Don Katz
ASMP Advocate

I am a blind potter based in Los Angeles, California. I lost my sight due to bacterial meningitis in 2001. After waking up from a month-long coma, I had to relearn how to walk, feed myself, and adjust to my new reality without sight. What began as an introductory pottery course at The Braille Institute of Los Angeles has now become my obsession.

As I struggled on the wheel, my ceramics teacher once told me, “You are stronger than dirt”—words I live by today. I appreciate feeling the clay take shape on the potter's wheel and how touch informs the form. I love creating unique, handmade, functional, and decorative ceramic objects.

You can learn more about my work on my website.