Photos by David Greenfield.
Some people relax with a glass of wine or a good book after a demanding day. For Chin Lin and Sabina Berretta, owners of Waltham’s recently opened Tail in the Mud Pottery, creating items from clay helped them decompress from their rigorous studies.
Lin’s interest in working with clay dates back to the 1980s and ’90s, when he was at MIT, which was “a pretty stressful place,” he recalled. While studying architecture as an undergrad and graduate student, he became curious about doing ceramics even though he had no previous experience with the art form. After Lin finished his daily classes, he would head over to the Student Art Association’s pottery studio where he could use his imagination to turn a lump of clay into something new.
“I’d come back [to the dorm] at 2 a.m. covered in clay,” said Lin, who moved to the U.S. from Taiwan at age 15. MIT soon recognized his talent and enthusiasm and asked him to teach sculpture at the SAA.
“It’s a lot of fun. I get a lot of satisfaction [from teaching],” he said.
Today, almost 30 years later, he’s still instructing eager ceramicists, but now he and his wife Berretta have their own art space.
Although she was in a different field of study at MIT, Berretta also found solace at the SAA’s pottery studio, where she could use her hands to mold and shape the pliable substance.
“I love doing it,” said Berretta, who is originally from Italy. “Clay is a very forgiving way of doing art. …. [There are] never-ending possibilities.”
Berretta and Lin each also work in their original fields of study: Berretta, an MD, is an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Lin is a registered architect.
However, even with their demanding work schedules, pottery remains an integral part of the Lexington couple’s lives.
Their own space
As Lin’s sculptures of large vessels grew in size, the duo eventually decided: “It was time for us to have our own studio,” said Berretta. In September that goal became a reality when they opened Tail in the Mud Pottery on Guinan Street. The studio offers memberships and classes.
The name comes from the writings of the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi (c.369-289 BCE), according to the couple. The specific story they cite “reflects a rejection of prestige and convention in favor of freedom and authenticity, values we embrace in our studio,” they state on their website. “For us, it means choosing creative play, community, and the joy of working with clay over rigid expectations.”
Lin, who makes functional pieces along with his large-scale vessels, has created items on the wheel, by hand-building and a combination of the two.
Berretta said she likes to make things that people can use but also loves how “things that you use every day can be interesting to look at.”
The couple decided to locate the studio in Waltham because they appreciate the diverse community and because there isn’t another in the city (aside from the one specifically for the Brandeis community).
Potter Jasmine Lipman, the studio’s director of operations, said the art form “captures so many different kinds of people who want to create,” regardless of their age or experience level. Classes are designed for those 16 and up since “it’s a lifelong learning process,” said Lipman.
Berretta said she cherishes “how pottery can help build a small community,” where students of different ages and backgrounds can enjoy sitting, chatting, working and sharing advice on technique.
The medium is “limitless,” said Lipman.
To learn more, visit Tail in the Mud Pottery’s website. The studio is located at 30 Guinan St.
View photographer David Greenfield’s full album of photos from Tail in the Mud Pottery.
