Business Opportunities Weblog

June 1, 2007 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

Startup Journal:

Sometimes, a firm push can mark the beginning of a new life in retirement. For Tasha High, now age 63, such a push has helped turn a lifelong passion into a burgeoning career.

Ms. High was born in England. In 1967, at age 23, she boarded the Queen Elizabeth and set sail for the U.S. with her three children and husband, who had been hired as an engineer at Westinghouse. In the years that followed, she would move from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to California. The one constant amid these changes was her love of pottery.

She first studied pottery as a teenager at the Farnham School of Art in Surrey, England. Later, “when I was a busy mother and working, I used to do it on weekends or whenever I could find a minute,” Ms. High says. As time allowed, she also took art courses at colleges near her homes.

Ms. High has a pottery studio next to her house in Soquel, Calif., where she does her own work and teaches classes. She sells her pots through an “open studios” program in nearby Santa Cruz and via her Web site. In some cases, clients commission work. Though she doesn’t make a lot of money, it’s enough to sustain her passion.

“I make enough to survive, go on trips to meet other potters, visit museums and go to pottery conferences, and that’s enough for me,” Ms. High says. She specializes in pots with smooth lines and organic textures. And she’s an admitted perfectionist. Commissioned to make a dinner service, Ms. High spent two years crafting the plates and bowls by hand until they were just right.

This year, she plans to enter a few competitions to get her name more widely known in the art pottery world. Her plan is to build a substantial body of work before submitting it to a few galleries.

Photo by WSJ.

In Profiles, Retirement | 2 Comments