A Set of Four

 

The assignment in the ceramic’s class was to make a set of four. I made four soup bowls, someone else made four mugs. Most everyone in the class made a set of four useful objects except for one student.

I was a retired teacher taking ceramics for pleasure at Queensboro Community College. Our teacher was a mean, cranky, cross woman. We all tiptoed and walked on egg shells around her. The class was made up of young undergraduates. I was the “old one.” Oddly there was an Asian man in the class who was decidedly older than the students but far younger than I. I never learned what country he came from, but he had a very limited knowledge of the English language. He appeared to be overwhelmed by the teacher’s instruction. When he seemed baffled, I came to his assistance. I showed him how to do the coil method, the slab method and how to use the clay molds. I helped him with the glazing of all his pieces.

        The assignment of the set of four seemed to give him the most pleasure. He worked on this off to the side on his own. When he handed it in for grading, he got a perfect mark and a round of applause from his young classmates. He, unlike the others, had not made a utilitarian set of four. Instead, he made a small sculpture of a family of four. It consisted of a mother, father, small child and a baby. He didn’t choose to glaze them. Instead, he used the most colorful acrylic paint to decorate his family. The father is dressed in a bright lime green suit with a royal blue hair, tie and hat. The mother wears a yellow blouse and red skirt. She is holding a baby with green hair and red clothes. The child, dressed in a blue blouse, red tights and yellow shoes is holding the father’s hand.

The small sculpture is fashioned in a modern, almost cubist whimsical style. I was amazed to realize how much the piece resembled the large wooden sculpture of the artist Marisol. The family was often a fertile subject in her art. While there is sometimes a sense of disconnectedness between her people, the small clay family the student produced was clearly a connected one.

I felt so happy for the young man and enjoyed his look of pride when the class acknowledged his masterful accomplishment. My surprising pleasure came when he walked over to me directly after the teacher announced his grade and handed me his treasure.

“I could not have succeeded in class without your help. I want you to have my set of four,” he timidly said.

I cried as he hugged me. His small sculpture is currently displayed in a beautiful chest my husband built. The small clay family and the memories continue to give me a warm feeling today, more than 30 years later!!!

Ethyl Haber

December 2020