Memorial Minute

Eve Carey

Eve (Nathanson) Carey was born to Jeannette (Rosefield) Nathanson and (Joseph) George Nathanson in 1920 in Providence Rhode Island. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1943,studing at the Arts Students League in New York City under the Japanese painter Kuniyoshi. She continued her study in Provincetown, MA, where she worked as a jeweler and shared a storefront with the well-known artist Peter Hunt.

In 1946 Eve received a Masters of Arts degree in Ceramics from Alfred University, Alfred, New York. For her thesis she researched majolica, for it combined her passion for painting and her fondness for form. Eve had a particular gift of ingenious inspiration and perseverance. With these talents she was able to create glaze formulas that at high temperatures held their color and background. With these new glaze techniques, Eve replaced the original earthenware used by the early majolica potters.

In 1948 she met and married John Arthur Carey II, grandson of Arthur Linn Carey of Ohio Yearly Meeting. For the next few years her work was very well received. She sold pieces at Gumps, a store in San Francisco that at the time was quite elegant, as well as at various prestigious California galleries. In 1948 Eve Carey won first place award at the State fair in Mountain View California.

Her pots had a special smooth, satiny finish with lovely colors both subtle and bright. Her work, like her Italian mentors, had religious, mythical and allegorical themes. Some were whimsical representations of fables, myth and legends. Other pieces had more basic designs of blueberry branches, dogwoods or blue birds. Still other pieces rely on classic designs that are reminiscent of baroque or gothic patterns with acanthus leaves or gioch and with an almost oriental influence.

For Eve, her work was an outward manifestation of her inner reality. Her life was grounded in the principles of equality, love, joy, peace and harmony. She was not content to simply speak the words of her Quaker faith; that all people have that of God within and that this spirit will speak to all who listen. Her life was a testament to these beliefs whether as a teacher, a friend, a mother or a potter.

In the early 1950’s she moved back East when John accepted a teaching position at St. Marks School in Southboro Ma. During this time she also visited John’s Quaker family in Leesburg Ohio and became a member of their Friends Meeting. For the next few years she and her family would occasionally attend worship at Cambridge Friends Meeting. While there she met with several other Friends who lived in the Framingham area. Together they formed a worship group, found a building for a Meeting House and established Framingham Monthly Meeting. Eve served as clerk of the Meeting, clerk of Ministry and Counsel and also participated in various activities of the Yearly Meeting, including the 1973 revisionist committee for Faith and

Practice. Summers she and her family spent on Cape Cod attending Yarmouth Friends Meeting. She is remembered fondly by Friends on Cape Cod for the Quaker picnics she hosted with her husband in their lovely tree studded yard, and for her sincere welcome to all newcomers.

In 1962, when she and her husband John saw the property on Route 6A in Dennis, Massachusetts, they instinctively knew it was to be their home. The earth planted with apple trees, the birds singing, it was obvious that this was to be their Eden.

In the description of their shop, Eden Hand Arts, Eve writes "In the beginning there was Eden. A small part of the Garden still remains on Rte. 6A in Dennis. As in any garden, here one finds flowers and fruit, insects, friendly beasts and birds." Children and even grandchildren of her early customers are now customers.

Surrounded by roses, bluebells and ivy, Eve Carey's studio was once a chicken coop. While most everyone else had to duck as they enter, her 4'11" frame perfectly fit the proportions of her space. Though she was small in stature, her influence on others was powerful Her humor, skill and sensitivity attracted every age.

Eve sent her daughter Rachel to George School and son Trey (deceased) to Moses Brown. It was at a Sandwich Quarterly picnic that Trey met Charlotte Stevens, daughter of Elaine and Herbert Stevens of Westport Meeting. After the teenage couple attended China Camp, the following summer they joined in union and gave Eve three grandchildren. This started a long and close relationship between the two families.

Her artistic work continued to reflect her spiritual witness. A teapot was not simply a teapot. A teapot was a means of expressing the harmony in life. Often it will share a larger message and have a scene that could be a parable or a moral truth. For example, a common theme for Eve was the lion coexisting with the lamb. Even her designs that did not explicitly tell a story have a centered quality of peace. Often, customers shared the joy and happiness they feel when they drink out of one of her mugs. They said it brings them a sense of inner peace. They have shared how her work has brightened their spirit when they felt burdened or sad.

In the last decade her work again gained recognition. She sold work to royalty and collectors from Cape Cod Massachusetts to Australia and is in the permanent collection at the Mills College Gallery for Ceramics in Berkeley CA.

Eve felt that for everyone, life could be Eden if you work at it. At St. Marks School she not only instructed her students in pottery but also counseled them "to listen to the voice within, make the outside world a better one and love life".

Retirement would not be the noun to describe what Eve accomplished since leaving St.Marks School at the age of 67 in 1987. Along with her pottery, her time and attention went to her many friends, family, quilting, rug hooking and golf (which she bravely began at the age of 70). Also, every week during the summer she hosted a tea party for the people at the Cape Playhouse and especially her close friends and internationally renowned scenic designers, Helen Pond and Herbert Senn.

It seemed that Eve could work with focus and concentration even in the most violent tempest. There was no way anyone could approach her while she worked that didn’t startle her. Perhaps this is because she was so present, so focused in the moment. The theme of centeredness, so important in Quaker worship, was ever present in Eve's life.

She displayed a cheerful optimism even while enduring grave health problems in her last few years. Eve died at home on April 7th 2005. She was 84 years old. A Memorial Service was held in the manner of Friends on _______ overflowing the East Sandwich Meeting house. She is survived by her husband John, daughter Rachel, and three grandchildren; Aslan, Emily, and Alex. Her legacy lives on among her family and friends and she will be remembered as a warm and generous spirit. Living one moment at a time, she brought to life the beauty, the serenity and the joy that was and still is present at Eden.