A brief history of Neil estrick in regards to pottery
I had my first experience with a potter's wheel in 7th grade, at Brentwood Middle School in Greeley, Colorado. We had one wheel in the art classroom, and I got to try it one day. I made a wide, short, heavy, glorious pot that my parents still have in their possession. Last I saw, my mom keeps it in a cabinet in the laundry room where it holds miscellaneous junk like rubber bands and paper clips. It's one of the only early pieces of mine that I'm glad they've kept.
I didn't make another pot on the wheel until 1992, during my junior year of college at the University of Northern Colorado, still in Greeley. I had tried to escape from my home town, as all teenagers are wont to do, by attending college in Denver at Regis College. I enrolled in the math program, with an exciting career as an insurance actuary in my future. I quickly realized that it would be the dullest 4 years of college ever, and ended up switching majors and moving back to Greeley. UNC had a great art department, and I enrolled in the Graphic Arts program, which I figured would give me the best chance of getting a paying job as an artist.
In order to fulfill one of the elective requirements in the art department, I signed up for the beginning ceramics class, with fond memories of my 7th grade clay experience dancing in my head. I was immediately hooked, and had to quickly come to terms with the fact that I liked ceramics way more than graphic design. I was very concerned about my future, as there aren't a lot of jobs for potters (shocking, I know), and was even more troubled about the mental health of my parents, who were already reeling from my decision to abandon my actuarial ambitions. After several long conversations with my ceramics professor during which he tried to ease my fears about earning potential and financial stability, he finally said the words that would seal the deal:
"If you are passionate about it, you'll make it work. Boom."
Okay, he didn't say "Boom", but I definitely heard it in my head and felt it in my soul. I switched majors again, left my parents a message on their answering machine, and became a potter.
Editor's note: Neil Estrick holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art, with an emphasis in ceramics and photography, from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Utah State University. He has been making pottery since 1992, and specializes in wheel thrown porcelain. Neil was born and raised in Colorado, but currently resides in Grayslake, IL with his wife, a veterinarian, and his two sons.
Since 2004 he has been the owner of Neil Estrick Gallery, LLC, in Grayslake, IL. In addition to being a working studio and gallery, the business has a large classroom studio space where Neil holds pottery classes for kids and adults. He also offers workshops for teachers, sells kilns and other pottery equipment, and repairs pottery kilns and wheels in the Chicago-Milwaukee area.
I didn't make another pot on the wheel until 1992, during my junior year of college at the University of Northern Colorado, still in Greeley. I had tried to escape from my home town, as all teenagers are wont to do, by attending college in Denver at Regis College. I enrolled in the math program, with an exciting career as an insurance actuary in my future. I quickly realized that it would be the dullest 4 years of college ever, and ended up switching majors and moving back to Greeley. UNC had a great art department, and I enrolled in the Graphic Arts program, which I figured would give me the best chance of getting a paying job as an artist.
In order to fulfill one of the elective requirements in the art department, I signed up for the beginning ceramics class, with fond memories of my 7th grade clay experience dancing in my head. I was immediately hooked, and had to quickly come to terms with the fact that I liked ceramics way more than graphic design. I was very concerned about my future, as there aren't a lot of jobs for potters (shocking, I know), and was even more troubled about the mental health of my parents, who were already reeling from my decision to abandon my actuarial ambitions. After several long conversations with my ceramics professor during which he tried to ease my fears about earning potential and financial stability, he finally said the words that would seal the deal:
"If you are passionate about it, you'll make it work. Boom."
Okay, he didn't say "Boom", but I definitely heard it in my head and felt it in my soul. I switched majors again, left my parents a message on their answering machine, and became a potter.
Editor's note: Neil Estrick holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art, with an emphasis in ceramics and photography, from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Utah State University. He has been making pottery since 1992, and specializes in wheel thrown porcelain. Neil was born and raised in Colorado, but currently resides in Grayslake, IL with his wife, a veterinarian, and his two sons.
Since 2004 he has been the owner of Neil Estrick Gallery, LLC, in Grayslake, IL. In addition to being a working studio and gallery, the business has a large classroom studio space where Neil holds pottery classes for kids and adults. He also offers workshops for teachers, sells kilns and other pottery equipment, and repairs pottery kilns and wheels in the Chicago-Milwaukee area.