Guy Wolff Pottery
He has been hailed by everyone from Martha Stewart to The New York Times to every major design magazine for his beautiful and unique pottery. In his studio in Bantam he has created pots of every shape and size – and to see them is to want to own them. He isn’t simply making pots, he is making history. And his work is known and coveted by anyone who takes an interest in gardening or wants to have beautiful pots in their home.
Wolff grew up in Litchfield and from the onset he was surrounded by artists and creativity. His father, Robert Jay Wolff, was an abstract expressionist painter and professor of art. His parents were friends of Alexander and Louis Calder and as a child he spent a great deal of time at their house. His uncle was the modernist architect Marcel Breuer. “It was a pretty amazing household in which to grow up,” he said.
But Wolff never planned to be a potter. “I went off to a small art high school in New Hampshire and it had a really great pottery department. I didn’t think I would go into it, but the teacher was so good that after four years I was hooked.”
He learned as much as he could about pots of every kind, going all the way back to 1630, which he studied at the Ewenny pottery village in Wales.
“You can’t copy old antique pots, but you can spend a lifetime understanding why they are good and then try to make something nice for the same reasons.” And that is what he has been doing since 1966; he opened his shop in Bantam in 1971.
“I started out making pots people would give as gifts. Then I got adopted by the garden world and that took off quickly.”
Soon everyone was clamoring for Guy Wolff pierces. Martha Stewart even gave one to Oprah as a gift and, as they say, the rest is history. Last year he did a major project with The Met, celebrating the anniversary of The Cloisters. He is now working with the Gardner Museum in Boston. He has done major collections of pottery for the likes of Smith & Hawken and Restoration Hardware.
His studio and shop are always open and people stop their cars and come in. Invariably they leave with a piece of pottery and a piece of Wolff’s own history.
“I get inspired by the first thing that hits me,” Wolff said. “I may find something that someone else might not notice. When I did work for Steve Jobs, the roof line of his house and a specific and unique line to it and I used that line as the side view of each of the pots.”
His work is coveted by everyone who experiences the pleasure of seeing it and touching it. He has encouraged beginners and worked to train others to follow his lead, including his son.
“Ben worked with me for eight years and is now in Goshen making his own great pots and being very successful,” Wolff said.
Wolff is now gearing up for the coming season and is creating stock for spring. He will, however, take time off to fulfill his other love – music. He has been playing the claw hammer banjo for forty-five years.
“It’s very obscure music and not to everyone’s taste, but I love it and it takes up at least an hour of my day.” And, should one visit his website, www.guywolff.com, not only will you find pots but also his music. A double treat.
Wolff will be giving a pot throwing presentation at the Sharon Town Hall with a reception and pot sale following at the Hotchkiss Library from 4PM-6PM on Sunday, 16 March.
