17″h x 8”w x 7”d
ceramic
Why, a friend asked, do you sculpt so many women who seem sad?
I did not know that I had. With this piece, suggestive of a Rohingya migrant, I did not intend to sculpt a sad person. While her clothes are tattered, her bearing suggests beauty. She cradles an injured bird. Poor in coin she is rich in care. The same is true for many women the world over … whatever tragedy or misfortune they endure. She is but a symbol.
8″ x 8″ x 3″
Making mugs is a staple for ceramicists. Whether beginners or proficient, whether production potters or one-of-a-kind enthusiasts, whether artists who throw mugs on a wheel or construct them from slabs, all have excelled at cup-making. From the perspective of marketing that is understandable. Year after year as the holiday seasons roll around, mugs are what sell.
I found cup making boring even tedious, that is until I received an email from one of my brother’s grandchildren. He wanted to give his grandparents a surprise gift …something they would really like…something personal to them. He wondered if I had anything he could afford! Even a “dented” piece would be okay.
While I’m not sure what a dented ceramic would look like, I began to think about his request. I found it touching as well as enlivening.
The gift turned out to be the two mugs pictured here. If you look closely you will see the word “Ragtime” embedded near the rim of each cup. That is the name of their sailboat.
My brother and his wife were delighted with the thoughtfulness of their grandchild. The young man is as pleased-as-punch with himself.
Since that time I have enjoyed making unique mugs for others. That is his gift to me.
“Six Shooter”
14″ x 14″ x 11″
Ceramic, steel, gun parts, aloe vera plant, dirt
Rifle barrels (part of Santa Fe’s buy back program to lessen gun violence) have been forged into six leaves that seemingly grow from a live Aloe Vera plant known for its healing qualities. Together they grow from desert soil. The clay bowl, already transformed by fire, holds out hope that the gun culture can change.
This piece, simple as it is, was difficult to sculpt. Gun steel, because of its carbon content, is so much harder than mild steel. I have the blisters as proof.
It is difficult to forge gun parts into art. To change ourselves is troublesome enough. To lessen gun violence even more challenging.
12” x 8” x 6”
ceramic NFS
bronze
John Baptist De La Salle was a French priest taken by the needs of disadvantaged youth. Born to privilege, he dared to establish schools for poor children. The work led him to inspire young men to join him in the work. To gain their trust he relinquished his 17th century family status, distributed his wealth, moved in with the men and called them Brothers. Together they bloomed into a worldwide community who–until recently–numbered over eighteen thousand men educating tens of thousands of youngsters, largely the poor and underserved. For thirty years I was one of those men. While now married for a quarter century, the Brothers influenced my life in remarkable ways. In turn, they have also influenced my life as a ceramic artist. This sculpture is of the man before he died. It mirrors his tiredness as well as depth of character.
Te Deum
36″ x 24″ x 60″
Steel
9″ x 9″ x 9″
Twice yearly a dozen or so ceramicists from the Santa Fe and Taos areas place their wheel-thrown or slab-built pieces in a large pit lined with horse bedding. Dried coffee grounds, sea weed, horse hair, salt, copper wire, plant fertilizers — and whatever else artists want to add — are sprinkled judiciously in the pit. Hard wood is added and the heap set ablaze. It smolders for a day.
When uncovered there are oohs and aaahs, surprises and disappointments, at what had been created. Mine was a long aaah.
The gold accent lines were painted afterward
11″ x 10″ x 5″
Bulls try to unseat unwelcome riders at Rodeos. Matadors taunt these giants to the point of rage and then orchestrate their killing under the guise of sport. I find it all disconcerting.
I sculpted this charging bull with s small red bird riding on its back. I have had the opportunity to visit Tanzania a few times. There I witnessed birds hitching a taxi ride on the backs of lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos and all manner of four legged creatures. Someone told me that the birds were looking for their next meal of insects.
To me the bull and its rider is an image of a this-worldly peaceable world … rather than of Wall Street or misplaced sport.
14″ x 7″ x 6″
Unless you live in the Southwest, ravens are noisy maligned creatures. Their squawk is strident. They are also a little menacing as they sit on high perches ready to swoop down whenever a meal is in sight. Few seem to admire them with the same interest we bestow on songbirds or those of color.
Evidently ravens are among the smartest of all birds. They play, solve problems, and communicate well. There is even the theory that they pass on some life-saving behaviors to their offspring genetically (rather than having to teach the young). In other words, ravens are smart.
Little wonder that some Native American peoples depict ravens in human form. I follow that tradition. My raven is dressed as an aristocrat, even regal in bearing.. Her cope is gold, her tunic burgundy. Her hand rests over her heart.
This raven is my reminder to look twice at everyone and everything.
14″ x 14″ x 11″
After being fired, this piece sat on a table in the studio. When I arrived, three potters were discussing it. “I thought it was a woven basket.” said one. Two others nodded in agreement. “How hard was it to adhere the bronzed owl to its lid?” asked another.
I did not try to make this large slab built pot to resemble a woven basket. Neither is the owl made of bronze. It is clay. My only intent was to make an earthy-looking attractive pot that was both functional and eye catching.
12″ x 13″ x 8″
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
James Baldwin. A remarkable man. Intelligent, insightful, a master of recognizing human foibles, black, gay, educated, sophisticated, an artist in word and style.
“It is easy to proclaim all souls equal in the sight of God; it is hard to make men equal on earth in the sight of men.”