Sat, Jul 04, 2009
 "I've never been artistic," says Wally Wright, at work on one of his imaginative clay teapots. "Of all the things I've wanted to do in life, art was never one of them." He began doing pottery only two years ago.
benjie sanders / arizona daily star
RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION General A1 Communications Cable Techs Health Care Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator South SideWith teapots, this new artist gets it right'The person who says "I will," does'
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.19.2006
Late at night, when everyone is sound asleep, Wally Wright's teapots might start moving.
With twisted handles, sharp edges and soft details, some of those clay objects tower two feet toward the ceiling and look nothing like a teapot.
People see knights, horses, houses and flowers when they look at them — and the list goes on, Wright said.
It's been two years since the 68-year-old Green Valley resident formed and fired his first piece from a ball of clay.
During those two years, he has created 27 pots which have ignited people's imaginations.
His wife Velva, 62, signed him up for a basic class at the Clay Studio of Green Valley and neither of them expected him to stick with it.
Now Wright is taking his pots from the living room to his first show, which opens next Friday at a Foothills gallery in Tucson.
"I've never been artistic," said Wright, while showing off his pieces. "Of all the things I've wanted to do in life, art was never one of them."
Yet, he has found a passion that spurs him to get up in the morning and leads him through the day, he said while carefully spraying water on teapot number 26, which was still missing a spout and handle.
Wright does it for a challenge and he wants to be the best he can.
The couple sit in their home studio for up to 10 hours a day and work with the moist mass. They barely talk when they work; they concentrate.
Velva Wright, who has been an artist for many years, does her own colorful creations, which adorn the house.
Wright's teapots have made waves in the Green Valley clay community, said Dick Lagasca, an artist at the clay studio.
"He's experimenting around and he found his niche," he said. "Nobody has done this kind of work."
Most artists have a long period of trial and error before becoming mature in their work, but Wright reached that point more quickly, Lagasca said.
"I greatly admire Wally's work," he said. "I admire his way-out designs, imagination, intuition."
Wright has woven an adventurous life into teapots, which are only the latest endeavor.
A Navy pilot for 20 years, he served in the Vietnam War. He owned a marina and sailed boats on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho, before becoming a representative in the Idaho Legislature from 1990-94.
The couple traveled along the Pacific Rim in a 50-foot sailboat for six years before settling in Green Valley 2 1/2 years ago.
"I think he feels a freedom of expression that he has never had before," Velva Wright said about her husband. "I've been with this guy for 10 years and nothing he does surprises me. I'm so thrilled that we're doing art together."
Wright nodded and continued smearing a roll of clay on what was intended to become the spout of pot number 26.
As he did with its 25 predecessors, he listens to the clay and draws a picture in his mind.
The pots never come out the way he first imagines them, but he said he is satisfied most of the time — until he starts the next project.
"I don't think you should ever accept any limitation," he said. "The person who says 'I will,' does."
And so number 26 joins its siblings, with yet another flowing shape that will remind people of something other than a teapot.
It was the "joy and energy" the art emits, that prompted Vicki Schwager to host Wright's show at her gallery, Details Art & Design, she said.
She said she likes how he experiments with different techniques on each teapot. She believes Wright's colorful life contributes to his work.
The show represents another door into an exciting world Wright wants to enter in full strides, teapot after teapot.
"I love the opportunity of doing a show," he said. "Wherever it leads us, it's a nice ride and another adventure. It may even make me an artist some day."
South Side
● Contact reporter Djamila Grossman at 307-0579 or dgrossman@azstarnet.com.
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