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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ART FAIR

Ann Arbor sculptor, 

Royce Dubrow 
practices craft

By MATTHEW BARNAUSKAS

Daily Arts Writer

Sometimes it takes a little while 

to act on a fascination. Such is the 
case for local potter and sculptor 
Royce Disbrow who took time out of 
his preparations for the Ann Arbor 
Art Fair to participate in a phone 
interview.

“As a little kid there was a woman 

on TV who used to throw pots on 
some television show and I thought 
it looked like magic,” Disbrow said, 
“Then when my wife and I got mar-
ried there was an adult ed. class on 
pottery and we took it together. I 
was able to throw pots and my wife 
was a fabulous glazer. That’s what 

we did for a little while and my wife 
got pregnant and said, ‘I’m done,’ 
and I continued. That was in the 
’60s.”

Despite his delayed entry into 

the artistic field, Disbrow has been 
creating pottery for more than 40 
years and is a member of the Pot-
ters Guild, a non-profit organization 
operating in Ann Arbor.

“There have been some pretty 

incredible members of The Potters 
Guild and I’ve learned from all of 
them,” Disbrow said. “We go back 
of course to J.T. Abernathy who’s 
been at every art fair in Ann Arbor 
for the last 50-plus years. Bobbi Ste-
vens who was also very active in the 
Potters Guild and was on the board 
of directors of the Street Fair for 
many years. People like that all have 
an influence and yet it’s remarkable 
how our work is all so different from 
each other’s.”

Disbrow 
focused 
mainly 
on 

sculptural work as he outlined his 
artistic process.

“It all starts in your head of 

course. You get an idea for a pot or a 
design or something like that. Then 
you spend a few days to a few weeks 
working on prototypes and testing 
glazes to see what you end up with.” 
Disbrow said. “It takes many left 
turns in that process and so what 
you think you’re going to do when 
you start out usually isn’t what you 
end up with; usually it’s much bet-
ter.”

One left turn happened two years 

ago when Disbrow was working on 
eight-inch Queen Anne style chairs. 
When the pieces were fired, the legs 
began to warp and come up. Dis-
brow embraced the result and called 
the pieces Queen Anne Dancing 
Chairs, writing poems on the bot-
tom of the sculptures to reflect their 
new form.

Along with his ability to adapt 

and change his pieces, Disbrow 
practices his craft with a striking 
mix of storytelling and self-enforced 
efficiency.

“A lot of times as I’m making my 

pots, I make up stories and some-
times history for my own entertain-
ment as I’m working,” Disbrow said.

Along with giving each piece 

a unique tale, Disbrow, a former 
middle 
school 
history 
teacher, 

approaches his craft at times like a 
game, timing himself and empha-
sizing proficiency in creating his art.

“It goes back again to my child-

hood when I read a book called 
‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ and the 
parents were efficiency experts so 
they would time their kids, every-
thing they did, getting ready for 
school or driving someplace. And so 
everything became trying to make 
everything more efficient,” Disbrow 
said. “So as I’m throwing a pot or 
extruding a pot, I time it to see how 

many I can make in an hour or how 
many minutes it takes to make one 
and just try and get more and more 
efficient and sparring in my move-
ments.”

This effectiveness in production 

is more than useful for Disbrow, 
who’s been working nearly everyday 
since January in order to prepare 
for the Art Fair. In that time he has 
created around 400 pieces that will 
be displayed and available for pur-
chase.

Among these sculptures are Dis-

brow’s towers, several of which are 
miniature representation of Ann 
Arbor landmarks. The pieces have 
a standout surreal quality to them 
while maintaining the iconography 
of their larger inspirations, which 
include the University’s Law Quad, 
Engineering 
Arch 
and 
Burton 

Artist Profile: Royce Disbrow, potter par excellence

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

