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A show of Murray’s practical-meets-decorative stoneware will open with a reception at Long River Gallery and Gifts as part of this month’s First Friday celebration in White River Junction.
The show will consist mainly of his more recent work, which he creates in the timber-frame barn-studio that he has owned, as of this year, for half a century — a long time, to be sure, but also the blink of an eye in the grand scheme of the medium’s history.
“It’s the world’s oldest profession,” he said in an interview at his studio, a warmly cluttered workspace that doubles as a showroom, then grinned. “Not what people usually say it is.”
Whether or not pottery-making is the world’s oldest profession, it’s made of the world’s oldest material: earth itself. Humans have been sculpting and firing clay objects since the Neolithic era, with most estimates for the earliest pottery dating back to around 10,000 BCE.
This ancient past appeals to Murray. He sees the medium as a form of “living art,” in that it retains an unthinkably long memory of minerals and organic matter, even as it changes form. “It’s not like any other kind of rendering,” he said. “You don’t add or remove material to give it life. Its life comes from the inside, out.”
He designs his more functional pieces, such as mugs and dinnerware, with this immortality in mind, while also designing them to do the kind of work that is asked of them. “Put them in the dishwasher and the microwave,” he said with a shrug, after demonstrating how to use his French butter dishes. “I don’t care.”
Toward the other end of the form-function spectrum is Murray’s collection of what he calls stoneware paintings, which he makes by imprinting a painted image onto a clay substrate to create a relief. Many of these images depict lovers or theoretical objects of love, and have a cinematic, voyeuristic quality to them: a young Evelyn Nesbit, the early 20th-century model and chorus girl; the biblical tryst between David and Bathsheba; a woman sitting alone in a cafe; nudes.
As for Murray’s own job, he never would have seen it coming. He grew up on the South Shore of Massachusetts, in Norwell, expecting to become an engineer or a politician, “a businessman, at the very least,” he said. He blames Berkeley, Calif., where he spent the first part of his college years, for turning him into an artist.
“There used to be pottery everywhere there. Even at the dry cleaner’s, there would be a display in the window,” he recalled. Dabbling in the art form was, at least at first, “something we did for entertainment, for the fun of it. Nothing more.”
Though he’d been making pottery for several years by the time he met Marguerite Wildenhain, a Bauhaus-trained master potter and Holocaust survivor, in northern California, he thinks of this moment in 1969 as the turning point to his becoming a “serious artist,” he said. Her work was not extravagant, and yet “it was more profound than anything,” Murray said. He realized that something as simple as a vase could be extraordinary.
“It’s funny because clay itself has no inherent value. … It’s, what, 4 cents a pound dry? Wet, OK, maybe 2½ cents a pound,” he said. Whereas in jewelry-making, for example, the materials themselves may be precious, the value of a piece of pottery depends entirely on what the artist did with that 4-cents-a-pound hunk of clay.
“And once you understand that there is nothing greater than doing expressive work, that it’s the highest form of work there is,” he said, “all other things fade.”
Wildenhain guided Murray through a 16-step process, which has students throw progressively more difficult forms; it’s also meant to weed out those who only thought they wanted to be potters. Most people max out by step seven, Murray said.
It took him five-and-a-half weeks to progress through all the steps, but mastering technique is only part of becoming a potter. The other part, Murray believes, is performing the labor over and over again, for years, until you know it in your bones.
He got plenty of such practice in the 1970s — specifically, in the form of kerosene lamps. Scores of them. During and after the 1973 oil crisis, when many East Coast residents experienced “brownouts” as a result of voltage reductions. Alternate forms of light were in high demand, “for practical reasons but also as a kind of screw-you,” Murray said. He estimates that he and his two co-artists produced some 25,000 kerosene lamps in a 10-year span, most of them for customers in New York City.
As the kerosene craze petered out, Murray continued to diversify his techniques. Much of his work involves incising decorations with a sharp instrument, or trailing designs with slip, a liquid mixture of clay and other particles, which he dispenses from a small chamber through the tip of a goose quill. The stoneware paintings are a relatively recent addition to his repertoire.
Now, he serves as a mentor for the next generation of aspiring potters. At last week’s interview one of his students, Josh Fishman, of Norwich, was bent over one of the kick wheels in Murray’s schoolhouse-like teaching studio, where when his daughter was young he ran packed summer programs. Fishman was forming the latest in a series of practice bowls — one of Wildenhain’s 16 steps — in the hopes of gaining Murray’s approval to move forward.
Murray inspected the half-dozen or so practice bowls Fishman had set aside, which to the untrained eye looked to be more or less of the same quality. But Murray saw a hint of progress: “You’re starting to get the shape,” he told Fishman, and pointed at one in particular. “This one shows some promise.”
But after a long career participating in a much longer tradition, Murray said he’s still learning. Years ago he might have said, “Clay is a simple material.” Now, he knows, “Clay is a deceptively simple material.”
Bruce Murray’s show, “Dreaming of Pottery,” opens Friday at Long River Gallery in White River Junction. A reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. as part of the monthly First Friday festivities.
Openings and Receptions
First Friday in White River Junction always boasts an abundance of art, and this weekend is no exception. At Scavenger Gallery, Margaret Jacobs, a sculptor and jeweler, as well as the former exhibition coordinator at AVA Gallery, is showing some of her new collection of jewelry, which are influenced by Jacobs’ Mohawk heritage. Also on view: shadow boxes, assemblages and short films by Thetford resident Rich Fedorchak, in addition to the jewelry of Scavenger owner Stacy Hopkins.
Jacobs also will be managing the gallery for three weeks while Hopkins is away. If you wish to visit outside regular hours, please call Jacobs for an appointment at 315-528-9020.
The Zollikofer Gallery in the Hotel Coolidge holds a First Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. for its ongoing exhibition of work by members of the Vermont Pastel Society. The show continues through Dec. 27.
The solo show “Challenge and Happiness in Abstract Painting” by artist David Fisk, of Post Mills, opens Saturday at the Tunbridge Public Library and runs through Jan. 19. There will be an opening reception on Sunday, Nov. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m.
ArtisTree Gallery in South Pomfret holds an opening reception Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. for “The Life Works of Cynthia Emerlye,” a Pomfret resident whose vibrantly colored and exquisitely detailed paintings and illustrations may recall illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance or the works of the 19th-century English designer William Morris. The show runs through Nov. 18.
The Hall Art Foundation in Reading, Vt., also hosts a First Friday, an evening when visitors may wander through the extensive galleries at their own leisure, rather than be accompanied by a guide. Hours are 5 to 8 p.m. Wood-fired pizza will be available for purchase.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dartmouth and the Hanover League of NH Craftsman present an exhibition of brush paintings on silk and etchings by, respectively, Ann and Bruce Peck at the Osher offices in downtown Hanover. The show “East Meets West” shows the influence of the time the Pecks spent living in India. There will be an opening reception on Nov. 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. Through Dec. 20.
The 2017 Center For the Arts Juried Regional Exhibition goes on view Friday at the New London Inn Micro Gallery with an opening reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Twenty New Hampshire artists are represented in the show, which runs through Jan. 27.
NH Open Doors is a statewide arts and business event, organized and run by the League of NH Craftsmen, which takes place this Saturday and Sunday. Among the local studios opening their doors to visitors are: Pinnacle Studio in Lyme, the Hanover Fine Craft Gallery, the Dorchester Grange and the McAlister Collection and Cardigan Mountain Artisan Fair in Enfield. For a complete list of participating vendors, go to nhopendoors.com.
Call for Entries
Artists and artisans have until Tuesday, at 11:59 p.m., to be precise, to submit their handmade work for the annual AVA Gallery and Art Center Holiday Exhibition and Sale, which will run from Dec. 2 through Dec. 23. There is an entry fee: $25 per artist and you must be a current member. Applications may be made online at avagallery.org.
ArtisTree Gallery in South Pomfret has also put out a call for entries for its annual “Small Works” Holiday show, which opens Dec. 2. The deadline for entries is Nov. 20. The requirements and application are online at artistreevt.org/small-works-exhibit.
Ongoing
AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon. “Doors and Windows: Open and Closed,” a juried exhibition featuring 16 works by 16 New England artists. Rebecca Lawrence, former director of the New Hampshire State Arts Council, selected the show from 126 works submitted by 74 artists. The featured artists are: Charlet Davenport, Stephanie Gordon, Nira Granott Fox, Chris Groschner, Medora Hebert, William B. Hoyt, Carol Lake, Margaret Lampe Kannenstine, Travis Paige, Rebecca Rolke, Adele Sanborn, Helen Shulman, Stefania Urist, Janet Van Fleet, Jeffrey Wallace and Susan Wilson.
Also at AVA: “Every So Often,” paintings by Mary Hart, a Portland, Maine, artist who graduated from Dartmouth College and whose work has been exhibited at the Portland Museum of Art and the University of Maine Art Museum. Another Portland artist, Vivien Russe, shows abstract work in “Lumen.” Norwich artist Robyn Whitney Fairclough rounds out the AVA exhibitions with her “Recent Works,” featuring floral paintings that demonstrate her mastery of color.
All of the shows at AVA run through Nov. 10.
Barrette Center for the Arts, White River Junction. “Opening Doors to the Heart, Mind and Imagination,” a show of work by Elizabeth D’Amico and Rich Gombar, ends Friday.
BigTown Gallery, Rochester, Vt. The wood sculptures of Hugh Townley are on view through Dec. 2.
Center for Art and Design, Colby-Sawyer College, New London. “Inner Visions: Selections from the Collection of Beverly Stearns Bronson ‘55,” an exhibition of outsider art, including works by Martin Ramirez, Bill Traylor and Nellie Mae Rowe, continues in the Davidow Gallery through Dec. 10.
Chandler Gallery, Randolph. “From Green to Fall: Celebrating Creativity in Mental Health, Wellness and Recovery,” an exhibition of work by local artists concerned with issues of mental health, ends Sunday.
Chew & Co. Design, Hanover. The water photographs of Rockland, Maine, resident Joan Wright are on view through November.
Cider Hill Gardens and Gallery, Windsor. On view at the gallery and gardens are sculpture, painting and installations by Steven Proctor, Herb Ferris, Gary Haven Smith and the Mythmakers.
Converse Free Library, Lyme. “Landscapes: Lyme and Tuscany,” an exhibition of work by Greg Gorman in the Betty Grant Gallery, runs through Dec. 29. Gorman will donate 10 percent of his art sales to the Friends of Lyme Library.
Kilton Public Library, West Lebanon. East Randolph artist Marcia Hammond exhibits oil portraits through Jan. 31.
Piermont Public Library. “Connecticut River Valley and Beyond: Oil Paintings and Photography by Nancy Griswold” is on display through Nov. 29.
Pompanoosuc Mills, East Thetford. The Mills are currently exhibiting the work of 14 artists specializing in hooked rugs. Among the exhibiting artists are: Jennifer Davey, Ed O’Keefe, who is also the manager of the Pompanoosuc Mills showroom, Elizabeth Guth, Susan Gault and Kris McDermet. More than 50 rugs will be on view. Through Nov. 27.
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish. Exhibition buildings have closed for the season, but the grounds are still open.
Tracy Library, New London. Father and daughter Alan Gepfert and Grace G. Cooper exhibit, respectively, their sculpture and landscape paintings. The show ends Friday.
Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, White River Junction. Lois Masor Beatty and Maureen O’Connor Burgess show recent work through November.
White River Gallery, South Royalton. The sculptures of John F. Parker are on view through Dec. 31.
EmmaJean Holley can be reached at eholley@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.
Nicola Smith can be reached at nsmith@vnews.com.