Master Potter

Richard Bresnahan, a world-acclaimed potter and environmentalist, incorporates sustainable materials in his art, many of which are found in the nature that surrounds him and his family on their 120-acre homestead in Avon, Minnesota. It is here that Richard and his wife, Collete, teach their two daughters and young son about the importance of generational continuity and a commitment to environmental sustainability.

Born and raised in Casselton, North Dakota, Richard graduated from Saint John’s University where he is now an artist-in-residence and has served as director of Saint John’s Pottery Program since 1980. In 1998, Richard’s life and work was featured in a PBS documentary entitled Clay, Wood, Fire, Spirit: The Art of Richard Bresnahan. The film details the history of Saint John’s sustainable pottery program and its relationship to the environment. The Pottery Program is part of the environmental studies minor and reflects the Benedictine monastic tradition of self-sustainability.

He spent four years, including his senior year in college, as a pottery apprentice with Nakazato Takashi, a 13th generation potter and son of Nakazato Muan the 12th, a National Living Treasure. As a result of his apprenticeship, Richard received the honorary title of Master Potter, the only Westerner to have achieved this distinction in the family’s 13 generations.

A Japanese Influence

Richard’s work is strongly influenced by the nature-based culture of rural Japan. He states that “One of the most important things about my studying in Japan…was that there [were] many elderly people and people living in the mountains practicing every day living with nature.” Richard credits his Japanese apprenticeship with deepening his appreciation for nature in his art. Upon his return to the U.S., Saint John’s helped him set up a completely indigenous pottery studio on campus.

Richard derives his pottery from raw materials he gathers from the land, including kaolin, a fine whitish clay used in porcelain. While other potters purchase their clay from commercial sources, Richard hand dug his clay from a vein he discovered when a county crew excavated a nearby road. In this sense, Richard’s art is definitely Minnesota grown. He now has enough clay to sustain the pottery studio for 300 years reinforcing Richard’s belief that “You’re only as good as one generation. The whole idea of this is you don’t dig 300 years of clay because you’re going to use it [up] in one generation, you’re not living 300 years.”

Living In Balance

This balanced existence with nature carries over into all aspects of Richard’s life and art. His wife, Colette, a head nurse for over 10 years, reflects on their partnership and how they achieve a balance in their family life saying, “When the kids were little, they went to the the studio with Richard while I was at work.” This vision of partnership is also reflected in being good environmental stewards and protecting the land for generations to come.

At home, Richard’s family practices sustainable forestry. Says Richard, “We have a 100-year forestry plan for the woods here…so we don’t cut any live trees down.” By only taking down those trees that are dead, diseased, or dying, the mature and healthy trees are left to thrive.

Their house, which lies at the center of a hardwood forest, was built completely using beams and boards from trees they milled themselves. Richard adds, “We heat year-round with wood.” He devised a wood-burning boiler system that not only heats his home but provides the means for burning wood and producing ash, which is then collected and stored. Eventually, to form a glaze, the dried ashes are mixed with:

• water
• refined clay
• feldspar 

Straw ash glaze, collected from his family’s farm in North Dakota, is created from the dried organic material of a particular plant (e.g. navybean, sunflower, flax, soybean) which is then burned. Through the collection of wood ashes and ashes of other organic materials used to make glazes he realized, “how sustainable…and reasonable that is, then you have no reason not to do it.” As an artist, Richard appreciates the range of glazes apparent in his pottery saying, “Each plant life pulls out a unique combination of minerals…every ash glaze…comes out a different color.”

Johanna Kiln

Another testament to Richard’s artistic vision, is his design of the Johanna Kiln, the largest wood-fired kiln in North America. Named after Sister Johanna Becker who was responsible for securing Richard’s internship in Japan, the kiln is built of recycled bricks and burns only waste wood, not gas. Measuring almost 90 feet in length, the kiln contains three distinct chambers, so that, as Richard explains, “many artists could benefit from those unique volumes of color palette and flame that you couldn’t get from a smaller kiln.”

With temperatures reaching 2,850 degrees Fahrenheit, volunteers are utilized to chop and haul wood and fill the kiln with approximately 12,000 pieces of pottery. The volunteers, led by Richard, work around the clock for 10 days to prepare for and initiate the firing of the enormous kiln. This strong cooperative dynamic appeals to Richard who says, “To have a kiln of this scale, you need a community of people to fire it.” He adds, “I’m more concerned about the relationships with people, family and, finally, the object’s relationship to the planet.”

Indeed. Richard Bresnahan’s life and art continue to be fueled by the world around him and the people in it.

Saint John’s Pottery Program supports itself through pottery sales and invites visitors to view the art, and enjoy tea and conversation when Richard is available. He requests that those coming a long distance phone ahead to make sure the studio will be open.