Early Wally Smith Ceramic ‘Spaghetti’ Utensil Holder

Description

An early ceramic spaghetti vase made by Wally Smith, circa 1970. Glazed inside and out in pastel blue and pink … more An early ceramic spaghetti vase made by Wally Smith, circa 1970. Glazed inside and out in pastel blue and pink with white, the word “Spaghetti” is spelled out in a serif capital letters. Signed “Smith” underneath.

Wally Smith received a BA in Education from the University of Tennessee and an MS in Crafts from the University of Tennessee.

“From the moment I touched the potter’s wheel in Miss Gill’s undergraduate class, I was absolutely hooked. It was Miss Gill that took me to meet a professional potter, Charles Counts in Rising Fawn, Georgia. Charles lived on a mountaintop in a rustic house with a small studio next door. That was a life changing moment for me. Before that I had no idea that people could create a living by making pottery. After meeting Charles Counts, I decided that being a potter was the life for me; and a few years later, that dream came true.”

After graduation Smith began producing a full line of functional work using stoneware.

In partnership with Joe Osolnik, Smith opened his first retail gallery, The Potter’s Mark, in 1971 outside Gatlinburg, TN. After a fire in 1988 he moved to Hilton Head Island and opened Smith Galleries with his wife, Jean. In 1992 Smith retired from pottery making and became a full-time Gallerist. less