David Dahlstedt was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1951. The Mountain View Pottery (formerly American Beauty Pottery) and the Dahlstedts [David and Becki] are one. David came to Arkansas with his parents at the age of three. His first introduction to clay was at Henderson State University with Joe Coulter. But it was not until he traveled and visited potters in California that he realized he could make a living from the medium. After a short stint at the Dryden Pottery in Hot Springs, David took a position at the Ozark Folk Art Center in Mountain View and has been there since 1978. He has made one of a kind pieces for a long time, but found it was time consuming and unrewarding and has turn more to traditional pottery over the years.
Becki joined David in 1985. She organizes, does the bookkeeping and monitors inventory; he orders supplies and fixes equipment. Both throw, decorate, sign their own pots and fire the kilns. His works are lighter and the proportions are more generous; hers are smaller and lighter. Since 1992 they have impressed their work with "Made in Arkansas". Their production pottery is uniformly white with floral brushwork in dashes of blue, green and red. David's one of a kind leaning pitchers are studies in thrown and extruded construction and balance. The couple does 30 to 40 firings a year with 200 to 300 pieces per firing.
Alan DuBois, Curator of Decorative Arts