Henriette Dresens took a pottery class over 50 years ago. “First time I put my hands on the clay I knew I could do this for the rest of my life.” And that is exactly what she has done. She says that besides her family, working with clay has been a highlight of her 89 years.

Because of Henriette’s love for this medium she decided she wanted to share it with others so 40 years ago she created Potters Place (initially Potters Wiel) in the basement of the Lunenberg Hall in Norwood. Since then the studio has moved four times and has grown substantially to become a cooperative with 28 members and multiple classes with hundreds of students.

From the beginning Henriette was captivated by the responsiveness of the clay, it’s texture, the variety of things you could do with it.

Pottery has taught Henriette to “go with the flow. See whatever starts to happen and then go with that.”

Experimenting was some of the best part of the process for her which also explains her loves of raku firing. Henriette said “I love making fires and enjoyed the challenge of seeing how different glazes used for raku might react to one another.”

She was intrigued by the wheel and developing the skill needed to make beautiful pieces on it. Quickly she became interested in modifying symmetrical wheel thrown shapes using handbuilding techniques. She would “put her own touch on it depending on whatever inspired her in the moment.” Over the years she has made every kind of pot imaginable from dragons, castles and sculptural shapes to bowls, plates and vases of every size.

Henriette’s passion for pottery has had an enormous impact on so many others. Some of her students started as young children and have continued taking classes right into adulthood.

It is hard for us to comprehend but Henriette says that centering and bringing up the sides of clay was one of the hardest things she had to learn. But she was focused and persistent, playing with the clay until she was really good at all things related to wheel throwing. She came to love glazing as well with a creamy yellowish brown glaze called CS as her favorite. Her approach was to “start with whatever glazes we had and then try them out.”

Henriette says that pottery “has taught her to go with the flow. See whatever starts to happen and then I’ll go with that.” Many of the current members have taken classes from Henriette where she taught us to establish that kind of relationship with the clay. She reminded us there were no mistakes, no imperfections. Everything was beautiful and sometimes the unintended surprises were the best pots of all.