As a young person growing up in Hesston, Kansas, Lynn thought he would  become a builder --  not a potter.  Attending Hesston College after high school he took a break for a year and worked as a ceramic lab assistant in a Junior College working with Paul Freisen and Bob Regier.  They put a lot of pressure on me to go back to school and finish a degree.  I picked Goshen because they had a good Soccer Team.  By now I had realized that athletics were also a very important part of my life.  I loved Soccer and I still do.  I play, my kids play, I coach and I coach coaches.  I have trained people all over the area.  So due to Paul, Bob, and soccer I ended up with getting my Art degree in 1978.

Between Lynn’s Sophomore and Junior college years, Lynn worked as a lab assistant in a Junior College working with Paul Freisen and Bob Regier.  They put a lot of pressure on him to go back to school and finish a degree so he said,   “I picked Goshen because they had a good Soccer Team.  By now I had realized that Athletics were also a very important part of my life.  I loved Soccer and I still do.  I play, my kids play, I coach and I coach coaches.  I have trained people all over the area.  So due to Paul, Bob, and soccer I ended up with getting my Art degree.

Upon graduating from Goshen, Lynn decided he wanted to go to Europe and accepted a six month position in Belgium making pottery and working as an apprentice/journey-man.  The six months quickly turned into nine months which Lynn turned pots in several different locations in Belgium and in Switzerland.  The original six months somehow became three years before he returned home.

“Finally, I realized clay now had become a major part of my life and I wanted to become as proficient and as knowledgeable of the field as I could.”  While working with Jean DeCrusadz in Switzerland, Lynn spent long days and many hours not only throwing pots for DeCrusadz, but observing and working to refine his own throwing and decorating skills.  For endless hours he watched and then devoted himself to perfecting the techniques that seemed to flow so easily from DeCrusadz’s hands and brush.  What seemed so easy to his mentor proved extremely challenging to Lynn.  He admired DeCrusadz’s work so very much he was determined to develop a series of decorative brush techniques that would become a part of his own clay decorating vocabulary.

Shortly after his return from Europe a former professor of Lynn’s told him that Penn Alps was looking for a potter.  Lynn came to spend five months at Penn Alps making enough pots to last for the summer tourist season.  He worked out of the basement of one of the original log cabins.  “Then I went to Colorado to ski for the winter.  While there I decided that it was a great place for skiing, but I did not want to make it my home.  Penn Alps invited him to return as a full time resident potter.  A very special young woman provided an addition incentive for his return to this area.  “Jan lived in Syracuse and that is 7 ½ hours from Penn Alps, but was a lot closer than Kansas.  So the first year I was here I would work straight through until Friday evening.  When I got off work I would drive to Syracuse, spend Saturday and Sunday and early Monday morning I would drive back down here, work another fourteen days or whatever and turn around and do it again.  Every other weekend I spent up there.  It all worked out!”

The artisan village is a collection of twelve log and frame structures of early vintage, one of which dates to the Revolutionary War period.  With the exception of an old house and a school building all have been adapted to fit the needs of a particular craftsperson.  Each artist has created the space their particular cabin to fulfill his or her requirements.  As a community of craftspeople they free to create work they wish to produce and know they will have a ready market for their completed items.  Some of their work goes to the main gift shop, but the craftspeople make many sales within their particular cabins. As Lynn talked further about this group of gifted people, he said “we meet for lunch almost every day either under the trees in the summer or around the woodstove in the wood carver Gary Yoder’s cabin during the winter.  We all are so grateful every day for the opportunity to work in this environment.  We help each other with problems and we all have a sense of belonging.  Our common goal is to create to  a unique product of outstanding quality and have the opportunity to market it in our cabins as well as in the gift shop.  In regards to our working situations we feel safe and all of us feel we are a part of a legacy that will continue within this village environment.”

As Lynn continued our tour of this unique pottery he said “I fell in love with this place and after twenty some years I still feel so lucky every day when I come to the studio.” The 1800’s original inn along the Pike is now a delightful showroom filled with pitchers, bowls, plates, cups, planters, and vases all created by Lynn. As he related some of the history of the cabin, he asked if I had noticed the two doors. He said a traveler would enter one door if he wanted to imbibe in alcoholic beverages and the other door was for those not desiring such refreshment.  When he first came to work in the cabin it was in dire need of restoration.  Reconstruction of the cabin using the original logs has resulted in a wonderful place to display the fine pots created by the resident potter. 

As Lynn continued our tour of this unique pottery, he said “I fell in love with this place and after twenty some years I still feel so lucky every day when I come to the studio.”  Making pots in the basement of the original cabin became quite a chore for Lynn, as he said “I am rather tall and the old basement was not.” Eventually he added on to the original building creating a workspace that is light, comfortable and very convenient.

When he first started working in his newly created space he had arranged his workshop to look out the large windows in the rear of the building where he could view the woods,

and enjoy the river, the greenery and the famed old bridge.  But after the first three days he knew that arrangement was not going to work.  Many visitors to the show room had questions regarding the work or wanted to watch for a few moments as he threw a pot or decorated pieces.  So he rearranged his work are where he is in view of his visitors and can continue to work and respond to their questions.  He has arranged his wheel, decorating materials and all within easy reach.  He does not stop or change his daily work if visitors request him to throw a pot.  If that is the work of the day so be it, but if he is glazing or loading the kiln that is what we will continue doing.

Turning to the subject of his work schedule, I asked how he managed to get so much work done with visitors coming and going.  He said, I just look around the showroom and note the pieces that need to be replenished.  I know how many large pieces would fit into the kiln, how many smaller items it will take to fit a particular area, and what pieces I will need to fill the kiln.  When I asked if the Penna Alps gift shop were his only outlet, he replied they were, but he does have one wholesale outlet.  “Occasionally I do an exhibition of work in a Museum or a Gallery in other parts of the country as this gets my work out for others to see.”  Lynn continued saying “Most of my regular customers

started as visitors to the community, and now many come at least once a year to augment their growing collections of my work.”

During a phone call that interrupted our conversation I had the opportunity to circle the showroom and noted that a large pitcher which caught my eye upon my arrival was still on the shelf where I had first spotted it.  With an iron oxide glaze sprayed on the top portion of the form, the gray of the stoneware clay was untouched at the bottom except allowing the mist of over spray to create a toasty orange brushed rim.  A large, but beautifully proportion cobalt oxide pattern decorated each side of the pitcher.  It was certainly going to have to go home with me without a doubt. 

Going back to the studio I returned to my list of questions and asked Lynn how he became acquainted with clay. He was thoughtful for a few seconds and then replied, “I fell into clay, Phyllis, but it was not my first thing.  I don’t know!  At school I was still planning on building houses for a living.  When I was in college my major like that of Mark Nafziger, was Mathematics and the Natural Sciences.  It soon became apparent to me that everyone in my class were either pre-med students or geeks.  I wasn’t pre-med and I didn’t want to be a geek!  So I decided to take a clay course my sophomore year just for fun.  I liked it and fell in love with working in clay.  I just wanted to keep throwing pots and throwing pots. 

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As we continued our conversation about the community, small bottle forms were decorated with slip decorations with both brush and syringe.  As he worked on these pieces he said he uses an oxide over glaze as an alternate technique and strives to limit his choices before he starts decorating.  Sometimes he needs to add a bit of glycerin to aid in the brush work.  I told him I have a favorite piece of his work in my collection, mentioning a lovely square platter with intricate brush work.  He said that those are individual pieces that he works on when no one is around. I asked where and how he achieved such delightful and intricate brush work.  He replied that Jean DeCrusadz had guided and encouraged him as he worked to achieve this goal.  As we talked his mastery of his favorite decorative techniques became very apparent.  Over the years Lynn has developed the ability to carry on thoughtful conversations as he continues to decorate piece after piece.  This particular day he was preparing them for a bisque firing.  He noted that “I know exactly how many of this particular form to throw every cycle because they will fill certain places in the kiln that would be wasted space otherwise and they are always needed in the showroom.”

I asked him if any contemporary potters influenced his work.  He replied, “yes, Royce Yoder, Dick Lehman, Mark Nafziger and Brian VanNostrand are potters I admire and whom have contributed either technical support or inspired various aesthetic considerations.  I consider them both as peers and friends.”

Moving on to materials, Lynn said he uses a commercial stoneware clay body that he can relay on to be consistent for his work.  For him, he felt the time required to mix large amounts of clay was time he could put to better use making the pieces required to fill the kiln and to stock the show room. Since he is the sole source of support for his family, and is not particularly interested in creating his own clay body, t is more important to to create work than it is in making clay.  It is much less time consuming to place an order and have it delivered within a days which there by frees him to continue to make pots to fee the hungry kiln and keep the showroom full.  As he continued decorating, acknowledging and speaking to showroom visitors, he continued our conversation by saying he does not use a large palette – he only uses six glazes, three oxide washes, for over glaze brush work.

The patterning designs that so handsomely adorn many of Lynn’s works are an important feature of each object.  Lynn chooses to dip and/or spray most of his pieces. A collection of cups and saucers, bowls, and plates of various sizes, in a deep glossy but warm black glaze, decorated with iron oxide designs, were eye catching items. These pieces would be appropriate in a very contemporary residence or equally at home in a cozy country kitchen.  Their subtlety is irresistible to both the eye and the hand. With the cups filled with hot cocoa and the small bowls brimming with fruit, these pieces would surely get any day off to a great start.  As I circled the showroom the first time, a large pitcher had attracted me.  With an iron oxide glaze sprayed on the top portion of the form, the grey of the stoneware clay was untouched at the bottom except allowing the mist of over spray to create a toasty  orange brushed rim.  A large, but beautifully proportioned cobalt oxide pattern decorated each side of the pitcher.  Having had taken my eye as soon as I had entered the showroom, but I tried to ignore fine piece. All afternoon, I tired, but it was just so handsome it had to follow me home.  How wonderful it will be full of ice tea, lemonade or summer flowers for a supper party on my deck.

As I continued around the showroom, some two piece planters delighted me.  Each was as carefully crafted and decorated as if they were created to adorn a fine table.  While the exterior and upper part of the interiors were carefully glazed by this potter/gardener, the lower interiors of the vessels were unglazed so the plants would thrive in a perfect container.

Returning to the studio, Lynn spoke of his gas fired propane gas fired car kiln.  It is housed in a separate area adjacent to his work area.  Designed so Lynn can fire and continue working or taking care of customers at the same time. He bisques all of his work to cone 09 prior to glazing and knows it will take 120 hours of making pots to fill this, the fifth kiln that he has built.  Each year Lynn fires twenty two to twenty three times.  His modified Minnesota flat top car kiln does not have the door fastened to the floor as in conventional car kilns, but is on hinges.   His kiln is so regular that he knows almost exactly to the minute what is required at each particular step during the firing process.  Using a moderate flame throughout the firing he reduces the kiln at 1400 degrees and soaks it carefully for an extended period to achieve the consistent glaze results he desires.  He knows his kiln so well that he can walk away from it and know exactly what it will be doing and come back to it at just the right moment for the next step in the firing process.  As he continued talking about the kiln he said an average glaze firing would hold about  two hundred twenty pieces of work.

As a one person operation, Lynn is a man with many hats.  If he needs to fix something, he is Mr. Fix it.  If the floor needs cleaning he is the custodian.  If pots need to be thrown, cleaned, decorated and glazed, he is the potter.  Lynn not only loads the kiln himself he is also the person that  fires the kiln.  When customers want to purchase pots, guess who is the sales representative and package wrapper.  Bookkeeper and banker, yes—he wears a number of hats and does so seemly with ease.  He is truly a one person business with no lackies or help in his business.

As he finished up his quota of small bottles for the day, I asked him about people that had contributed in some way to his work or had been an inspiration to him.  He mentioned well known potters from both the United States as well as Jean Claude DeCrusadz in Switzerland, with whom he had spent many hours watching this talented man decorate marvelous pieces.  He also mentioned the many hours he had spent in museums in Belgium, France, Italy, and Switzerland, and had been privileged to see many private collections.  He went on to say that he drew significantly from an ancestral background in the Alsace and from folk art traditions in Northern Europe for pattern, form, and glazes.  He also enjoys the work of his contemporary fellow potters and friends such as Mark Nafziger, Brian Van Nostrand, Cary Hulin, and Dick Lehman and they enjoy sharing information and experiences with one another.

As we continued our conversation, we spoke of other potters and the influence of others he respected.  Lynn said he wanted to tell me about his parents and how they had taught him the essentials of being a successful potter.  He went on to list the following: 1) the value of hard work, 2) always do the best that you can and try to improve, 3) spend less than you take in, 4) be frugal and do without until you can afford it, 5) be honest in all you do, 6) don’t let someone else dictate the definition of success, 7) and accept the things you cannot change, change those you can and pray that you know the difference between the two, and 8)strive for contentment regardless of your situation in life.  Lynn said his father was a superb craftsman and brilliant problem solver and valued fine craftsmanship, as did his first professor, Paul Friesen and his first design professor Bob Reiger.  Lynn went on to say that he has been researching Norwegian folk art and has found it a new source of inspiration for his work.  He continues by saying he also studies the patterning found in our own Early American traditional salt glaze stoneware pieces and he has always been drawn to simple cobalt patterns drawn on simple highly functional unpretentious forms. 

In the studio, Lynn is always in constant motion and this does not seem to change when he leaves this charming village environment.  He enjoys his drive home along a wooded country road by a winding river filled with huge rocks and great fish.  Both are an invitation to stop a bit to fish or just to enjoy this very special place.  Upon arrival at his home, Lynn the potter, became Lynn the builder.  He hastened to inform me that it was still a work in progress and while he and Jan, the family organizer, designed their home with lots of windows, one felt as if one were still out doors and loving it.  The gardens surrounding the house, plantings here and there about the yard, and plants on the deck are all inviting and the perfect touch for the home of this busy and creative family.