Kiln Creations

The sign on the door simply reads, "Welcome to Barb Lund's pottery studio. Hours by chance or appointment." \nAfter walking past the clever sign and through the door one is surrounded by shelves of pottery full of rich color. Porcelain pots with swirling colors reminiscent of Van Gogh's paintings fill the top shelf; dinnerware pottery that glows of deep blues, greens and turquoise fill the shelves below. \nBarb Lund strolls through her studio with a smile on her face. \n"Always so many things going on," she said. "It's constant. It's several cycles at one time."\nLund is a local potter who began her career by taking pottery classes through the IU Campus Community Art Center. The many stages of her craft are evident upon examining her studio. The finished products form a sea of color against the inside wall of the studio. Walking into the next room are more selves, full of pottery that Lund will pack for her upcoming show. \nThe final room of the studio is where the magic happens. With speakers covered to protect them from the dust and debris of the clay, Lund listens to books on tape and bluegrass music while she remixes the clay, measures it, throws it, forms it and glazes it. \nThe pottery wheel sits in the corner. The shelves in this room are filled with tubs, all neatly labeled with the various colors of glazes they contain. \n"Things have to be done in a certain order," Lund said nonchalantly. "I don't think abstract is in my nature. I'm a down-to-earth practical person."\nOn the floor of her studio, tubs are full of clay scraps that will be reused. Most of the pottery she creates is dinnerware; most of her pottery is functional. \nLund's career in pottery began because she had a friend who was a potter and thus decided to take classes. She started with the Campus Community Art Center at IU.\n"The night after my first class I thought, this is what I want to do and here I am 18 years later," Lund said. "I had a wonderful first teacher, I wish I knew where she was, she was an excellent teacher."\nLund continued her pottery by enrolling in two semesters of classes through the School of Fine Arts ceramics department. \n"I was at a time in my life when I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do," she said.\nHer son Anders, a senior, said it is evident that his mother found a passion for pottery that she continues to the present. \n"She's happy with what she does and she's proud of what she does; she wants to share that with as many people as she can," Anders Lund said.\nLund's daughter Sarah agrees with her brother. She said her mother has grown so much happier since developing her artistic skills.\n"Before she could do this full time, she drove a paper route and had to get up at 3 a.m. every day," Sarah Lund said. "She's so much happier now, but I think it can also be difficult, because my mom is such a social person, and the life of an artist is fairly solitary. She is alone pretty much all day, so there isn't really anyone for her to talk to. when she finally does get around other people, you can't shut her up."\nLund takes her friendly disposition with her when she goes to shows around the country selling her art. At each show she puts up a 10' by 10' canopy that she describes as building and tearing down a store in two days. To enter the shows she has to send slides of her work and pay jury and entry fees. In addition to admiring the work of her peers, she also enjoys people watching at art fairs. \nTo travel to the various shows, she makes the trip in her van, which is more like a truck. The trailer portion has shelves that enable her to transport her pottery and a bed in case she needs a place a stay. Upon setting up her display at art fairs, Lund has discovered her best-selling pots are earring holders. \n"I sold 72 at the last show, and I have probably made over 2,000," Lund said. \nAnother top seller are baby pots, which are tiny pots that are about 4 inch mini-versions of her larger pots. \n"Of course, the small, cheaper pots are the best sellers," Lund said, laughing. \nNina Ost, customer and friend, said she not only admires the aesthetic beauty of Lund's work, but also the functional quality of her art.\n"You'll like having (Lund's pottery)," Ost said. "It fits, it's friendly. I use it a lot." \nThough Lund said she enjoys traveling to various art shows, making the trek is sometimes taxing. She has found that her worst enemy at an art fair is the wind. She vividly remembers a show in Madison, Wisc. in which after a very windy night she discovered that she was one of only three booths left standing. She had to park her van in front of the canopy to block the wind while she hung on inside the tent. \nBesides pottery, Lund keeps busy with her tomato plants, flower garden and traveling every spring. \n"I've started taking two vacations a year," Lund said, who works seven days a week. She loves being self-employed and could never work for anyone again. "I run everything, from the paperwork to the production...In a lot of ways it's an ideal life."\nLund's children describe her as hardworking, creative and generous.\n"She's very passionate about the work she does, her life is sort of her work, she works at home, so she brings that home," said Anders. "There is a caring and generosity about her that is very special, she's not going to brag about it, but that's the dimension about her that people who know her get to see."\nLund is having a Holiday Season Pottery Open House from 3 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 and from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 14. Her studio is located at 520 W. Sixth St., four blocks west of downtown, one block past Rogers St. between Sixth and Seventh streets.