Barbara Davis Pottery, Acworth, New Hampshire

Barbara Davis Pottery

Barbara creates her plates and pitchers and mugs in a pottery studio on Cold Pond
Community Farm in Acworth, New Hampshire. They are sturdy and usable,
decorated in earthy browns and blues and yellows.

"My pottery is a reflection of the kind of person I am," Barbara says. "I’m a no-frills,
functional person. I want my pottery to be used and I get a lot of pleasure out of
using my pots in my everyday life."

Barbara spent two years in the Peace Corps with her husband Steve. "It was part of
the lifestyle of the people;everything they made – their tools, furniture, pottery,
clothes -- was functional. That had a great influence on me." Ironically, the pottery
that Barbara first sold was decorative rather than functional. She and Steve had
moved to their 45-acre farm in Acworth in the early 1980s and Barbara had a job
making wooden furniture for a woman who made doll houses. The woman
couldn’t find anyone to make the miniature pottery she wanted for the doll
houses and Barbara told her she was a potter.

Barbara continued to make only miniature pottery for several years until she and
Steve built a barn and had room for another wheel where she could also make full-
size pottery and teach. It is impossible to describe Barbara’s work as a potter
separate from her work as a farmer or from her family’s overall lifestyle. In fact,
that’s the point – to integrate her life so that all its parts exist in harmony.

She and Steve use biodynamic farming methods to raise their crops and animals.
"It’s a step beyond organic farming," Barbara says. "We care for the earth and see
farming as working with the earth rather than trying to see what we can get from
it."

As Barbara and Steve were learning biodynamic farming, Steve also taught
himself woodworking and blacksmithing. And, in addition to being a potter and
farmer, Barbara is a teacher. She home schooled her three children through junior
high school and she teaches pottery courses in her studio to people of all ages,
from preschoolers to the elderly. In addition, she and Steve have developed a
unique internship program to pass on their knowledge and experience. They
received the 2003 Educator-of-the-Year Award from the Sullivan County
Conservation District. Barbara Davis works to produce what she and her family
need to be self-reliant, to sustain and nurture the environment and to support
community.

Barbara Davis's work is available for sale at Hannah Grimes Marketplace at 42 Main Street
in Keene, NH. 603-352-6862