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Area potter featured at Summerfair

Lawrence Kearns is among 323 artisans picked to participate in this weekend’s event.

Staff photo by Richard O Jones Lawrence Kearns spins a chip bowl on his potter's wheel in his Reily Twp. studio.

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 11:20 PM Thursday, May 28, 2009

REILY TWP. — Potter Lawrence Kearns was a Summerfair exhibitor before it was such a big deal.

“I did it way back in the ’70s when it was still in Eden Park,” he said. “WEBN and FM radio was still new and blasting from the speaker and it was all peace and love and people selling their pots, and everything was wrapped in macrame.”

He made $300 one year, and that was a lot of money for an art teacher to be earning on the side.

He got sidetracked from all that for awhile. He was a teacher in the Lakota school district and stopped teaching to go into business with some other teachers, helping schools with fundraising programs.

But since July was a dead month for that work, and because his wife worked at Miami University, he was able to take their CraftSummer classes for free, and got hooked on pottery again. He eventually sold out his share of the business, and in 1994 became a full-time potter, mostly making functional items, “everything from casseroles to berry bowls.”

“That way, people can justify their purchases,” he said, “because it’s something they’ll use.”

Kearns will be one of 323 artists selected out of more than 900 applicants to participate in Summerfair 2009. It’s only the second time he’s been able to get through the rigorous jury process since he got back into clay.

But it’s also just one of 24 shows a year in which Kearns exhibits. He spends January in Florida, he said; and after Summerfair, he’ll be in Michigan the next weekend and St. Louis the weekend after that.

“It is very well attended,” Kearns said. “I’ve been taking a lot of special orders, and people just say, ‘Bring it to Summerfair and I’ll pick it up there.’”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.