By ADAM STEWART

Staff writer

When Matthew Mitros and Marion native Carrie Darrow decorated the lake hall Friday for their wedding reception, they did so with vases Mitros crafted.

“I first learned to throw when I was 10, but I didn’t take it seriously until I was 20,” he said.

Throwing is the term for making ceramics.

Mitros was an architectural engineering major at Pennsylvania State University but decided it wasn’t what he wanted for a career. He took a couple of ceramics classes and realized he wanted to pursue his art as a career.

“Twelve years later I find myself teaching ceramics and sculpture,” he said.

Mitros and Darrow, daughter of Bill and Debbi Darrow of Marion, teach at Lakeside School in Seattle. They hit it off while accompanying 12 students to Peru. The couple plan to return to Peru for their honeymoon.

“It’s a special place,” Darrow said. “We like it.”

Mitros likes working with clay for several reasons.

“It’s real responsive, so when I push it, it gives,” he said. “I like that I’m turning mud into stone.”

He also enjoys the artistic aspect of ceramics, one of the earliest known art forms.

“It’s a special kind of art, because you don’t just look at it,” Mitros said. “You touch it. You use it. You drink out of it. I think through that you find meaning in it.”

They married Saturday at Marion Presbyterian Church. The reception was at the lake hall at Marion County Park and Lake.

Darrow is a 1999 Marion High School graduate.