Instructor Highlight: Liz Quackenbush
/Liz’s Bio:
Liz Quackenbush
Born and raised in Wyckoff, NJ, I grew up knowing the butcher, fruit seller, and pharmacist by name because they had all grown up in Wyckoff, too, and gone to school with either my mother or my father. Our home was filled with things that came with stories, many of which were handmade by a relative from one generation or another. The stories told of family sharing their love and talents by making furniture, knitted blankets, clothing, jigsaw puzzles, marionettes, woven reed baskets and decoupage waste paper baskets, hats, key rings, needlepoint pillows, doorstops, purses, aprons, Christmas tree skirts, ornaments and more! I was encouraged to learn crafts and excel in craftsmanship. Long hours alone cutting, sewing, pasting and painting suited me. When I wasn’t working with my hands, I was wandering around in the woods digging in the dirt. My bedroom was my studio, the great outdoors my muse.
My family summered at the Jersey shore. Clamming, crabbing, and generally living on the beach built awe and respect for weather, tides, and seasonal migrations. Preparing our catch for dinner was a big part of the joyous process. Eating was a lively family and friends affair!
My free spirit was set loose when I headed off into the world for college. At the University of Colorado I found my life long mentor, Betty Woodman, who was extremely demanding. In her I saw someone with unbridled artistic curiosity and the confidence to move forward to embrace her personal artistic ambition. She was an artist and a maker, a mother and a wife. Betty represented a professional woman who built a life on her own terms.
Much to my family’s chagrin, I decided to take what had always been an activity of the home and make it my livelihood. My life has followed a path led by curiosity and learning. During my 20’s and 30’s I was a full-time potter living in Vermont, where I still have a summer cabin.
I loved this life as a village potter, but after 8 years I was ready for a new challenge. My son, Dizzy, was born in 1997 and while raising him I spent 23 years teaching ceramics at Penn State University. Working with students increased my respect for the many different ways people live and think. Recently I moved to Seattle with my husband, Tom Farbanish, an artist specializing in blown glass, where we are building studios and starting anew.
Spending time with friends and family, hiking, gardening, cooking meals and, most of all, working in the studio, gives me great pleasure and defines my daily life. Pottery adds community and beauty to my routine. Long hours in the studio allow my seemingly endless curiosity to be realized and inspired anew. Making things is a continuous process of discernment and realization! Working with clay, I am grateful to be able to dig around in the unknown as I confront unforeseen challenges, creating ceramics both unique and unexpected that I hope convey comfort and joy!
Get to know Liz!
How long have you been working with clay?
I have been working with clay for what seems like my entire life. I took my first clay class when I was 15 and have barely taken a hiatus since.
What is your favorite thing about teaching clay?
Clay is an incredibly responsive material. Because of that, it adapts to very different creative impulses. Helping students develop skills that can facilitate their self expression is exciting to me.
When do you feel most inspired?
About half way through constructing a piece is when I am most inspired by the work. At that point an idea is just starting to gel. There is a foundation established which hopefully ennobles many possibilities.
How do you push through creative blocks?
Keep working and thinking. Doubts are good as long as you keep working.
Is there something you’ve wanted to try making that you’ve never made before or haven’t made in a long time?
Earlier today I thought it would be fun to try to make a menagerie of animals!
What is your favorite part of the clay process?
Learning about the history of ceramics has given me a deep multi-cultural foundation of interpretations and inspirations. When I make pottery I pull from this knowledge to explore my own ideas. Stepping into this ceramic lineage gives me a way to better understand the culture I live in and draw from for my own clay work.
What's the most important part of your studio flow?
Finishing work and starting again.
