Gretchen Larson
Gretchen Anne Ebling was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, graduating from East Grand Rapids High School. She attended the University of Michigan, earning a BA (and later a Masters) degree in art and design, then marrying her husband, Ronal Larson, on graduation day!
She taught art to junior high students and later in her own pottery studio. She made her first, now famous, "People Pots" at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia- inspired by native pottery with faces, and by political caricatures during the Watergate era. When living in Sudan, she was the only female professor at the Khartoum Polytechnic.
Gretchen volunteered in the Retired Executive Corp in Kyrgyzstan, as President of Georgia Designer Craftsmen, President of the PTA, docent, and naturalist at the Boettcher Nature Center, Board member Jefferson Unitarian church, member of Jeffco Open Space and Golden Earth Day Council.
She lived and had a pottery studio on Lookout Mountain in a solar house decorated by a large indigenous art and mask collection. Gretchen traveled extensively in 94 different countries. Her favorite overseas trips came with her tradition of an adventure with each of her 5 grandchildren: Jada and Raina Larson; Saturn, Maia, and Marin McCoy. Gretchen enjoyed reading, skiing, yoga, and her favorite: water aerobics with her beloved friends at the Golden Rec Center. Gretchen looked beyond what people did and loved them for who they are. She taught, by example, her 5 grandkids, her daughter, Danica, and son, Davin, to find joy in creating art and awe in the natural world. She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Ron, now living in the San Francisco Bay Area, who supported her in the later stages of dementia. Gretchen is missed for her joy, warmth, easy laugh, and mostly for the love she gave to others.
SOURCE - https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/coloradocommunitymedia/name/gretchen-larson-obituary?id=57491492 (Oct 2025)
"I moved to Golden, Colorado in 1977, when my husband (Ron - married 52 years) became one of the first Branch Chiefs at the then just-forming Solar Energy Research Institute (now called NREL- the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). Before that, we lived near Atlanta Georgia, where my husband was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech. I was active in Georgia Designer-Craftsmen (even President one term) and shared several studios. Before Atlanta, we lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I received my Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Art and Art Education. I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan - where my father (John Ebling) owned a steel-supply business.
Ron's career has taken us to many countries. The best overseas job for me was being a visiting professor at the Khartoum Polytechnic in Sudan in the early 80's. I was the only teacher who was female, white, or Christian. As they had a very skilled potter, I taught sculpture there - and still think of my pots as being sculptural - even though never too serious.
We have traveled now to almost 100 countries - and still love doing so. Our own art collection has centered on African art - mostly masks (and almost all have faces of the type that inspired Picasso and other famous artists). I have a few still left of wall-masks with this African theme - but I avoid anything looking ethnic. We also collect folk art of all types. If you are near Golden, we'd love to have you drop in to see that work and my own basement studio-shop.
Ron and I have two children, Danica and Davin. Danica (an Ob-Gyn doc, married to Matt McCoy - a family doc) has three daughters: Kira (graduates from high school this week), Maia (2 more years) and Marin (6 more years). Davin (a PhD Physicist at UC-Berkeley and married to Tracy - an Environmental Engineer) has two daughters: Jada and Raina - both younger than Marin. Needless to say, these are the finest set of grandchildren anyone could have.
The greatest part of making people pots is of course in adding the faces. I still enjoy throwing and glazing - but the best part of being a people potter is trying to capture new and unusual features in people's faces. I get my ideas mostly from political cartoons. I have captured a lot of well-known politicians (Richard Nixon was relatively easy with his "ski-nose") - but I have much more fun with "unknowns". My people pots rarely look like women - my choice. I have worked from photographs, but don't enjoy that as much as seeing what pops out of the clay. I could try replicating something you have seen, but much better to simply keep looking here (or at the shops in Colorado - where the prices are all the same).
Pots with arms and legs added are not as much fun as those with just faces - but I try to have all types in stock at all times. The most popular seem to be my chip dips and pots with multiple faces. The lowest prices are of course smaller ones, without the arms and legs. I have made clocks with three, six, and twelve faces - (once with dog faces). I need to do more with items like toothbrush- and pencil-holders. I can supply corks usually if you ask.
All of my pieces are stoneware - cones 9 and 10. I buy clay by the ton from Mile High Ceramics in Denver, with my own recipe (adding a few ingredients to one of their standards - to get better color and plasticity). The glazes are lead-free, with a standard bluish-green that I try to get a mottled effect in. Electric firing (using mostly solar electricity in the all-solar house we live in)."
