Artist Statement
Don Reitz was a treasure. Born in 1929, Mr. Reitz become one of the most important and influential figures in contemporary ceramics of the 20th and 21st centuries. He received his training at Alfred University in the early 1960’s. Known for his influential technological advances and innovations to the salt-glaze process, he is affectionately known as “Mr. Salt.” Recovering after an auto accident, he then turned to low-fire color and drawing in his Sara period. Wood-firing for the last 25 years of his life, he was very excited about adding color to the process around 2009. This final period combined color, salt and woodfire--summing up everything he had done in his life. One of the last great abstract expressionist artists working in clay, his work is honored in the US and around the world.