Simon Levin is a potter, kiln builder and writer who has been wood firing for 25 years. After finishing graduate school at the University of Iowa in 1998, he and his wife Susan moved to rural Wisconsin to establish Mill Creek pottery. Simon has built kilns for many universities in the US, Taiwan and China, as well as the Archie Bray Foundation. He is a technical writer for Ceramics Monthly and Ceramics Arts Daily and a frequent presenter at The National Council for the Education of Ceramics Arts. Simon’s work is in several books and collections, as well as a couple museums. In 2013 Simon was a senior Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan, and his work is now on display in the front gallery.
The quiet life of the country potter is a myth. The romanticism of a simple life, spinning forms and firing with wood, has faded to be replaced by a richer reality. I live in a log home in rural Wisconsin. We have ten acres of land, three wood kilns and a joyous life filled with beauty, but that life is anything but quiet and serene. This may be a result of my personality as much as contemporary society, internet connectivity and the cost of living.
– Simon Levin
When Simon became a father, he began to select his best work as a gift to his children. His current exhibition, Collecting Fire, is a collection of Simons’ prized pots that he is giving to his children. This is the first time this collection has been shared with the public, and there is an exquisite catalog that accompanies the exhibit.