Meet LeeAnn Dodde | Studio Potter

We had the good fortune of connecting with LeeAnn Dodde and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi LeeAnn, why did you pursue a creative career?
Making has always made sense to me. Growing up I played “office” with my sister and friends, I always took the cash register, whether it’s making change or ceramics, working with my hands has always felt right. I was never a fast reader, or much of a writer, so when I got to college the thought of building and sculpting projects to get grades felt less overwhelming than reading textbooks and writing papers. Chasing a creative career was my path to surviving college.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My work is a result of problem solving I think. Trying ideas, observing reactions, observing materials, making adjustments, and learning from failures. In ceramics the failures can be really hard, and I don’t believe they will ever end, but the successes are so savory I can’t stop chasing them both. Getting here hasn’t been a breeze, but I have gathered skills and adventures along this crooked path. After college I headed west to work in the mountains, learn to snowboard, and continued to take classes at the local community college which happened to have great instructors and facilities. I learned a lot from their program, mainly that I was not ready to go full in, my work needed further refinement. I then moved to Arizona and found a home at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Phantom Ranch. The Ranch is the reason I own a home and studio. It was a job and lifestyle that allowed me to save and focus on refining my skills. I was able to ship a tabletop wheel down via mule back and set up a tiny studio in my room at the bottom of the Canyon. That job allowed me to focus on my pottery during my free time. Living communally, I didn’t have to worry about making dinner or doing dishes, cleaning a house, (unless of course it was my shift) so I could really focus on my pots. I had to send the incredibly fragile greenware pots out on the mules, while I hiked the 7.5 miles after them. I lost a lot of pots, but I learned how to pack pots really well eventually. Learning to detach from these pieces made me realize I was ready to pursue pottery more professionally. One morning my manager, Joni, came to me with a Facebook garage sale listing of 3 old Grand Canyon shuttle buses that were being auctioned off, looked at me and said, “wouldn’t that make a cool studio?!?!?” I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes and began making up reasons I couldn’t make that happen. That night I couldn’t stop thinking about that bus, I kept looking at the pictures, and then checked them out on my next set of days off, I had to have one. Pieces fell into place and suddenly I had a studio in my backyard. It took 7 years of working at Phantom, hiking in and out of the Canyon twice a month, but I felt ready to go full in. It has been almost 4 years now and no it has not been easy, but it has kept my hands muddy and my work evolving and that is where I have to place my focus. The set backs can be devastating, work blows up, kiln doesn’t work, shows get canceled, life happens, and when it does I just have to change my idea of what happens next. I have to be fluid with “plans,” my work goes through fire before it is sellable, sometimes it makes me come along.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hiking the Canyon will always be the ultimate Arizona experience for me. Phantom Ranch is a place everyone should have breakfast, dinner or a drink. A minimum of 3 nights in the Canyon for sure, day hikes to waterfalls and lounging at the river watching the boats go by. In a perfectly timed visit I would be firing a kiln at Reitz Ranch in Clarkdale and show them the beauty of the firing process and that studio. In Prescott the forests are fun to explore, and the Farmer’s Market every Saturday is the best place for breakfast/lunch, shopping, and my front porch is great for watching sunsets.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh this list is long! First my dad for always looking me in the eyes and telling me “LeeAnn you can be whatever you want” and believing it, and my mom for keeping me coloring, creating and garage sale-ing from a young age. My 4 siblings my greatest fans. The Phantom Ranch community that changed my life and continues to support me. The Prescott Farmer’s Market and Plantae Flagstaff have kept me inspired to keep making. Reitz Ranch Center for Ceramic Arts is a community of friends I am lucky to have met. Friends, I would not be here without all the helping hands and listening ears of friends.

Website: Www.ShuttleBusStudios.com

Instagram: @shuttlebusstudios

Facebook: Shuttle Bus Studios

Image Credits
Carla Carani