Bits Quote by Warren MacKenzie
![“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)
“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 produce the pot that he had designed on paper in front of us.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Warren MacKenzie on pottery process, 1990s
He used sketching, discarding, and iteration to refine designs before shaping pottery, emphasizing physical reference and flexibility
In simple terms: He sketches, discards, and revises before making pots
Key Takeaway
Iterate designs before execution
Themes
creativity
process
iteration
Mood
reflective
inspired
Type
practical
process-oriented
When to use this quote
- pottery studio
- design workshops
- creative brainstorming
- artisan training
- product prototyping
Key Concepts
design thinking
handcraft
visualization
Questions to Reflect On
- How does physical sketching influence your final work?
- When is it better to skip the sketch and act directly?
A Different Perspective
May limit spontaneity if over‑reliant on pre‑planning
![“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)
![“Living with [Bernard] Leach, who thought about pottery 24 hours a day, was a fantastic experience, and we really began to get inside his mind and understand what had motivated him to work all his life as a potter.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b51/warren-mackenzie-4654_fantastic_living-with-bernard-leach-who-thought-ab_1548049.jpg)
![“I do remember that when we left [Bernard Leach] after two and a half years, we went home on a boat again - this was before air travel became really easy - and Alix [MacKenzie] turned to me and she said, "You know, that was a great two years of training, but that's not the way we're going to run…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/566/warren-mackenzie-4654_air_i-do-remember-that-when-we-left-bernard_1214561.jpg)
![“We [with Alix MacKenzie] had decided we needed further training, and certainly Leach was the one we turned to. So we went to England this summer and we took examples of our work along with us and showed them to Bernard Leach and told him what we were trying to do. And of course he took one look at…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/353/warren-mackenzie-4654_courses_we-with-alix-mackenzie-had-decided-we-ne_1475255.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)
![“[ Bernard] Leach was the one who taught us that, because he, too, had started out as a painter and an etcher and had only gotten into ceramics by chance when he was in Japan trying to teach the Japanese how to do etching, which, as he said, they were not ready for yet.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9e6/warren-mackenzie-4654_ceramics_bernard-leach-was-the-one-who-taught-us_830509.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)
![“We were working from very exact models and dimensions and weights of clay to make these pots which had been designed some 10 or 12 years previous to our arriving [at Bernard's Leach studio]. And we, being, I guess you would say young, arrogant Americans, thought that we ought to be able to somehow…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3ce/warren-mackenzie-4654_able_we-were-working-from-very-exact-models-a_2464088.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)
![“We did respect [Bernard Leach], although we also were willing to challenge ideas and at least put forth our feelings about the way the pottery was run, about things that were done, about the pots we were making, etc. And we would get into sometimes some very fierce arguments. We'd be shouting at…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/33b/warren-mackenzie-4654_argument_we-did-respect-bernard-leach-although-we_1230748.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)
![“Brad [Dourif] would tell himself that he was not intentionally trying to mimic Jack Nicholson in any way. I think that actually bothers him a little bit. I just think maybe they have similar voices.” quote by David Kirschner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cfe/david-kirschner-22403_bits_brad-dourif-would-tell-himself-that-he-w_478.jpg)
