About Me

MY BACKGROUND:

My aesthetic derives from the Japanese production forms and methods I learned at the Great Barrington Pottery in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, under an apprenticeship with the late Richard Bennett who studied pottery-making in Matsue, Japan. 

I joined the group of young potters who lived communally and worked together in the studio 7 days a week. With Bennett, we fired the traditional anagama wood-burning kiln with scrap wood from the local lumber mill. 

After my apprenticeship, I established Crow Hill Pottery in rural Abbot Village, Maine with Bob Fenton. We created a cottage industry, hiring local friends to produce functional, gas-fired stoneware. We were among the founding members of the Maine Potters Guild and craft cooperative retail outlets in Portland, Bar Harbor and Waterville.

For a number of years, while working in commercial real estate, I continued making pottery in my spare time.  I used the studio space at the local community college, with my wheels in storage. I held annual holiday sales in my home and filled special orders.

I created Willowood Pottery in 2012, building a studio in my renovated garage, fully heated and air conditioned.  According to custom, I named it after its location on Willowood Drive.  I have been making pottery full time again since 2017.  This year, during the pandemic, I moved my annual sale outdoors in October, drawing lots of avid pottery collectors from the area and my customer base.

I earned a BA in philosophy and English at Douglass College, Rutgers University, 

                                                                                             Caryn Newman