Sasha Makovkin Art

Sasha Makovkin — originally from Vancouver, B.C. and of Russian descent — moved to California in 1954 to work at Heath Ceramics in Sausalito in order to get industrial experience. In 1952, he graduated with a BA from the University of British Columbia, and in 1987, completed an MA in theology at New College Berkeley, California. During the 1950s, Makovkin exhibited at the Association of San Francisco Potters and the San Francisco Arts Festival. Five years later, after arriving in California, Makovkin took some samples of his ceramics to Gump’s, a high-end department store in San Francisco. Impressed with his work, Gump’s featured Makovkin’s work in the main floor exhibits for the next three years.

Makovkin apprenticed for periods of time with Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm artists’ colony and with Ross Curtis. He also worked for Edith Heath at Heath Pottery. He had a studio in the Mill Valley area for seven or eight years and taught in Mendocino during the summers. While living in the Bay Area, he did a great deal of ecclesiastical work, making several fonts for holy water for Old St. Mary's Church in Chinatown, San Francisco. Makovkin also did work for the Holy Redeemer monastery in East Oakland, including altarpieces, a huge bowl for the refectory and a redesign of the crest of the order, which was applied to the holy water fonts for each of the fathers’ room altars. In 1967, he moved to Mendocino. There, Makovkin was the master potter at the Mendocino Art Center, assisted by his wife Susan Cope Makovkin. In Mendicino, he operated a studio and taught at College of the Redwoods. From 1988–89, Makovkin and his wife Susan were artists-in-residence at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. His work ranged from functional stoneware forms to sculpture and architectural installations. Makovkin dug the stoneware clay he used for his functional pieces from Mount Tamalpais. Long before it was popular, Makovkin fired his work in a diesel-fueled kiln using a mixture of used motor oils.