Kerry Brooks

I threw my first pot when I was 26. I was just looking for a hobby, and never dreamed it would lead to becoming a professional potter.  I took my first class at the Ann Arbor Art Association while studying other things at the University of Michigan.  Then I started selling pots about 5 years later, and by 1995 was making a living as a potter.  I was the very worst one in my beginning wheel-throwing class, but I didn’t care because it was great fun and I loved it.  

I moved to Minneapolis in 1993 to begin a graduate program in another field, but took classes at the Northern Clay Center to continue on with my hobby.  It was there, for an intermediate wheel-throwing class, that I made a few tabletop fountains.  They were a big hit with the other students in the class and the classes around us.  So I decided I’d make a few and take them to an art fair to see how they did.  I took 25 fountains and sold them all.  That’s when I knew I was onto something.