She is a self proclaimed naturalist who has always wanted to work with clay. What she thought would be only a hobby became a career. She is Debi Lane, owner of Pitter Potter House, a pottery studio in Mendenhall.
Lane began life in Prentiss, Miss., before moving to Charlotte, NC, at 15 when her mother took an employment transfer. After spending her “formative” years there Lane returned to Mississippi in her early 20’s when her mother was offered another transfer, this time to Ohio, a no go for Lane as “it was just too cold.”
“Pottery is something I always wanted to do but never really had the location to classes. When I was in my early 30’s I almost signed up for a class in Clinton.” She lived in Edwards at the time, but circumstances changed preventing Lane from pursuing that class. Eventually she met her husband Mike and moved to Simpson County.
Lane continued, “I have been doing it now for about 16 years. I started one year because I had some extra funds. I purchased my kiln, I purchased my wheel; I taught myself. I said, ‘how hard can it be?’ I’m a visual learner and let me tell ya, it can be hard!”
Initially Lane made what she calls franken vases due to the design, saying they would be lopsided, of uneven thickness or misshapen. “They would just be terrible. I was like ‘I’ll never get this! What was I thinking?’ I eventually went onto YouTube to find videos where they were showing people throwing (pottery) close up, so I could see how they’re holding their hands. With throwing what you do on the wheel – you have to center the clay first – that was my first mistake because I wasn’t getting it quite centered. When you open it up which is the first step to making your vessel – if you don’t get that hole centered, that’s another thing. Once you start bringing your walls up which is called pulling – pull the clay up as it’s spinning on the wheel – you can shape it however you want to from there.” Lane added that a slab may be used in much the same way as a wheel.
At first Lane would sketch the designs that were in her mind, keeping them close by while she made the vessel. That was a necessary step as she had so many ideas running through her mind, she did not want to forget. Lane states she is not a fan of straight lines or cookie cutter designs. She instead focuses on unique shapes, forms, etching and colors. “I get bored really fast. I’m always doing something new.”
When Lane first began making her pottery she used commercial glazes. Now, as the saying goes, “then Covid hit.” She had always used the same color lining glaze prior to Covid but found it difficult to get due to supply chain interruptions. In its place Lane began making her own glazes using materials readily available on their property.
Lane explained, “What I came up with was an ash glaze and that’s nothing new. A lot of potters use ash glaze but most of them are high fire and are Cone 10 or above. In potter’s terms the cone is the firing temperature. I fire to a hot Cone 5, basically a 5.5 cone. That means this final product when I fire to maturity or vitrification that is about 2300 degrees. So it’s hot!”
She already had the heat source to make her own ash with a wood burning fireplace in the couple’s home with lots of oak ash. But Lane began burning different types of trees and bushes as well. The Lanes have a lemon tree they trim back every year. A eucalyptus tree died and she burned it. Her mother-in-law had a dying sycamore in her front yard so Lane burned it. They have numerous blackberry bushes on their property and she burns limbs from those. All of these produced the ash she needs.
“I had to figure out the correct combination of percentages for melting material and things like that in order to make that ash melt at my temperature (mid-range). I spent a year burning, collecting, and sifting. You have to sift – it has to be the fine part of the ash. It’s a lot of work involved. It’s not simple; it’s time consuming,” Lane said. She now makes all her own glazes.
Lane also has a mobile pottery barn, a former school bus painted pink. Currently she is repainting some of the flowers on the bus where she sells her pieces. In addition, Lane has pieces in Pacesetter Gallery in Flowood, and Chic Collective in Brandon. Her work can also be seen on Facebook, Pitter Potter House, LLC by Debi Lane.
She calls her pottery making a labor love, loving each piece she makes. Customers are the same way as far as loving the artwork. “When people come in and see it, they want it, they don’t even ask the price; they don’t care,” Lane added.
Lane offers a Monthly Mobile Gallery Open House every third Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at her home, 294 Chess Warren Road in Mendenhall. She is also available by appointment by calling 601-554-6995.
Pottery classes will resume in September on every second Friday at 3 p.m. and every fourth Saturday at 10 a.m. Lane also teaches classes at the PriorityOne Senior Center. To reserve a spot register at her website, www.pitterpotterhouse.com.
