Mark Carter     Cloudcroft, NM

Since Mark first had the opportunity to use a pottery wheel during middle school in Iowa, he has been fascinated with the idea of taking a lump of clay, and with only his hands, turning it into something very different. Mark was able to follow his dream to create pottery after receiving instruction from a visiting artist while working at the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Alamogordo.

Then, while in Greeley, Colorado, he took the opportunity to further his pottery skills by taking ceramics classes at the University of Northern Colorado. Throwing pots provides a respite from his vocation as an educator and also provides an outlet for his creative side.

Mark has been making pottery for more than 30 years, and he currently creates and fires functional stoneware and porcelain pottery in an electric kiln. Mark also finds joy in allowing the flames and materials placed in his wood-fired kiln to decorate earthenware pottery.