Faber artist spins two-thirds of her life making pottery

By Erin McGrath

Published: May 21, 2008

Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a bi-weekly series highlighting artists in Nelson County.

For almost 40 years, Nan Rothwell has used her hands to transform lumps of clay into works of art.

“It was a complete, immediate and total addiction and I’ve never gotten over it,” Rothwell said about her interest in making pottery. “Any day when I wake up and all I have to do is make pots, feels like a great day.”

Rothwell, 58, began making pottery at 19 years old after learning about it from a family friend.

“She was a potter and I was one of those house guests from hell,” Rothwell said. “I stayed for six months.”

After attending the Harrow School of Art in England for two years and also working at a pottery factory in Ireland, Rothwell moved to Crozet to make pottery full time.

There, she met her husband Carter, and in 1977 the couple moved to Nelson County. Her studio, a small yellow building situated in Faber along the Rockfish River, was once their home.

“We lived in it temporarily for about six years,” Rothwell said. “And we probably would be living in it still, except that we decided to have kids.”

Now her studio neighbors the Rothwell’s home and another building that houses two pottery kilns and a space for mixing glazes.

Except for clay — Rothwell buys two to three tons of clay a year— she has everything ready to make pottery right at her front door.

Rothwell said she mostly makes functional pieces, including soup bowls, tea kettles, pitchers and lamps.

“That’s what they taught me to do where I went to art school in England and that’s sort of always been my interest,” she said.

But she’s starting to branch out.

“Recently I’ve started doing some sculptures,” Rothwell said. “And then the other thing that’s maybe a little bit less functional is that I’m starting to try and learn to work bigger. Some of my larger pieces are based on function but you’re not going to use them.”

Like a three-foot-tall water pitcher, which is one of her favorite things to make.

“I really enjoy pitchers,” she said. “They’re complex, and they have multiple parts that have to work well together.”

Rothwell also teaches others to make pottery from her studio. She offers workshops for potters and has taught at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

Teaching was also a way Rothwell has been able to prolong her life in clay, she said, since she suffers from osteoarthritis.

“My hands hurt and it’s definitely worse when I work a whole lot,” Rothwell said. She has compensated for that by not using her hands for other things, like gardening.

Rothwell said she’ll continue to make pottery until her “thumbs give out.”

“I think I’m in it for life,” she said. “It’s already been two thirds of my life. It’s always fun.”