Molding experience: Art Escape Pottery Studio students play in the clay

When taking Steve Gordon’s pottery class, be prepared to set aside all worries, ambitions and expectations. Just get lost in the mud.  

Art Escape Pottery Studio is tucked away in the Salish Mountains' foothills. To get there I took a left onto Tally Lake Road, my Toyota Tacoma rattling along a dirt path of dips and bumps. 

The studio, which Gordon opened for lessons and workshops around three years ago, sits behind his home. The cherry-colored wooden walls and corrugated roofing give his studio a calming rustic aura. Dozens of Gordon’s large clay creations are displayed amongst potted plants that spill over the shelves.  

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, I joined a pottery-throwing lesson with a mother and daughter from Maryland who were on vacation in Whitefish for a few weeks. I had gotten there mid-class, but the energy was already high with The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffet playing in the background.    

Gordon also offers workshops on other pottery forms like clay carving and ceramic box making. Studio time is offered for experienced potters as well. 

Four pottery wheels sit in the center of the room accommodating four students at a time. Lessons usually last around three hours, sometimes more, sometimes less, it all depends on what the student wants. 

On this day, student Margaret Blueford recalled doing pottery in middle school, but neither she nor her mother, Bonnie Blueford, touched clay for some time. Both said they came with an open mind and little expectation. This is the norm for most of Gordon’s students who are first time potters looking for an activity outside the typical mountain exploring. 

BEFORE I manned the pottery wheel with them, Gordon gave me a piece of clay to roll around in my hands so I could get familiar with the texture. He assured me that pottery making takes hours and hours of practice, so having any sort of expectation other than having fun would lessen my experience. 

I first learned how to maintain a firm foundation over the wheel. Planting my elbows on my knees I cupped the amorphous mound that Gordon had splatted on the wheel. A pottery wheel is a mechanism powered by a pedal to shape clay. 

Using the sides of my hands, I was told to firmly slap the sides of the clay to stick it to the wheel. Placing light pressure with my foot on the pedal, the wheel spun. Regulating the speed so as not to have my art flung across the room took some getting used to.  

Mistakes are a part of the pottery process, and a part of life, Gordon said. “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not pushing your limits.”  And he was right, so I’d recommend wearing clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.  

Spinning at half speed, I firmly gripped the clay, feeling to the best of my ability that it was centered on the wheel. Once the mound felt centered — which who knows if it was — I used my fingers to create a crater in the middle of the mound. 

It was difficult to accept that I had no idea what I was doing even though Gordon wanted me to invite the feeling.  

“I am not promising anything more than having a good time,” he told me. “This can be incredibly frustrating for people. They’re filled with judgements and self-judgements.” 

Using a wet circular sponge, I used my left hand to press on the inside rim outwards while my right hand guided the outside edge. The shapeless piece of clay began to take the form of a very lumpy, asymmetrical bowl, but a bowl none-the-less.    

Margaret and Bonnie Blueford were just as successful, each of our creations having their own personality. While we can’t walk away with our art, because kilning and preparing takes several weeks, we could walk away with just a bit more pottery experience and a great attitude.  

Both Bluefords appreciated Gordon’s guiding hand but enjoyed the freedom of less structured teaching.  

“You could do your own thing,” Margaret Blueford said. “It wasn’t a strict class.” 

GORDON EMPHASIZED that there is no uniform teaching style. “If you tell me what you need from me, I’m relieved. That’s all I want to give you.” 

“It’s really important to create the space that generates well-being,” Gordon said.   

Looking at his shiny pottery pieces and intricate clay fountains, it might seem as though he’s been molding mud his entire life. His affinity for clay, though, began at 34, around 30 years ago.  

Before Gordon moved to the Flathead Valley in 2018, he lived in Southern California, leaving the nest at 15 years old and settling down next to a babbling brook.   

“For the first time in my life, life was good,” he said.   

Gordon sees himself as a skills person, so he grew up learning many different trades.  

“I’ve gone through like 30 different jobs,” Gordon said. “I tried different things.”  

He eventually became a massage therapist and wanted to make a fountain for his massage room. “I didn’t like the way any of the fountains sounded, and I couldn’t find anything.” 

He searched all around Santa Barbara, California, before meeting a man named Tony, who he said got away selling pottery at a farmer’s market by disguising his art as potted plants. Gordon’s attempts to learn the way of the clay were unsuccessful at first, though.  

“[I] asked Tony to teach me how to throw. He looked at me and he said, ‘No.’”   

Every few weeks, Gordon would ask again and hear the same response.  

At one point Tony bought a house from a dead potter. Gordon said it hadn’t been inhabited in over 20 years and was completely overrun by plant growth. Tony invited him to check out the new digs.  

Knowing this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up; Gordon went along and bought a chainsaw on the way. When he arrived at the house, he saw that it had been overrun by wisteria vines, which adorn lavender pedals that are beautiful "except for when they take over.”  

But this was the perfect opportunity for Gordon, who had prepared himself for the exact situation. Working all day for two days straight, Gordon sawed away at the thick growth. 

After tidying up the area, proud of the work he had done, Tony told Gordon to sit down.  

“I’ll teach you,” Gordon recalled him saying.  

Gordon, whose hands were still bleeding from all the gloveless yard work, agreed to come back after his hands healed. They have been best friends ever since.  

The moral of the story is to always turn toward giving, Gordon said. “[Tony] thought about himself as a good person and a good person wants to give back.”   

Clay fountains are still Gordon’s specialty, and some of his art can be heard in the studio.  

A conversation with Gordon moves from pottery to valuing life and projecting oneself into the future. 

“It’s all very simple: Have some fun, play in the clay, play in the mud,” he says.  

For more information on Art Escape Pottery Studio visit https://artescaperetreat.com/. The studio is open throughout the winter as well.   

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at junderhill@dailyinterlake.com and 758-4407. 

    Steve Gordon works on one of his fountains at Art Escape Pottery Studio on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    One of Steve Gordon's fountain sculptures at Art Escape Pottery Studio on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Steve Gordon dips a leaf sculpture into glaze that will later be incorporated into one of his fountains at his Art Escape Pottery Studio on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    A few of Steve Gordon's fountain sculptures line a window at Art Escape Pottery Studio on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Steve Gordon outside his Art Escape Pottery Studio on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Steve Gordon's glazing workstation inside his Art Escape Pottery Studio on Tuesday, Sept. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider