Follow their seven-decade love story – from a chance meeting as struggling Depression-era artists, through their rise in New Hampshire to the top of the American studio pottery movement. Today their work is coveted by major collectors around the country and the world. Supported by the federal Works Progress Administration, Ed and Mary Scheier started out as artists in the rural south. Upon meeting in 1937, they became traveling puppeteers, but soon found a better way to earn a living – making pottery. Turning an old log cabin in Glade Spring, Virginia, into a pottery studio, the Scheiers taught themselves how to find clay, throw pots and fire glazed ceramic pieces. As teachers at the University of New Hampshire the couple became celebrated, winning national awards year after year, and seeing their work collected by major museums. In 1968 Ed and Mary retired from pottery, moving to Oaxaca, Mexico to work in media inspired by indigenous craft traditions – weavings and wood sculpture.
The Scheiers moved back to the U.S. ten years later, settling in Arizona, where Ed returned to the potter’s wheel to produce some of his greatest works. Mary Scheier passed away at age 99 in 2007. Ed Scheier discovered computer art, creating numerous digital paintings, before his passing in 2008.
Four Hands One Heart, the documentary, celebrates the spirit of this talented couple and shows how a loving relationship, the daily practice of art, devoted friendships and a little luck can make for a lifetime of longevity, creativity and wit.
Four Hands One Heart, has aired nationally on PBS through American Public Television since 2001. For broadcast information visit: www.aptonline.org.
Now Available in DVD with these Special Features:
A Ken Browne Productions and the Currier Gallery of Art film, in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire’s Office of Sustainability Programs and the University Library.
Running time: approx. 46 minutes.
Written and directed by Ken Browne.
Original music composed by Lorraine Nelson Wolf, www.nelsonwolf.com.
Narrated by Frances Sternhagen.