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David Dreading David
Dreading began his pottery career at the age of eleven while
attending Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education in
Alabama. He continued throwing pottery throughout high school.
His first teacher was Edith Harwell, a well-known potter from
North Carolina. Later, Barry Gaston and Tom Jones influenced his
pottery and art career.
After high school, David received a BS degree in Ornamental
Horticulture and Landscape Design in 1980. This field catered to
David’s art and design sense. However, after a few years he was
drawn to the growing computer technology field and pursued a
degree in that area in the spring of 1989. Working in computer
technology gave David the opportunity to move around the country
as a contract programmer. He moved to Atlanta in 1994 where he
once again rekindled his love of pottery.
In 2005, David purchased his first potter’s wheel and kiln and
began throwing again. He reconnected with the wonderful times of
his youth and fell in love with the ancient art all over gain.
Pulling from mental and physical memory, David’s skill as an
artisan bloomed. He learned new techniques and began creating
his own glazes. The most challenging and rewarding technique
David discovered was the crystalline glaze technique. |
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David van Mesbergen
David van Mersbergen has spent much of his life trying to
make use of the eight years of piano lessons his parents paid
for. His parents were indeed pleased when he began lessons at
the age of eight after mastering “Heart and Soul” and “Peter,
Peter Pumpkin Eater” over a period of 6 months. David remembers
his teachers well and has no stories of a rule on the knuckles,
but rather lots of memories of encouragement and praise. After a
short break during high school, David continued piano
instruction in college. He also sang in the college choirs and
several church choirs during his college years.
After college, David joined the United States Air Force and was
selected for their performing group, Tops in Blue, as a keyboard
artist. This select group spent nine months touring |
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the world giving a high energy
musical variety show to U.S. military personnel. He
is grateful for the opportunity that afforded him to
see exotic places and tour the castles, cathedrals,
and major
museums of Europe.
While his artistic career has been performance related, a time
came when his artistic talents turned in another direction, thus
his pottery interest began. David has been a pottery apprentice
at the David Dreading Pottery Studio since 2005. While
apprenticeship has its downside, such as cleaning up after the
other David, wedging clay, sorting chemicals, and mixing glazes
all the while wishing he could be playing Chopin’s Ballade in F major
instead, he very much enjoys working in clay. David prefers the
low fire technique, raku. He says he tries not to tempt fate, or
set the lawn on fire, and hopes to transfers every fiery pot to
the cooling bath with incident. |
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