My Trip to Pittsburgh: Ed's Studio

I spent the past week in Pittsburgh, seeing Joe's hometown. Among the highlights was seeing his dad's studio, which is at an industrial park on the Allegheny. Having seen a couple shows at Garth Clark, and a few pieces at Joe & Gretchen's, I knew what his work was like.

Still, it was interesting to see where he worked (quite an impressive set up of throwing wheels, kilns, a wood shop, a dark room), samples of older pieces, some new pieces, and in many ways, an idea of what it was like for Joe growing up. Ed set up the studio with his last graduate student in the mid 80's.

One of the more amusing stories was that when Ed was setting up the studio, he had a hard time getting the black pigment (one of his signatures) in commercial quantities. The manufacturer didn't want to bother with such a small order, so he finagled a deal for 25 pounds of pigment, thinking it would last a couple years. It turns out that it'll be a life time supply.