Westside Stories

When Wallie Garvey invited me to his home for an interview, I was glad he had warned me to bring a four-wheel drive vehicle. His house sits far from the main road and getting there is not for the faint of heart. Several miles down Altoona-Pillar Rock Road on a sunny afternoon I reached the steep, rocky climb that snakes up through the trees toward his property. I'm no stranger to tricky roads, so I shifted our Dodge Ram into four-wheel drive and forged ahead. It's not a road I'd want to tackle every day, especially during a heavy downpour.

After winding endlessly uphill I finally reached his property and felt like I'd arrived on top of the world. His modest home sits at the top of a bluff. After giving me a quick tour of his charming house, on which he did much of the work. He took me out to the deck that overlooks the Columbia River.

Even on a hazy day the view was staggering-stretching from Cathlamet to the mouth of the Columbia River. Saddle Mountain hovered in the distance like a ghost. Far below the Columbia shimmered in long silver streaks, ships moving silently with a kind of slow, unstoppable force you could feel more than hear. It's the sort of place that makes you want to speak in whispers as if being loud might disturb something sacred.

The first time I met Wallie wasn't in this peaceful setting but at the West End Food Pantry. It was a hot Thursday afternoon at Johnson Park and I was darting around wearing a tank top when he stopped me to ask about the London double-decker bus tattoo on my right arm. He was genuinely interested in why a woman in Rosburg would have such a tattoo. You see, he grew up in a small town north of Manchester, England, with the Lake District visible outside his bedroom window.

He moved to the U.S. at twenty and spent many years in Miami and Jamaica. He's done a lot, from building houses to managing a plumbing business. Twelve years ago he bought property here, for his eventual retirement, then seven years ago he moved in full-time. His British accent has remained stubbornly intact, a melodic reminder of the country of his birth.

We spent several hours discussing his life and surprisingly discovered how much we had in common. He served me a cup of Earl Grey tea and made me feel at home. Wallie's one of those rare people who seems able to do anything he puts his mind to; from playing guitar and writing his own music to home renovations and creating stunning pieces of pottery.

His love for pottery began more than 20 years ago in Florida, when his friend Marita, a South African woman, persuaded him to take her pottery class. He resisted at first thinking it wasn't his thing. But the moment he sat down at the wheel and felt the wet clay spin beneath his hands something clicked. Marita became instrumental in nurturing his love for the craft and he's been hooked ever since.

As he showed me his work and led me down to his basement studio his passion was immediately apparent. The studio smelled faintly of damp earth and wood smoke the kind of grounded scent you can only get from clay and the heat of a kiln. Mugs, bowls, and other molded pieces, each with subtle, beautiful imperfections, lined the shelves, waiting to be glazed and fired.

To Wallie pottery means throwing clay on a wheel and shaping vessels with your hands from a raw lump of earth. It's an act of transformation and patience. "A lot of times I'll throw a piece of clay on the wheel with no idea what it's going to be," he told me. "Sometimes I get halfway through and cut it off. It's very volatile. One little mistake and it's back in the pile."

Any artist knows that sting; hours of work and expensive materials can be undone in seconds. And pottery isn't cheap. Clay, glazes, and equipment are expensive, and firing pottery takes ten hours in a kiln at 3,000 degrees. There's also the cost you can't measure-the hours of trial and error and the emotional investment that goes into making something unique. When a piece breaks or warps or simply doesn't come out the way you envisioned, it's not just the loss of materials. It feels personal.

He's not in it to run a business. When pottery starts to feel like commerce, the joy leaks out of it. He sells pieces mostly so he can afford to keep making more. Some he doesn't want to part with at all. "It's personal," he said, "when someone drinks their morning coffee from a cup you made. They aren't just buying something to sit on a shelf; they're taking home something that becomes part of their everyday life."

We discussed how putting your work out into the world, whether it's writing, pottery, or music, can expose you to the risk of it being dismissed or minimized. It's the gamble every artist takes: pouring yourself into something with no guarantee that anyone will understand or appreciate it. And yet people like Wallie keep doing it anyway.

Wallie embodies that creative paradox. He isn't chasing fame or profit. He simply loves the work, the feel of the clay spinning under his palms, the slow emergence of the shape, and the quiet satisfaction when someone uses something he made. There's something grounding in that kind of dedication, something honest.

There are only two weeks left of the West Wahkiakum Farmers Market. If you stop by, take a minute to meet Wallie. He's a joy to talk with and his work speaks for itself. The market is open Fridays through the end of September from 1-4 p.m. at Rosburg Hall.

Westside Happenings

September

19 – West Wahkiakum Farmers Market at Rosburg Hall, 1-4pm

28 – FAFF Meeting at Appelo Archives

Center, 4pm

October

4 – 4-H Covered Bridge Dinner &

Auction, 4:30pm

9 – Fall Barter Night at Grays River

Grange, 5pm

11 – Bingo at Rosburg Hall, doors open at

5:30pm, games start at 6pm

14 – Candidate Forum at Grays River

Grange, 6:30pm

18 – Appelo Archive Center Harvest Auction & Champagne Social

25 – Holiday Bazaar at Rosburg Hall with chicken lunch, 10am-2pm For vendor information please contact Frieda Footh at 360-465-2574.

For a list of regular monthly events, please refer to the Wahkiakum Calendar. To add an event to the calendar, please get in touch with me at writerlisayeager@outlook.com.