Green Tea by Rollie Younger
While on vacation in Cambria during the holidays I had the distinct pleasure of wandering upon the studio of master potter, Rollie Younger. The photo above is of Rollie's boiler teapot, Green Tea. I'd love to be sipping a cup of green tea right now and gazing at Rollie's beautiful tea pot. Rollie is known for his wonderfully detailed boiler teapots in addition to his other beautiful pottery.
Power Up Tea by Rollie Younger
The teapot above is Power Up Tea which took honorable mention in a Korean exhibit. Rollie and his wife recently finished remodeling his studio and their home addition, after an earthquake did some damage a few years ago. Along with his walkout basement studio, Rollie has a separate building as a small display area for his ceramics.
Rollie mentioned he used to have a cabin in Camp Nelson, which is about 15 miles up in the mountains above my home. We immediately had something in common. We talked about local points of interest and about the oranges he used purchase at a local ranch. Rollie said he used to go trout fishing in the stream near his cabin. I invited Rollie and his family to come for a visit when trout season opens up.
Turbo Tea by Rollie Younger
Turbo Tea above is one of the first boiler teapots Rollie made. Part of my conversation with Rollie drifted toward barrel firing. Rollie had some beautiful platters in his studio he had fired in barrels. I found out Rollie used to teach ceramics in Los Angeles and not long ago he returned to taking classes at Cuesta Collge where he initially developed his idea for making boiler teapots. Rollie said he enjoyed working in a college atmosphere again as a student instead of a teacher. We talked about the important artistic roll community colleges have for adults wishing to return to college.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune article gives more information about Rollie and his career in ceramics. Rollie's "Tea Time for Post-Industrialists" show is on display at the San Luis Obispo Art Center through this month where nine of his boiler teapots are on display.
very cool teapots! i have seen the second one somewhere, but cannot recall where... thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteVery fun! It's hard to tell exactly what the teapots are made of when you first see the pictures. what great construction.
ReplyDeleteHi Mel, there was an article about Rollie in Clay Times in the early 1990's. He is a heck of a nice guy too.
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara, the finishes truely do look like metal and if you didn't know it was clay you would think they were metal - I guess that was his intention. It is amazing what some can do with the clay.
wonderful! And as always- thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteM
Hi Meredith, I just love the color of the green teapot. Maybe my sculptures will turn out like that.
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