Cleveland artist Claude Conover was a commercial artist for 30 years before choosing to make ceramic art his full-time profession. A self-taught potter, Conover followed a disciplined regime that produced one pot per week. Conover mixed his own clay and used a coil technique that he developed himself to produce his stoneware pots with their earthtone colors and incised decorations. Over the course of his second career his strict schedule produced a large number of vessels which were shown in nearly 50 exhibitions and collected by both museums and private collectors. Conover was also a member of the Cleveland School, a group of artists and craftsmen in Northeast Ohio who joined together to found several important artistic institutions in Cleveland and to foster the appreciation for the arts. The group was instrumental in the creation of the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Conover participated in 14 of the May Shows sponsored by the Cleveland Museum of Art, winning many awards in addition to those in other exhibitions. Conover’s work is included in the collections of both private and public institutions.