| This article appeared in the Chattanooga Times Free PreThis article appeared in the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Sunday, March 3, 2002. |
| Functional Stoneware – By Ann Nichols, Arts Writer |
Potter Mark Issenberg, owner of Lookout Mountain Pottery Mr. Issenberg uses Highwater stoneware clay that he glazes with a combination of 50 percent ash and 50 percent red clay to achieve a natural appearance. He fires his vessels in a gas kiln and looks forward to the moment the firing is completed so he can open the door. “It’s just like being 5 years old on Christmas morning again,” he said. “I never know what I’m going to find.” | When he’s not hiking at Cloudland Canyon, caring for plants at the Tennessee Aquarium or scouting for red antique Farmall tractors to add to his collection, Mark Issenberg can be found at a potter’s wheel in his Rising Fawn, Ga., studio. For the past 35 years, the former fireman who also ran a plant nursery has been working with clay to create high-fired, ash-glazed functional stoneware. Beginning Tuesday, visitors to the Association for Visual Artists Gallery will have an opportunity to view an exhibit of Mr. Issenberg’s vessels, platters and saki sets. His show, “Ash Glazes from Lookout Mountain,” is composed of pieces that support the artist’s esthetic belief that “functional ware should look good and work well.” He explained, “I want people to use my platters, bowls and vases — that is a true compliment,” he said. “As my friend Prentice Hicks says, ’I don’t make dust collectors.’” Mr. Issenberg grew up in Miami, Fla., where a high school art class introduced him to clay. He was hooked instantly. “As soon as I graduated in 1968, I came to Rising Fawn to study with Charles Counts,” he said. “He changed my life, and I learned everything I know about clay from him.” Mr. Issenberg returned home to Florida and received his fine arts degree from the University of South Florida. But making a living with art can be difficult so he supported himself by working as a fireman for the next 18 years. When a debilitating stroke forced him to retire in his 30s, he launched into what he refers to as a “varied career.” At the age of 45, though, he decided to become a full-time potter and move back to Chattanooga. He settled in Rising Fawn — where it all began 35 years earlier. |