstrates the treadle-style wheel she purchased for $175 when she was in high school.

But clearly, she’s got it back now–that’s the wheel in the photograph included here. For details on how she got it back, ask Kate herself. (Note: The pot she’s throwing as a demonstration in the photo is visible only to the pure of heart.)

On the totter, the potter talked about the new kiln that has to be closed and opened one brick at a time, plus the teapot (it’s functional) shown here, and her first wheel, which I was delighted to discover is human-powered.

In the Talk you can also read about and see a photograph of a first-time ever execution on the Teeter Talk totter of a perfect float.

Section: Business, Entertainment

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