Argument Quote by Warren MacKenzie
![“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)
“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 one another because of disagreements.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Oral History of Studio Pottery, 1990s, recorded by Smithsonian Archives
The speaker acknowledges respect for a mentor while also emphasizing the need to question practices and express personal viewpoints, leading to intense debates.
In simple terms: Respect and critique can coexist, sparking heated discussion.
Key Takeaway
Balance respect with honest critique.
Themes
art
craft
dialogue
conflict
growth
Mood
passionate
reflective
assertive
Type
reflective
dialogue
inspirational
When to use this quote
- studio meetings
- design reviews
- collaborative projects
- teaching workshops
- peer critique
Key Concepts
studio pottery
creative tension
critical thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you voice disagreement without escalating conflict?
- When is it essential to challenge tradition?
A Different Perspective
Intense arguments may hinder collaboration if not managed constructively.
![“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)
![“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)
![“We [me and my wife] went back to St. Paul, worked for a year - again, I guess I would have to admit now, doing a rather shaky job of teaching people - but at the end of that year we returned to England and worked in the [Bernard] Leach Pottery for two and a half years.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/50b/warren-mackenzie-4654_ends_we-me-and-my-wife-went-back-to-st-paul-w_1318886.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)
![“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)
![“Alix [MacKenzie], on the other hand, found that her painting would translate much more readily into decoration, and she could play with the spacing and the intensity of imagery on the form in a way which I could not. So that when we established our pottery, I was most unhappy with my decoration.” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/150/warren-mackenzie-4654_decoration_alix-mackenzie-on-the-other-hand-found-t_1028664.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)
![“In the Leach Pottery we did most of our work on the wheel. [Bernard] Leach did a little work in the studio, which was press-molded forms, plastic clay pressed into plaster forms to make small rectangular boxes and some vase forms, which he liked to make. These were molds which had been made to an…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3a8/warren-mackenzie-4654_boxes_in-the-leach-pottery-we-did-most-of-our_447338.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)
![“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)
![“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)
