The act of entering Strictly Functional Pottery National and the selection of work with lush, ornate surfaces that are standout beautiful are calculated acts, not of humility or innocence or even plainness. They are public declarations of specialness, which are delightful to see but undermine Mark’s romanticism.

I deeply appreciate Mark’s thoughts, writings, and work. I am very thankful that he dug into the why. I am touched by the grace of Jacque Adams as she tolerates our public musings. Mark and I are both products of our ceramic education and decades-long experiences making clay objects. I am so thankful to see the beautiful show Mark has curated, and even more grateful that we have leaned into a reflective process together. Ultimately, this is an exchange of two potters with different training and aesthetics looking to suss out our own value systems. My response here is to try and parse some complex ideas and challenge the reader to figure out what they believe.