Becoming the Village Potter follows the career of the potter and artist,  Linn L. Phelan (1906-1992)  from its beginning in Rochester, New York through his Maine years, first at Rowantrees Pottery in Blue Hill and then in Saco, Maine where the first Linnwood Pottery was established.  Phelan then became the founding potter at the School for American Craftsmen when it was established at Dartmouth College in 1944.  Two years later it moved to Alfred University and he accompanied it, buying a home in Almond.
 
At the School for American Craftsmen, Phelan taught a number of outstanding students including the internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Betty Woodman, and Charles LoLoma, the noted Hopi jeweler.   When the school moved again in 1950, he chose to stay in Almond and reestablished Linnwood Pottery that he continued to operate for the rest of his life. Containing many color reproductions of examples of his work, the book will surprise those who know his pottery only through the personal pottery he made during the Almond years. In addition to his pottery, also included are folios of his paintings, constructions and prints showing the two dimensional creations that he made along with the pottery. The book includes descriptions of his contributions to cultural initiatives in Maine and New York as well as his service as president of the New York State Art Teachers Association.

This monograph will provide collectors with insights into Phelan's pottery and help them in assigning works they may have collected with particular places (Saco, for example) or periods (the experimental period of the mid-century years) of his output.  For those unfamiliar with Linn L. Phelan, and desiring to learn more, this comprehensive volume will provide an overview of the personal life of Phelan whcih certainly influenced his work as well as providing visual examples of many of his pieces.

This book has been honored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book with a finalist nomination in the Design/Illustration category for the 2013 Awards.  (A limited edition is available.  Limited to 50 copies;  casebound, individually signed and numbered is $90 inc s/h.)