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Graciela Testa Lynt www.glyntpottery.blogspot.com
I stumbled upon pottery classes in 1992 while looking through Rec Center course offerings for some "distraction" from a full-time job and raising 5 kids. From the moment I touched the clay it became an obsession: a once a week class just wasn't enough! So, I started bringing clay home and hand-building. My husband helped me carve enough space out of a corner of the basement to put in a table and chair for me to get my "clay fix" every day. That Christmas, he surprised me with my own wheel: a motorized Brent kick wheel that sat in the middle of the kitchen for a year until we were able to expand the space in the basement. And so began my pottery quest!
Today, my studio has moved from the basement to a small  barn in the back yard. My path to pottery has had many ups and downs. Until 2007, when I retired from my "day job" as an economics editor, it was a part-time endeavor. Because I came to pottery late in life, it is more a way of finding my bliss than of earning a living. It is a joy to find that people like my work and want to own my pieces, but pottery's main purpose in my life is to keep me centered.
I make both functional and decorative pieces and work mainly in stoneware. I am especially drawn to pots that have the look and feel of the earth from which they spring.
I trained with Virginia potters Margo Borg (at Lee District Park in Fairfax County) and Jane Cullum (at Creative Clay Studios in Alexandria). I have also attended workshops taught by Phil Rogers, Ric k Berman, Cynthia Bringle, Kevin Crowe, Steven Hill, Steven Fabrico and Malcolm Davis, and spent an amazing week at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts learning from Lee Rexrode.
My work is available at Manassas Clay in Manassas, Virginia as well as online at www.glyntpottery.etsy.com. I have also sold my work at The Loft Gallery in Occoquan, Virginia and The Gallery at Potter’s Row in Alexandria, Virginia. My work has been shown at the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization of American States, and Union Station in Washington, D.C., as well as several regional shows. I have also participated in  various charitable events, including the Empty Bowls Project to benefit programs to feed the hungry. I am a member of the Clay Connection, the Kiln Club and the Potter’s Council. I was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and came to the United States in 1961. My husband and I have raised five children (two mine, three his) and have four grandchildren (plus another on the way!). Our border collie, Katie, usually "guards" the studio when I'm there working.
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