Gallery Hours

10 - 4 Saturdays by appointment by calling 218-791-5689.

Artist Statement:

A Retrospective Exhibition: 60 Years with Clay

Over a year ago, I signed up to be a Mudder of the Month. Unfortunately, I was unable to prepare for my exhibition due to a reason I no longer remember. My brother and fellow Muddy Waters Clay Center member, Norman, agreed to show his fantastic new crystalline glazed pots. I then signed up for January 2025. My plan was to create “Doodle Pots” from years of doodles of potential pottery forms I had made during law office meetings, depositions, and other meetings. I have a three-ring binder full of these. But, I am a horrible procrastinator. Unfortunately, while fishing with two of my brothers, Norm and Marvin, in September, I tripped while we were having shore lunch. I fell on my left hand and broke a metacarpal, causing me not to be able to use it to create my show. I didn’t want to cancel the show again, so I came up with a new idea: a retrospective of my clay work from my private collection representing my 60 years of working with clay. Thanks to my mother, she had saved a bunch of my early work, which I, of course, had given to her. Before she died in 2020, she gave them back to me. She even had the first thrown pot I made, which I thought was worth keeping and had written “#1" on the bottom. Unfortunately I have misplaced it. I had already saved some pots for myself when they came out of the kiln for various reasons, which is explained in the exhibition. I have made thousands of them. I am proud of this exhibition because it captures my growth as a potter and artist. However, I have decided it is time to purge the old and start an entirely new path of creation. I firmly believe an artist should not be static and stay safe. I am hoping to start throwing and hand building again this month. I am not sure where this journey will take me, but it will be fun to center my life a new.