Milton Katz

Student

“While working on the wheel, I learned that you can close your eyes and relax and feel the moment when everything is in balance.”

Balance is something that Milton Katz finds in his life as he explores his artistic and creative sides. While taking ceramics classes at SMC, this 70-year-old, “semi-retired” accountant and financial planner has integrated what he’s learned of life with the meditative spin of the potter’s wheel.

“Coming to these classes is a matter of exploring my artistic ability,” Milton says. “And that is something I’m doing with the help of supportive and talented instructors.”

“Some friends of mine encouraged me to try this because they say I had some skill and talent,” continues Milton. He has created elaborate masks, coiled pots, anthropological urns and decorative bottles. “Each one of my works has been a fascinating process, with both successes and failures,” he says. He was surprised to find that making art from clay is more difficult that he first imagined. He has fired up elaborate works, only to watch them collapse and break before his eyes. “You have to develop some confidence and skill with each project,” he observes, “because there can be some very frustrating moments.”

The trickiest part, so far, has been working with clay on the wheel. But Milton has learned how to relax into his art. The same philosophy he learns in clay can also be applied to life. “You learn by experiencing what goes wrong,” Milton says. “It may collapse around you if things are not in balance,” he adds. “But you learn by the failure.”

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