“The Wheel Keeps Turning”

Photos and Profile by Kim Koon

In a charming studio nestled into a shady corner of Woodbury, you’ll find ceramics artist, Gwen Copeland, 73, working to the hum of a spinning potter’s wheel with her 12-year-old dog, Dayla, nearby. On nice days, open windows welcome-in cool breezes and fresh air. While she works, soothing background music, or simply the sounds of nature and chirping birds, can be heard mixed in with the low whirring of traffic noises. 

Copeland was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan, and grew up near Chicago. She majored in art at Southern Illinois University where she enrolled in a pottery class which ultimately lit the fire for her love of the craft. While at college, she acquired a huge old pottery wheel that would travel with her through many phases of life. “That wheel must have weighed 600 pounds!”, Copeland said. This is when her on-again, off-again pottery adventure began. 

After college, Copeland put pottery to the side. She still had a need to be creative, so she worked in a print shop, a frame shop and she designed displays. Copeland’s family moved around a lot and eventually found their way to Cannon County after her father opened a business in Whitehouse, TN. She hauled that big old dusty pottery wheel, that she hadn’t used in a few years, with her from Illinois to Tennessee. 

She didn’t know anyone in this area, but shortly after settling in, she couldn’t resist the urge to dust off the wheel and use it again. She found pottery classes in Hendersonville where she met one of her first friends in this area, Arlene Knaak.  “I’m more whole when I’m doing ceramics. I feel the need to be creative and have projects to complete. I needed to pick it back up”.

A few years passed by, and she met her husband. Family and life demanded more time, so she put her pottery on hold once again, but she continued to haul that big, oversized wheel around. During all her life’s changes, and through the birth and rearing of her children, her pottery was put on the back burner and the wheel waited, once again.

In 1989 she began teaching art at Cannon County High School. The potter’s wheel that had been with her a good part of her life made its way to the high school. The students there learned the basics of pottery on that wheel, and other arts, that Copeland so eagerly taught. 

“I loved teaching the kids, they were a joy for the most part.”, Copeland said. “The students at the high school came in with so much talent, and I just enjoyed giving them an outlet to practice and express that talent.”. Copeland retired from teaching in 2016.

“There’s not a lot of super strict rules when making a piece, and it allows me to be creative.”, Copeland said. She starts out with raw clay and weighs it, wedges it (kneads it) to get the air out, makes a ball, and throws it on the wheel to form it. 

“I love the water. I’ve always got my hands in that water when I’m throwing, and they say if you throw 1,000 cups, you might be good. My cups are still not like I want them, but they’re getting there.” Copeland stated.

She knows how much a ball of clay needs to weigh to make each of her projects. After the project is formed, it sets-up to a leather-hard stage, she trims it, and lets it dry more. It is then bisque-fired to get the moisture out. This removes the chemical water, H2O, at this stage. A lot of chemical changes occur, the clay shrinks considerably in the process by 10 to 12%, and the clay becomes a ceramic. Then, beautiful glazes are applied to the pieces, and she fires them again.

One must have a bit of patience in making ceramics. The kiln must cool completely before it is opened, or the pieces will crack or shatter. 

“Sometimes I will fire pieces when I’m going to be out of town. That way, I won’t be tempted to open the kiln before its ready.”, Copeland said. “Every time I open the kiln up, it’s a surprise. It never gets boring. I’ve been let down, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. It’s like Christmas.”

The teacher in her recognizes the need to keep learning. She still attends workshops and classes to gain more knowledge for her craft. She enjoys interacting with others to get ideas and to see personalities reflect in the work they do. 

“You can have a room full of experienced potters making the same thing, and it will all turn out different. Your personality starts to show through your work. We all have our own handwriting, and you can tell my pieces from anyone else’s if you are familiar with my work. It’s more about how it is formed and glazed.”, Copeland said.

Functional wear such as cups, butter dishes, casserole dishes, plates, and citrus juicers, to more exquisite pieces such as garden fairies and sculptures can be found on the table when she shows her work. She primarily sells her pieces when she sets up at the White Oak Craft Fair held at The Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury, and at Acorn Studio owned by Dawna Magliacano in Lascassas, TN. 

“I love it that people buy things to support me when I do shows, because that makes room for me to make more. I like to experiment with different things. Friends will mention something that they would like, and I will try and figure out how to make it.” She once experimented with making a soup bowl that would hold crackers, because a friend wanted it for her husband. The challenge was on. She designed several different styles and shapes. Some worked and some didn’t. 

“One fall, a friend at a book club began talking about the changes of the season. She had mentioned something about “Mother Nature flipping her skirt”, so that gave me the idea to make a mother nature sculpture, and the challenge was to orchestrate the clay to make her skirt look like it was flipping. It is all about the challenge,” Copeland said as she smiled. 

Copeland has lived in Cannon County for 36 years now. After having moved a lot in her youth, and lived in many places, Cannon County must have had a certain charm that made her want to stay. “I love Cannon County, I feel at home here.”, Copeland said. 

As for the big old potter’s wheel that Copeland carried with her most of her life, she put it to the side again when she acquired a newer, more compact wheel. It now resides with her nephew, who has learned to do pottery, and it still works; the wheel keeps turning!