Clary Illian was an apprentice potter at the LEACH POTTERY from 1964-65, having studied previously at the University of Iowa in the state in which she was born. In her writings, A Potter's Workbook, she credits Bernard Leach as the creator of the modern studio pottery movement, now well-acknowledged universally.

She worked in stoneware and porcelain, and produced a large range of high-quality domestic ware.  Her own first studio was set up in the mid-1960s in Benton County, Iowa, and she later lived and worked in Ely, Iowa.  Her avocation was always to teach at workshops throughout the USA and Canada. Her on-line presence is good, in that her book is still much in use (she is called 'a national treasure in the USA) and there are helpful videos available on You Tube sharing her philosophy and techniques.