Lynne Berman

Associate Artist - Past

First an English teacher, then a social worker, then ten years at The Philadelphia Inquirer running the Newspaper In Education (NIE) department, now I’m an addicted potter.

I worried about leaving the world of work and salary behind; I worried that I’d never have to think again. Fortunately, the latter is not true. "What if?" is a constant question. And there’s glaze chemistry! A new vocabulary: stochiometric is one of my favorite new words. Learning to live with loss, another lesson.

My proudest accomplishment: when the first of my three kids was little, I noticed how curious he was, unlike a lot of big kids I’d see. So, The Philadelphia School was born not to kill curiosity.

I live in and love the city: its energy, its buildings, its variety. It affects my work. I like to say that I try to make my work round and not too heavy, not that that is always true. I do love the feel of porcelain coming through my fingers as I sit at the wheel. I also love simplicity; nothing can be too plain for me.

“Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped to its nakedness.”
    — Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand and Stars.