After graduating from Concordia
University, Lyndsay Rae Meiklem
began learning pottery in a small
gallery in Montreal, Quebec. For the
next two years she honed her skills in
addition to teaching beginners classes
and participating in gallery
shows/sales. Meiklem spent the
summers of 2000 and 2001 teaching
pottery to children at Camp Laurel
South in Casco, Maine. Upon moving
home to Connecticut in December of
2000, she established Meiklem Kiln
Works. After years of planning and
dreaming, the teaching studio became
a reality in the summer of 2002 when
Meiklem Kiln Works opened a small
700 square ft. teaching studio in
Yantic, CT. In September 2006 the
studio moved to a new location in
Bozrah, CT with 2,400 square ft.
Meiklem Kiln Works offers classes to
the public and produces functional
stoneware pottery with various
earth-toned glazes.
University, Lyndsay Rae Meiklem
began learning pottery in a small
gallery in Montreal, Quebec. For the
next two years she honed her skills in
addition to teaching beginners classes
and participating in gallery
shows/sales. Meiklem spent the
summers of 2000 and 2001 teaching
pottery to children at Camp Laurel
South in Casco, Maine. Upon moving
home to Connecticut in December of
2000, she established Meiklem Kiln
Works. After years of planning and
dreaming, the teaching studio became
a reality in the summer of 2002 when
Meiklem Kiln Works opened a small
700 square ft. teaching studio in
Yantic, CT. In September 2006 the
studio moved to a new location in
Bozrah, CT with 2,400 square ft.
Meiklem Kiln Works offers classes to
the public and produces functional
stoneware pottery with various
earth-toned glazes.
Artist's Statement
Meiklem Kiln Works became a dream of
mine from the first moment I sat down
with a piece of clay at a pottery wheel
and tried to throw my first pot. I had
little to no instruction other than a quick
demonstration and my relationship with
clay began. It took me nearly the entire
three hour class to learn the idea
behind 'centering' clay . The muscles in
my upper body ached, my lower back
felt numb from leaning over the wheel,
clay mud covered my hands and arms,
but I fell in love anyway.
Meiklem Kiln Works became a dream of
mine from the first moment I sat down
with a piece of clay at a pottery wheel
and tried to throw my first pot. I had
little to no instruction other than a quick
demonstration and my relationship with
clay began. It took me nearly the entire
three hour class to learn the idea
behind 'centering' clay . The muscles in
my upper body ached, my lower back
felt numb from leaning over the wheel,
clay mud covered my hands and arms,
but I fell in love anyway.
The pottery studio overlooked one of the main streets in the city of Montreal
where I was living at the time and as soon as I sat at the wheel, the noise of the
city and the cramped quarters of the busy studio disappeared. Although I had
been taking yoga classes that touched on meditation at that point, I truly
understood meditation from my perspective at the pottery wheel. Working with
clay became an obsession and a need rather than a simple hobby to learn. I
spent nearly every evening of the week at the studio, throwing pots, wrecking
pots, learning everything I could from the accomplished potters who shared the
space.
My other obsession in Montreal was being an animal advocate. I spent my days
working for the Jane Goodall Institute Canada and my weekends on the south
shore of Montreal volunteering at an animal sanctuary, the Fauna Foundation.
I felt as though the world had opened up for me. I was presented with so many
wonderful opportunities and inspired greatly by two amazing women, Dr. Jane
Goodall and Gloria Grow.
It was truly awe inspiring to work for Dr. Jane Goodall helping to plan her
Canadian lecture tour and traveling with her when she was in town. She
followed her dreams in the 1960's when she travelled to Africa to study wild
chimpanzees. Gloria Grow was also inspired by Dr. Jane and others and added
a chimpanzee sanctuary to an existing farm animal sanctuary that she and her
husband owned and operated.
Throughout my life my parents had instilled me with incredible self motivation
and confidence. They built a foundation of love and acceptance for me that is
insurmountable to this day. Despite having had a successful college
experience and a background in creative writing, english and art history, I still
had no idea what I wanted to do with my life; until I sat down that first time at the
potters wheel. The desire to have my own pottery studio was overwhelming. I
took my cue from my father's furniture making business that he had owned and
operated for nearly 30 years and I decided I would start my own business.
Meiklem Kiln Works is first and foremost a labor of love, secondly it is a
teaching studio and thirdly it is a venue for me to display and sell my own
artwork. I am thrilled to share my love and continuing obsession with clay with
my students, adult and kids alike. There is something wonderfully therapeutic
about working with clay and seeing the joy that it brings to others.
My dream has become a reality and Meiklem Kiln Works will continue to grow
as my knowledge and foundation of the art of pottery grows. It is a limitless
artistic medium and I am joyful to be spinning my wheels!!!
Lyndsay Rae Meiklem
