NEHMA | Collection

Mary Law

American, b. 1947

Jar
2000

Stoneware with porcelain slip
16.5 x 11.5 x 11.5 in.
Gift of the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation
2002.28

Utilitarian form is the primary consideration in Mary Law’s work. “Function continues to provide me,” she has said, “with that vital spark that makes me want to go into the studio week after week,” and she is consistently drawn to form before surface treatment. Law works with porcelain, often fired in a sodium vapor kiln, where the flame tends to enhance the form. Her glazes gravitate toward rich monochrome surfaces, like Shino, celadon, and temoku. Her Jar has a bold accent of temoku over porcelain slip.

Law acquired her skills at Penland School of Crafts (fifty miles from Ashland, North Carolina), studying with Karen Karnes and Byron Temple. Her passion for functional forms was refined during a two-year apprenticeship with Temple. She received her MFA from New York State College of Ceramic Arts, Alfred University, New York. Law then taught for two years at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and from 1989 to 2018 she was an adjunct ceramics instructor at Contra Costa College, San Pablo, California. She has enjoyed a balance of teaching and studio work throughout her life. Her studio has two gas kilns (high-fire reduction and soda) behind her home in west Berkeley. Since retirement, she has taught a summer workshop in her studio.

Billie Sessions, PhD.

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