Passion for pottery pays off

Passion for pottery pays off: Vases created by North Raleigh potter Ali Sobel-Read are going into a home featured on Sunday’s episode of ABC’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.’Jan 21, 2006

Published in: The News and Observer

January 2006

Demorris A. Lee, Correspondent

Staff Photo by Travis Long

Pursuing passion pays. It was a pottery class in her senior year in college that first hooked Ali Sobel-Read to the joys of taking slabs of colorless clay and molding it into delicate pieces of art. After years of perfecting the craft and then teaching it to others, Sobel-Read’s passion may have earned her her big break — or at the very least, exposure to millions.

On Sunday at 8 p.m., viewers will be able to see several of Sobel-Read’s intricate vases among the decor and accessories going into a home on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The show, which changes a deserving family’s living conditions when their old house is torn down and rebuilt, will air the episode Sunday at 9.p.m.

Look for three vases — they’ll be holding orchids — by Sobel-Read in a bathroom of a rebuilt Sandpointe, Idaho, home.

“I always taught students to have a passion and to pursue it,” said Sobel-Read, 34, who taught for 12 years in New York City schools. “It’s like everything I was trying to teach them, I learned again, too. This has been my passion for so many years and it’s been overwhelming by the way it’s been received.”

How Sobel-Read got the opportunity reads like the a familiar Hollywood big break story. “Extreme Makeover” often puts out a call for creative new art to fill its televised renovated houses. And as it goes in Hollywood, a friend who knows a friend, who knows a friend, saw Ali-Sobel-Read’s work and passed it on to the folks at “Extreme Makeover.”

“Ali Sobel-Read’s pottery has the exact contemporary style and color we were looking for,” said Diane Korman, coordinating producer for the show. “When we called to request product, Ali was thrilled to help the family and donate pottery even though the family was based in Sandpointe, Idaho … across the country.”

Korman went on to say: “It still amazes me that we are helped by the artist community across the country to make our houses into homes.”

Sobel-Read and her husband moved to North Raleigh about a year ago from New York where she taught high school art and history at inner-city schools. She was also involved in the after-school program. All along she remained active with pottery, often taking classes on the side and bringing her creations to life at a community studio.

After about 10 years of double duty, she and her husband, Kevin Sobel-Read, a business litigator, decided to relocate. They chose Raleigh.

“We were looking for a smallish city with a real commitment to the art with a lot of cultural activities happening,” Sobel-Read said. “With all the colleges nearby, a lot is happening. We are very happy [with Raleigh].”

With a studio upstairs in her home, Sobel-Read now solely concentrates on making planters, vases, tumblers, tiles and other clay originals. She teaches pottery at Raleigh’s Sertoma Arts Center and is a member of the Triangle Potters Guild.

About 10 months ago, Sobel-Read met Sara Gress while taking a class at Central Carolina Community College. Gress was teaching the class that centered on helping artists get there work into art houses and studios. After the class, Sobel-Read’s work ended up at Gress’ N.C. Crafts Gallery. The 16-year Carrboro gallery features crafts, pottery, jewelry, blown glass and other items made exclusively by North Carolina artist and potters.

“It’s different than anything we have,” Gress said of Sobel-Read’s work. “She has some really pretty planters and vases.”

Having Sobel-Read’s work on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” bodes well for the entire art community, Gress said.

“All artist and potters have their own style and it’s nice to see (that work) on shows, especially popular shows,” Gress said. “It’s nice to see handmade original work. It’s good for the artists, the crafty gallery and it brings a new appreciation.”

For Sobel-Read, her passions are coming together.

“I loved it when I taught but I was ready for a change,” she said. “With the teaching I do now, I am able to keep my skills fresh. I now combine skills — pottery and teaching — of what I love.”

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