From the Bench

On Getting to the Magnificent Projects

There is a guilt that belongs to creative people, and it is this: the unfinished magnificent thing. Not the ordinary unfinished thing. Everyone has those. The one that weighs differently is the on...

From Charles to Vivienne — The Cigar Boxes

Both of them were artists, both of them, at one time, worked at this bench, and the work of this studio is, in many ways, a product of both of them. But this was his studio. The letters are his an...

Notes to the Machines

There is a note taped to the inside door of the kiln that has not come down in years. It reads: You are doing very well. Keep going. Not sure if he meant the kiln or himself. My father wrote to h...

On Counterfeit Thinking

My father had a word for thought that feels productive but isn't. He called it counterfeit. Counterfeit thinking looks right. It has the shape of reasoning. It arrives with a kind of confidence. B...

What I Found in the Boxes

After he was gone, I took over his bench and rebuilt the studio. I found the notes.