From the Bench

Solitude Is Not Loneliness

Solitude is a condition of this kind of work. Work that requires sustained attention, that cannot be interrupted and then resumed without some kind of loss. This work lives in solitude. You cannot ...

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.