Thursday, August 13, 2020

Box w/ Chimneys







Box w/ Chimneys
17in.H x 14in.W x 11D
Raku Earthenware
$3,500


while rummaging around together in the barn for some electric kiln rings to be scavenged for the next firing of the ghost stripes, Wyatt saw this piece and exclaimed:"Dad...that's really cool!"...knowing his propensity for being nearly 100% correct on these matters I took notice...this box was first seen at the Demarest Pottery Show quite a while back...during the show a woman approached me speaking a language I felt I recognized, but did not understand...she finally in English said "Are you not Polish?" I answered yes, but in name only...she then proceeded to tell me of her birth village in western Poland and insisted that all the buildings there looked like this box! I was stunned as I've never been there, nor had I seen pictures of such buildings...she was certain, telling me that I had been there, whether I knew it or not...it was a magical moment for me because the dream of the work had always been to spark memories...memories of many things...memories that mattered...memories that touched hearts...I was lucky and so grateful to her, for all she had said...
it was next shown in a gallery show of mine with pots and paintings...it barely made it in because the gallery owner informed me that it was not one of my best pieces...I prevailed against that idea with the above story, but only barely...after that show [in 1993] and because of the comment, the box has not been seen publicly since, until today...Wyatt helped me see past the original sting...
I've learned recently that we must be cautious with what we say...sometimes things said from deep emotion can have an effect unintended and create a contrary result..one sometimes unknown to the speaker, nor thought of by the speaker...things held close should be held closely...we all have history...

2 comments:

  1. This looks very similar to the large floor standing "pagoda" piece on a wood base we saw in Baltimore many years ago. Still a very cool design. That gallerist was way oof-base.

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  2. thanks Jan...I agree...sometimes old things creep in to ones mind
    spurred by current circumstances...this is just that...
    i'm fine...thank you...

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