Otto Heino (1915 - )

Otto Heino is a man who has dedicated his life to his passion. In doing so, he has been rewarded with serenity, true contentment and peace of mind. He was born to share his gift with others: his students, his patrons and most significantly, his spouse of 45 years, Vivika.

The Heino story is uniquely American; one of artistic talent, disciplined mastery and commercial success shaped by the post-World War II era. As a 33-year old veteran of Air Force gunner flights, Otto returned to New Hampshire where he had grown up on a farm; the fifth of twelve children. He met a pottery teacher while she was walking to her class in the summer of 1948. He enrolled in her class on the GI Bill, excelled, fell in love and they married.

Vivika and Otto’s resulting artistic partnership was so balanced that the artists shared equally in the creative process down to the signing of both their names on each piece they produced. Together, they played a significant role in the advancing the North American tradition of pottery-making with a body of work that is an award winning presence in shows, museums, galleries and collections world wide. Their introduction to western culture of the eastern tradition of creating “kiln gods” (to insure a successful fire) is now widely practiced among western potters.

With Vivika’s passing in September of 1995, Otto now does it all himself. Ceramics authority Val Cushing describes Otto as a “thrower of extraordinary skill with a sensitive eye for the classical form.” A practical and plain-spoken man with an around-the-clock work ethic, Otto says, “I let the clay work for me. I just guide it.” Otto says that the students, “hundreds of them” he and his wife taught throughout the years at institutions including the University of Southern California, the Chouinard Art Institute and the Heino’s own studio, were the couple’s only children.

It was Beatrice Wood, perhaps the most famous student of the Heinos, who persuaded the pair to settle in the Ojai Valley and sold them her own house complete with kiln. Otto Heino’s life is proof that commitment to one’s craft can be artistically, spiritually and personally rewarding.