Station: [99] BONUS: A Ceramicist Talks about her Work

The ceramicist Ulli Wittich-Großkurth completed an apprenticeship at the Walter Gebauer workshop in the 1950s. After a course of study at the College of Applied Arts in Erfurt, she came back to Bürgel to work towards her master’s certificate. Since 1957, she‘s been running her own workshop in the city of Jena. Here’s Ulli Wittich-Großkurth talking about how she sees herself as a ceramicist, and how she relates to the blue-and-white pattern.

Wittich-Großkurth:

“That was the major trend: blue-and-white with little dots. And that was our trademark – people still buy it even now, right? It’s crazy. You have to stay true to yourself to a degree, but I experiment with a lot of other stuff. Still, I’ve always said, “Folks, if you don’t find yourself catching fire, don’t even bother taking up the craft, because you’ll just be one of the herd. That’s just the way it is. A lot of people have grasped that now. And these days, many actually see the profession as being a vocation.”