DAILY MAIL STAFF
FOREST HILL - You couldn't picture a more charming countrysidecrafts gallery than Wakerobin.
Nestled on the upside of an up-and-down lane, the little cottagesports a lazy front porch, cozy wood floors and old-timey woodshelves brushed an eye-warming sky blue. They brim with decorativebaskets, wooden utensils, bright watercolors, stained glass,ironwork, woven rugs and fragrant soaps.
The mainstay of the gallery, however, is the utilitarian andattractive pottery of Wakerobin's 53-year-old proprietress, MarciaSpringston.
She creates chili bowls, crocks, pitchers, mugs, chess pieces andmore, most in hues of blues, but some in green. They are meant to beuseful for the kitchen or other rooms of the home, but they alsoexude a down-to-earth artistry and allure.
"I like people to use my pots, instead of just putting them up ona shelf to collect dust," she said.
While Springston can't actually see her work with her eyes becauseshe has been blind since birth, her way of "looking" is to feel theclay as the wheel rotates. She also attaches handles or spouts ordecorative coils, facets or other flourishes.
"Unfortunately, decorations that are tactilely pleasing are notalways visually successful," Springston said.
But the creative pieces indicate the artist is wrong.
Her pottery springs to life with a gnarled pumpkin stem here, atwist of a handle there. Colors, which she creates with the help ofan assistant, are subtle but expressive. Shapes are sensual as wellas useful.
Springston and several other craftspeople will gather from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. Saturday at Wakerobin in Summers County to showcase theirwares. There will be live dulcimer music and lots of food, Springstonsaid.
Her work also is available at Tamarack.
Springston was born and lived three years in Fairmont, beforespending the rest of her childhood in Columbus, Ohio. There, she andher sister were the first blind children in the Midwest to attendpublic school, she said. Both girls were blind due to a hereditarycondition. Her parents' progressive ideas about education fueled herdetermination and pride.
After graduating from the University of Akron with a degree insocial psychology, she worked for the Ohio Bureau of VocationalRehabilitation. Later, while cross-country skiing in Colorado, shemet a woman who made pottery.
Inspired, Springston then took classes at a Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,art center. "The magic of the wheel got a hold," she said.
She taught high school pottery in McDowell County and ran an artshop in Hinton before opening Wakerobin in Forest Hill nearly twodecades ago. Her pottery studio takes up the entire back room andbasement, where she uses an electric kiln with a talking pyrometer -a high temperature thermometer.
Scales, recipes and other necessary information are kept inBraille. Assistive technology on her computer allows her to use e-mail and the Internet.
Having studied pottery at the Campbell Folk Art School in NorthCarolina, the University of Northern Colorado and Indiana Universityof Pennsylvania, Springston espouses her own philosophy: "My handsremember how the pots grew, and my heart is gratified."
Though pottery earns a living, horseback riding feeds Springston'sadventuresome spirit. In her studio hang scads of blue ribbons, manyfrom dressage shows. Currently, she owns an Arabian named Dr. Pop anda thoroughbred named Alphie.
She rides in a fenced-in area behind her barn. Sound from radiosat each end of the riding ring bounces off the vinyl fence, tellingher just where she is.
For more information on Wakerobin's upcoming Christmas fair, call466-2227. The gallery is located about 12 miles south of Hinton onW.Va. 12, not far from the Monroe County line.
Writer Therese Smith Cox can be reached at 348-4874 or by e-mailat therese@dailymail.com.
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