Slipping Life’s Bounds

Tessa Morgan first worked with clay to sooth her teenage angst and nurse the creativity her parents instilled in her when she was a little girl. In the 35 years since, that early work—tiny pots she made at a neighbor’s house in the Maryland countryside outside Washington, D.C.—has evolved into vases, lamps, bowls, and tiles that sing with Morgan’s spirited designs and gorgeous hand-mixed glazes.

“It’s still evolving and maturing,” Morgan says of her pottery during a break in her home studio, Flying Pig Pottery in Woods Hole. Dressed in jeans and apron, she juggles long work hours with her family’s schedule in her home’s basement, a combination display area, retail shop, and kiln firing area. In the cozy space, Morgan’s one-of-a-kind ceramic home items keep company with decorative tiles framed in discarded dune fencing and mugs for the local NPR station. Upstairs, her family is moving into late-afternoon mode. Husband Tim Lineaweaver operates Quissett Counseling and Consulting in a first-floor office. The couple’s son, Nicky, has come home from high school. Another son, Dylan, is 21 and in college.