Auto engineer became full-time potter in LA thanks to her high school art teacher

While many potters generally dislike repetitious throwing, Chernoff believes her work as an engineer gave her an aptitude for creating precise dinnerware sets. Photos: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Throwing pottery on a wheel can be a love-hate relationship. Becki Chernoff knows all about it.

"Many people fall in love with clay when they take their first class," Chernoff says as she sits at the potter's wheel in her Pasadena studio. "But others become frustrated because it's too hard and decide it's not for them. It's usually one or the other."