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The Dream
The dream would be to tell you that I live with my wife, Karen in a cabin on 5 acres of land in the Adirondack Mountains with the Little Woodhull Creek running along the back of the property and there's access to a tranquil lake within walking distance. My pottery studio takes up the back
half of the garage, in which a bisque firing is finishing in the kiln...
...a pit firing is winding down outside, the raku kiln awaits an evening lighting...
...and the charcoal grill is firing up awaiting the hamburgers and hotdogs we'll have for dinner.
Someday the dream will come true...parts already have. I live with my wife, Karen and the cabin we own, and where we go every weekend and where we will eventually live, is on 5 acres in the Adirondacks with the Little Woodhull Creek running along the back of the property. We call the place Langston Hill...and it's a stones throw to a very peaceful lake where we paddle our kayaks on a non-motorized lake. The studio in the back of the garage is where I do a little wood working now but will be where I will move my pottery studio, which is currently in a section of our basement that I reclaimed...Karen will tell you I took it over! My electric kiln resides in the old cistern section of the basement, which is pretty much perfect for now and I do my pit and raku firings in the back yard. It's a very good, albeit temporary solution.
half of the garage, in which a bisque firing is finishing in the kiln...
...a pit firing is winding down outside, the raku kiln awaits an evening lighting...
...and the charcoal grill is firing up awaiting the hamburgers and hotdogs we'll have for dinner.
Someday the dream will come true...parts already have. I live with my wife, Karen and the cabin we own, and where we go every weekend and where we will eventually live, is on 5 acres in the Adirondacks with the Little Woodhull Creek running along the back of the property. We call the place Langston Hill...and it's a stones throw to a very peaceful lake where we paddle our kayaks on a non-motorized lake. The studio in the back of the garage is where I do a little wood working now but will be where I will move my pottery studio, which is currently in a section of our basement that I reclaimed...Karen will tell you I took it over! My electric kiln resides in the old cistern section of the basement, which is pretty much perfect for now and I do my pit and raku firings in the back yard. It's a very good, albeit temporary solution.
An Artist's Statement
I have a deep and real spiritual connection to my work as a potter and I guess that's naturally expected, for while clay is central to my work in pottery, the Sacred Scriptures are central to my work as a Presbyterian Pastor. I think it's a big deal that there are over 1500 references in the Bible to some form of the words: clay, earth, water, wind and fire...essential elements in the creation of pottery...and in the deepening of our understanding of God. In addition, when one considers the central and significant events of the Christian faith, the reality is, most of them occurred out of doors. From the birth in a cave, to the death on "Skull Hill," Christianity is an out of doors religion. Thus there is a very natural spiritual connection to my work in clay, especially when I'm outside firing my raku pottery or doing a pit firing because it takes me back to the Source...to the Divine Creator, whose crowning creation occurred outside...out of clay...out of "the dust of the ground."
Being outside has always been a source of strength and refreshment for me. To be outside is to be alive in the fullest sense of what that means. Dan Fogelberg put is so eloquently in that line from my favorite song, The Wild Places: "In the wild places man, is an unwelcome guest, but it's here that I'm found and it's here I feel blessed." Certainly, Ralph Waldo Emerson got it exactly right too when he said: "In the woods, we return to reason and faith." The wildness in nature touches the wildness in me and again and again, as I move about in creation, I’m reminded that clay, earth, water, wind and fire come together in an infinite variety of creative ways. My work in clay tries to accentuate this reality and is an attempt in some way, to bring “the outside in” and to help people connect with the wild places they’ve been too or would like to go.
My pots, tiles and lanterns are an attempt to capture a rustic Adirondack style, where mysterious spaces, shapes, forms and textures co-exist in a gnarly, intertwined and unexpected way. I hope that my work also carries some connection to the Divine Artist whose presence in the wild places, on this blue jewel we call earth, is undeniable for me.
I don't worry too much about symmetry in my pottery, mostly because much of what we see and experience in life and in nature is asymmetrical, "out of balance"..."just a little off" in some way. To me, there is a beauty in that. Beyond that, in my life, what has become out of balance, difficult, challenging, cracked or harsh...somehow, with the passing of time, the help of others and the goodness and grace of God becomes something beautiful. I want this to show in my work. I want my art to be in some way a reflection of the imbalance in life. There is, sometimes, a smoothness, an evenness to life, but this more often than not, comes as a result of experiencing the gnarly and rough side of things.
Being outside has always been a source of strength and refreshment for me. To be outside is to be alive in the fullest sense of what that means. Dan Fogelberg put is so eloquently in that line from my favorite song, The Wild Places: "In the wild places man, is an unwelcome guest, but it's here that I'm found and it's here I feel blessed." Certainly, Ralph Waldo Emerson got it exactly right too when he said: "In the woods, we return to reason and faith." The wildness in nature touches the wildness in me and again and again, as I move about in creation, I’m reminded that clay, earth, water, wind and fire come together in an infinite variety of creative ways. My work in clay tries to accentuate this reality and is an attempt in some way, to bring “the outside in” and to help people connect with the wild places they’ve been too or would like to go.
My pots, tiles and lanterns are an attempt to capture a rustic Adirondack style, where mysterious spaces, shapes, forms and textures co-exist in a gnarly, intertwined and unexpected way. I hope that my work also carries some connection to the Divine Artist whose presence in the wild places, on this blue jewel we call earth, is undeniable for me.
I don't worry too much about symmetry in my pottery, mostly because much of what we see and experience in life and in nature is asymmetrical, "out of balance"..."just a little off" in some way. To me, there is a beauty in that. Beyond that, in my life, what has become out of balance, difficult, challenging, cracked or harsh...somehow, with the passing of time, the help of others and the goodness and grace of God becomes something beautiful. I want this to show in my work. I want my art to be in some way a reflection of the imbalance in life. There is, sometimes, a smoothness, an evenness to life, but this more often than not, comes as a result of experiencing the gnarly and rough side of things.
