Steven Hill has an incredible career spanning over 50 years. Through the first half of his career, Steven’s focus was on making and selling pots. Gradually, he became more passionate about teaching and sharing his techniques.
“My first experience with ceramics was in the early 70’s,” Steven shared. “One of my heroes was Don Reitz, a teacher at the University of Wisconsin. He was well known for his salt glaze pots and I was attracted to those pots. I learned how to salt glaze in the 70’s and built my own kiln. At some point, I no longer had access to a salt kiln, but I wanted to keep those kinds of surfaces, so I started spraying glazes. My intuition told me that they could have the same soft relationship with the surfaces that atmospheric kilns provided.”
Steven started writing articles to share his experiences and techniques. “I’ve been teaching in various ways since the 80’s. It started at the local community college and then transferred into workshops after people became aware of my work.”
“Teaching became a really important outlet for me. I have more satisfaction out of teaching than I did out of just making and selling pots.”
“I didn’t think about it 25 years ago, but I do think about legacy now, and I want my legacy to be as a teacher more so than as a potter because I love the idea of being able to have a positive impact on the people I’m working with.”
“There is no other art community that shares quite like potters do. It’s my opinion that throughout the millennia potters learned to share information as a way to advance the field of ceramics. There is simply too much to know for everyone to be secretive with their knowledge. The result is that potters tend to be an open community willing to share their knowledge and lend support to each other. It is this spirit of sharing that inspired me to teach the Journey Workshop. My goal is for all participants to begin making work that expresses their authentic self.”
We are so thankful that Steven will continue to impact artists at Adamah through the upcoming Three-Part Journey Workshop beginning in June 2024. The Journey Workshop is not Steven teaching his technique but rather helping students realize and find their own voice through their pottery or sculpture. Steven works with students in a mentor role through group discussion, individual guidance and critique to help them grow during this year-long process which culminates in a final critique and group exhibition.
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