LIN VENHUIZEN, clay, hand built pottery

Lin was born in Massachusetts and lived there until age 14, when her family moved to New Jersey where she graduated from high school. She received a BA in English and teaching degree from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. While in college, she met her husband, Ron, and they were married the same weekend they graduated. After a year in Tempe, Arizona and a return to Michigan for 3 years, they moved to Rutherfordton in 1970. They have 4 children (Jed, Amy, Clayton, Becky) all of whom graduated from RS Central High School, and have 11 grandchildren. Lin recently retired from teaching and now hopes to spend a lot of time creating with clay and traveling with her husband. Her “spare” time is spent with the Rutherford County Visual Artists Guild’s NEW GALLERY!!, bowling, shopping, volunteering, and reading.

About 15 years ago, Lin began attending pottery classes at ICC taught by John King and later Kiowa Cilone. What began as an interest, soon turned into a hobby and then a business: A Touch of Whimsy (pottery by Lin). Her pottery has been on exhibit at the Treasures of the Earth (annual pottery show/sale sponsored by the Cleveland County Arts Council), Celebration of the Arts at ICC each Fall, Appalachian Potters Market, Carolina Pottery Festival, Piedmont Pottery Festival, Foothills Antique and Artisans Show, and several other shows. In 2007, she entered a piece of pottery in the North Carolina Silver Arts and was awarded 2nd place in Raleigh.

All of Lin’s pottery is hand built, mainly slab work, that is rolled, pinched, squeezed, twisted, scored, flattened, and embellished. Texture is used generously, utilizing impression, stamping, carving, and enhanced with glazes. A Touch of Whimsy clay creations are one-of-a-kind, often asymmetrical, decorative and sometimes functional. “Unique pottery for unique people”!