When you meet Lakshmi Katari you will immediately feel her calm manner. When you strike up a conversation, her gentle southern accent will draw you in. Did I say southern? I meant Southern India. Lakshmi was born in Hyderabad, India.

“I wanted to throw on the wheel” Lakshmi confesses, “and I never had a chance until we moved to Walnut Creek. We have grandchildren here and we wanted to be near them. We have two children, a son who is here in Alamo with three children, and a daughter who has since moved Philadelphia. The studio was down the street from where we lived, and I started taking classes.” It was upon returning from Connecticut when Lakshmi met her guru, Ann Henderson.

“Ann is my teacher, my guru. She is very patient. Most of the people in the studio are like that, friendly and always showing people how to do things. It’s a good place to be for health. In open studio there are a lot of potters who are working, and there is a lot of experience. I love it when I am throwing; it is like meditation…or something calming –and there are sometimes frustrations, too, when I can’t center.” Her pottery illustrates her centeredness, however.

And she has shown that she is centered in her the rest of her life as well. Lakshmi serves as the Guild Librarian, a board position. Her responsibilities of overseeing the library entail: keeping contact with the library aids, making sure there is fairly even coverage of time in the studio with the library aids, updating library lists, buying new books, entering the necessary details for new books, overseeing book donations and, of course, checking books in and out.

Now retired after 20 years in the daycare business, she still enjoys regularly taking care of her grandchildren. Her pottery also shows that she is patient and caring. Hand painting each piece at home, she shows attention to detail creating Indian motifs.  

“I like to put Indian design into it. Paisley is one motif and a lot of flowers. I use my quiet time at home to paint. I have also started to carve. I have been learning from Lynn Meade, who carves from dry pieces.”

Proudly showing her works in the Studio Sale last month, the public grabbed up works done by Lakshmi. “I think I sold about 28 pieces this time. I have sold in the sale before, and I did pretty well. My prices are really low, so…I don’t put my good pieces in the sale; I put them away or give them to my family.” 

Looking ahead Lakshmi predicts, “I would like to do bigger pieces, because right now my pieces are small; I throw about 3 pounds. I would like to throw maybe 6 to 8 pounds, bigger pieces. I just love pottery; I could do this all day.

Each of us can learn from her example of the relationship of student and guru. Choosing your guru can help you with your path to enlightenment. And during that journey we will find that each student is actually a guru to those around them!

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