If you didn't know what you were trying to do, [Robert von Neumann] wouldn't say a word. He would just turn and… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
At that [childhood] time, of course, if you were involved in art, it was going to be drawing and painting, because that's… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
We thought [with Alix MacKenzie], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
[Bernard Leach] talked about painting, but we never talked about ceramics in that evening. But at the end of the evening he… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
We got a great benefit from our contact with those people [Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Richard Batram] and met people that we… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
It was a figure painting class, where you had a model, and [Robert von Neumann ] would wander around and he'd come… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
If [Bernard Leach] didn't like the drawing, he'd X it out and do another one and change the form a little bit.… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
Looking back on it now, I understand why that was not possible [to express ourselves], because the pottery employed a dozen people,… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
I don't know, it's very difficult if you're in a strange country to just barge in and say, "Hello, I'm Warren MacKenzie,… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
When we worked at the pottery, we did learn to make pots, that is, the physical act of making the pot. We… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
I make a lot of pots in a year's time and some of them are good and some of them are mediocre… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
At the end of that two weeks Bernard [Leach] asked us if we would like to sit with him tending the kiln,… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
Bernard [Leach] had acquired many [Shoji] Hamada works. Some of them, it was interesting - first of all, Hamada worked in St.… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
If you press-mold a pot or if you slab-build a pot, the work has got to take much, much, much longer than… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
In searching for further training we turned to England and Bernard Leach. We thought since we had responded to his book so… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
Since your time is your main involvement here - I mean, the clay doesn't cost very much. Even the glaze and the… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
Finally if I had a pot that needed decoration, I would hand it to Alix [MacKenzie] and I would say, "Can you… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
If you take Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, their work didn't even relate to what we were trying to do, because they… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
[Kathleen Blackshear] just said, "Have you thought of looking at this?" and so on and so on and so on. And it was a… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
Some years ago I was working on some forms which were vase forms with a fairly narrow base, and it was after [Hans] Coper… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
I found out later on that was not true, that life drawing tells you a great deal about rhythm, about the structure of a… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
Remember, this is back in the '40s, and the idea of a museum being a place where interested people could come in direct contact… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
At the end of that two weeks Bernard [Leach] asked us if we would like to sit with him tending the kiln, the big… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
I got drafted into the army and by pure chance was pushed into a silk-screen shop at this camp where I was, because they… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
[In the Field Museum of Natural History] we could see very simple, primitive, hand-built pottery from Babylonia and ancient Egypt and so forth, Greece.… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
Chicago is a wonderful area because it's blessed with a tremendous number of museums of various sorts, not only the Art Institute of Chicago… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
It was a wonderful opportunity. And so for two and a half years we lived with [Bernard] Leach. — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
We thought [with Alix MacKenzie], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think that it… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
I went to the Chicago Art Institute, which was the best painting school in the area at that time. And I took painting classes… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
It was there that we really first came in contact with the work of Shoji Hamada, who was Bernard's best friend from Japan, who… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
![“If you didn't know what you were trying to do, [Robert von Neumann] wouldn't say a word. He would just turn and walk away. So you very quickly learned to think that you'd better be attempting to do something in that painting class.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/008/warren-mackenzie-4654_attempting_if-you-didn-t-know-what-you-were-trying_2054709.jpg)
![“At that [childhood] time, of course, if you were involved in art, it was going to be drawing and painting, because that's the only thing that was taught in the schools.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fd4/warren-mackenzie-4654_art_at-that-childhood-time-of-course-if-you_510704.jpg)
![“We thought [with Alix MacKenzie], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think that it should be any different in mid-North America 20th century? And we decided then that our work would center around that sort of utilitarian pottery, and that's what I've…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/db7/warren-mackenzie-4654_20th-century_we-thought-with-alix-mackenzie-if-those_265640.jpg)
![“[Bernard Leach] talked about painting, but we never talked about ceramics in that evening. But at the end of the evening he said to us, "Well," he said, "I've changed my mind, and if you want, you can come back a year from now and apprentice in the workshop."” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1bf/warren-mackenzie-4654_apprentice_bernard-leach-talked-about-painting-but_1965345.jpg)
![“We got a great benefit from our contact with those people [Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Richard Batram] and met people that we wouldn't have probably met if we had simply worked at the pottery.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/997/warren-mackenzie-4654_benefits_we-got-a-great-benefit-from-our-contact_1723967.jpg)
![“It was a figure painting class, where you had a model, and [Robert von Neumann ] would wander around and he'd come up behind someone and say, "Well, what are you trying to do?" And if you told him what you were trying to do, he would then proceed to discuss this with you and suggest things that…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fae/warren-mackenzie-4654_attempting_it-was-a-figure-painting-class-where-you_1968927.jpg)
![“If [Bernard Leach] didn't like the drawing, he'd X it out and do another one and change the form a little bit. And when he was all done, he would stuff these pieces of paper in his pocket and go off to the pottery, and when he wanted to make pots, he would then take these out and he'd begin to…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/34d/warren-mackenzie-4654_bits_if-bernard-leach-didn-t-like-the-drawing_1007603.jpg)
![“Looking back on it now, I understand why that was not possible [to express ourselves], because the pottery employed a dozen people, not all of whom are making pots. And these people had families, children, and they had to have a wage that would allow them to raise their family and they had to get…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7c6/warren-mackenzie-4654_afternoon_looking-back-on-it-now-i-understand-why_1308684.jpg)
![“At the end of that two weeks Bernard [Leach] asked us if we would like to sit with him tending the kiln, the big oil-fired kiln that they had. He was still sitting what we call a kiln watch at that time, and he wondered if we would like to sit the watch with him and talk. So naturally this was our…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6dd/warren-mackenzie-4654_big-oil_at-the-end-of-that-two-weeks-bernard-lea_146880.jpg)
![“Bernard [Leach] had acquired many [Shoji] Hamada works. Some of them, it was interesting - first of all, Hamada worked in St. Ives for about four years before returning to Japan to start his own pottery. He had exhibitions in London, and if these exhibitions didn't sell out, the galleries were…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6c0/warren-mackenzie-4654_exhibitions_bernard-leach-had-acquired-many-shoji-ha_2454863.jpg)
![“Finally if I had a pot that needed decoration, I would hand it to Alix [MacKenzie] and I would say, "Can you do something with this?" And she'd look at it for a while and then proceed with a brush to embellish the form and enhance the form, and it was wonderful. She could bring the pot to life…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0d/warren-mackenzie-4654_brushes_finally-if-i-had-a-pot-that-needed-decor_2413257.jpg)
![“[Kathleen Blackshear] just said, "Have you thought of looking at this?" and so on and so on and so on. And it was a discussion group where everyone had a say, and it was a tremendous learning experience.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/49b/warren-mackenzie-4654_discussion_kathleen-blackshear-just-said-have-you-t_18002.jpg)
![“Some years ago I was working on some forms which were vase forms with a fairly narrow base, and it was after [Hans] Coper had died that I saw an exhibition of his, a catalogue from an exhibition, and he was showing some forms which were made by cutting and joining a lot of different parts together…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/16b/warren-mackenzie-4654_bits_some-years-ago-i-was-working-on-some-for_61245.jpg)
![“Remember, this is back in the '40s, and the idea of a museum being a place where interested people could come in direct contact with works hadn't arrived on the scene yet. That, I think, I first ran into at the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C., where a man named Marty [Martin] Amt decided that he…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ddb/warren-mackenzie-4654_assistants_remember-this-is-back-in-the-40s-and-the_105550.jpg)
![“[In the Field Museum of Natural History] we could see very simple, primitive, hand-built pottery from Babylonia and ancient Egypt and so forth, Greece. We could see the most sophisticated things that came out of the Orient - Japan, Korea, and China - some few pieces of European porcelain, majolica…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8fc/warren-mackenzie-4654_ancient_in-the-field-museum-of-natural-history-w_183538.jpg)
![“It was a wonderful opportunity. And so for two and a half years we lived with [Bernard] Leach.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cf3/warren-mackenzie-4654_half_it-was-a-wonderful-opportunity-and-so-fo_230701.jpg)
![“It was there that we really first came in contact with the work of Shoji Hamada, who was Bernard's best friend from Japan, who had come from Japan back to England with [Bernard] Leach when Leach was establishing his pottery.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7e4/warren-mackenzie-4654_best-friend_it-was-there-that-we-really-first-came-i_295653.jpg)