lookout point
Peggy Eberwein is shown with some of her wares she sells at summertime arts and crafts shows in the U.P.
POTTERY PEG
Surgery helped artist overcome severe arthritis, return to wheel Story and photos by Deborah K. Frontiera
W
hen one is a vendor at art and craft shows all over the U.P., one meets a lot of interesting artists. Peggy Eberwein is one of those people. She and her husband lived much of their careers in Texas, but Peggy migrates to the North Country every summer to stay in a cabin built by her grandfather, becoming an “honorary Yooper.” Peg’s interest in pottery began while working with intellectually disabled students at a state school in San Antonio, where kids did ceramics with molds. She got the idea to mix clay and have the students work with that. The students would often mix the glazes—dip from one color into another without letting it dry—and end up with a “mish-mosh” of colors, but the results were pretty interesting.
38
Marquette Monthly
November 2021
She took some of the pieces to sell at a Starving Artists Festival where she met a potter and decided she wanted to try that. She and her husband took pottery production classes at San Antonio College. In just two weeks, they were hooked, spending nights and weekends for four years honing their art, much of it through trial and error. Their instructors would often respond to questions about wheelthrowing, hand building, or what kind of glaze to use with, “Try it and see.” That was back in 1986. If at that time someone had told Peg that she would make a living with pottery, she would have said they were crazy, figuring it would only be a hobby. When they went to their first show on their own, they made $110 and thought, “Wow!” Starting small, they continued
