I find it really enriching to make pots which people are using and which they come in contact with, not only visually… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
We were living with Bernard [Leach] in his home. He had a fantastic collection of early English and Japanese and Chinese and… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
In fact, when Bernard [Leach] would be called away to go up to London for something and we'd be living alone for… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
This is something which I think I have been able to communicate to both people I have taught and people that have… — Warren MacKenzie Copy Share Image
We never had a catalogue; we never said we were going to duplicate these pots this year and next year and the… — 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
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 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
I think back to some of the pots we made when we first started our pottery, and they were pretty awful pots.… — 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
![“We were living with Bernard [Leach] in his home. He had a fantastic collection of early English and Japanese and Chinese and Korean pots and German pots, contemporary English work as well. And we had access to this collection.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1fe/warren-mackenzie-4654_access_we-were-living-with-bernard-leach-in-his_2394143.jpg)
![“In fact, when Bernard [Leach] would be called away to go up to London for something and we'd be living alone for a couple of days, we would dig into the storage areas in the house and we'd get out all the pots that we might not see in the course of our daily life, because we weren't using them in…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/70e/warren-mackenzie-4654_areas_in-fact-when-bernard-leach-would-be-call_1205373.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)
![“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)
![“[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)
![“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)
![“[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)