A Passion for Pottery
Photography: Timothy Thimmes
Larrabee moved to Utah with his family when he was a teenager and soon found out he loved working with his hands — especially when it came to pottery. After high school, he attended the University of Utah where he started producing ceramic work, decided to make it a career and got his degree. In 1984, he got married, graduated, bought a house, welcomed his first child into the world and realized he needed to find a way to make his pottery business profitable. But even as his business grew, he never lost touch with what he is: a potter. “That’s what I’ve called myself from the very beginning,” he says. “I’m just a potter; that’s what I do.”
Today Larrabee’s porcelain and stoneware creations can be found in his own Artworks Gallery in Park City (originally begun as a co-op in 1983), at the Vista gift stores in the Salt Lake City International Airport, at the Worthington Gallery in Springdale, Utah, and at his studio in Summit Park. He’s also traveled the country to take part in art festivals for over 20 years, at one point attending as many as 25 festivals in one year.
Although Larrabee must often produce large quantities of pottery at a time to meet the demand of those galleries who order from him, he says making a piece of pottery has many variables. Kilns heated to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit have their own quirks, and even when he thinks he has the bugs worked out, there are no guarantees the results will always be the same. He can do ten firings in a row that go like clockwork and then have one that is disappointing, which leaves him scratching his head about what could have gone wrong.
There is also the matter of color — an intricate process in and of itself. “Some of the glazes I use are very temperamental,” he says. “The reds and purples and lavender glazes are forced to go that color in the kiln. The Chinese developed them hundreds of years ago. They’re very difficult to get, and those colors don’t turn out as well as you’d like them to.”
The colors themselves are powdered rocks and minerals, and the colors in the glazes are typically some sort of metal oxides. “The metal oxides are what give [the glazes] their color,” Larrabee explains. “I use tin, copper, iron, cobalt, chrome and several other trace elements such as titanium and lithium.” The results are works of art that truly contain not only the colors of the earth, but actual elements of the planet as well.
In addition to his studio and Artworks Gallery, Larrabee has long been involved with Park City’s Kimball Art Center. He served as acting director from last March until October, when new director Robin Rankin was appointed, and continues to serve as a board member. He also teaches ceramics classes at the Kimball and is committed to helping the organization increase the number and variety of classes the Center offers. Another goal he hopes the Center can work toward is building long-term financial stability by creating an endowment — a move that would enable the Center to present world-class, five-star exhibits that require a large space and a climate-controlled environment.
Larrabee would like to take a little time off to devote to working on creative pieces — especially some new vase designs and wall pieces — but turning out the quantity necessary to fulfill gallery orders tends to take precedence. “Tried-and-true production always seems to get in the way,” he admits, like preparing for his annual studio show and sale December 3rd in Summit Park, which usually attracts anywhere from 200 to 500 people.
As a potter, Larrabee spends 90 percent of his time in solitude, so he says it can be a peaceful, relaxing experience that allows him to escape the stresses of life. But he also has a penchant for things that move a little faster — like vintage Mustangs. When he isn’t in his studio, you’ll probably find him working on his latest acquisition: a 1966 Mustang Coupe. “I’ve had a love affair with the Mustang ever since I first saw one way back when,” he confesses. To put his daughter through college, Larrabee sold a beloved 1965 convertible he had restored. And then he attended the Grand National Mustang Show in Park City and knew he had to have another one. When he found the ’66 Coupe, he wasted no time buying it, and now is working on a modified restoration that includes adding modern technology like air conditioning and fuel injection.
For Larrabee, however, pottery has been the real love and income earner for him since his college days. And it’s a profession he will always be proud to claim. “I will continue to make ceramic work probably until the day I die,” he says.
Angela Soper is a freelance writer and filmmaker whose claim to artistic talent is a youthful passion for drawing horses.
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