We had the good fortune of connecting with Lisa Kurtz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lisa, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started my business “Highland Pottery” after getting my Masters and Bachelors degrees in college in Ceramics at The University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. I worked a full time job in advertising for 7 years while going to school and after getting my degrees I was just ready to jump in and do what I loved to do and had been training to do. I had several great role models (my teachers Tom and Ginny Marsh) and friends who had done the same thing and it was just time for me to make and sell pots full time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am mostly a functional potter but I also create wall art using clay and found objects. Before I made pots I painted, but once I took a clay class I knew I had found my medium. My grandfather, Nick Guarnaschelli, came to the states from Italy to be an artist, but supported his family by being a tailor and having a small tailor shop in Louisville. He also taught art at the Louisville School of art. I also have an aunt that is a painter and a great aunt that painted. My mom also painted some. So, I had lots of family members that encouraged me to keep making my art. I think it was just in my blood to be an artist. It’s not easy being a potter. You have to be very dedicated to keep going. There are multiple obstacles that can be overwhelming if you are not determined. After the making, there are many, many more steps involved in the finishing (glazing and firing). It requires a lot of testing to get the results you would like in your work. I mix up my own glazes and am constantly tweaking them to get what I want to communicate through my pots. I have had so many studios in so many places – everywhere I have lived from small little apartments, to extra bedrooms in my home, to separate rented and/or owned places. I guess the biggest lesson I have learned is just to keep making and keep learning. I also love teaching others about clay. Currently I teach clay (both wheel throwing and hand building) at The Oak Ridge Art Center in Oak Ridge, TN. Previously I taught clay, drawing and even Art History “online” at Pellissippi State in Knoxville and at Cleveland State in Cleveland, TN. I taught at another potter’s studio in Louisville and have actually been teaching some type of art since I was 16 at lots of different places. In February I taught a community clay workshop up at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely try to take them up to Arrowmont School in Gatlinburg to do a workshop. More locally in Knoxville, I would take friends to downtown Knoxville. We would visit the Art Market Gallery on Gay Street – a local cooperative art gallery with over 50 local artists’ work – where I have been a member and sold my art. Market Square would definitely be on the list to take my friends. There are so many great restaurants in downtown Knoxville and in The Old City. My family has been a fan of the Old City and downtown Knoxville since way back. Osteria Stella, Kefi, Emilias, JC Holdaway, Cafe 4 and The Brass Pearl are just a few of the many restaurants we enjoy downtown.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Tom and Ginny Marsh (my college teachers), The University of Louisville Ceramics Program, fellow students: Ann Suchecki, Laura Ross, Dennis Maher, Gil Stengel, Emma Leguizamon, Sandy Routon Fisk, my parents: Dennis and Mary Angela Kurtz, my husband: Joe Kennedy, my 3 children: Caitlin, Walker and Claire Kennedy, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts

Website: http://www.lisakurtzhighlandpottery.weebly.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisakurtzhighlandpottery/

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lisakurtzhighlandpottery/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.kurtz.12 and https://www.facebook.com/Lisakurtzhighlandpottery/

Image Credits
Robert Batey photography

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