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Joseph Sand | Episode 450
Using his backyard botanical sanctuary for inspiration, ceramic artist Joseph Sand purposefully crafts sculptural forms and functional pottery utilizing elements from the natural world including wood, stone, and seashells. He is focused on keeping the final function in mind, such as the fluted vase made to showcase a single stem of iris. Growing up in rural Minnesota, attending college on the shores of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota, and eventually moving to rural North Carolina, it’s no surprise that Joseph finds inspiration in his surroundings. Joseph moved to North Carolina in 2006 for a full-time apprenticeship with master potter Mark Hewitt. It is there he learned that wood-fired pottery allowed for a deeper connection between him and the final piece, using his hands to form, guide, and finish each creation. Joseph wood fires his 40-foot-long, 8-foot-wide kiln only three times per year. His work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated and in several permanent collections, including at the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC and the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM. Most recently, his 36-piece large-scale work “Resurgence” was selected for permanent installation at the Benton Convention Center in Winston Salem, NC. Joseph’s creations can be purchased locally at his rural home and gallery space in Randleman, North Carolina, as well as at many galleries nationwide.
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What is the best lesson you learned from Mark Hewitt?
Definitely work ethic. There is no question about it. He was doing pottery every day. That’s what I took from that, I am going to be in there all the time working. I still have plenty of time with my family but his work ethic was the number one thing I took from him.
Since the apprenticeship came to an end and you have moved on, how did the relationship change?
He nurtured me very much throughout the whole apprenticeship and then when I was off on my own that nurturing kind of quit and I was no longer with him. I felt more like he was my father when I was working there and I after I left I felt like he was, you know, like a good relative. So it is definitely not as close any more, which is unfortunate.
Do you still reach out to him for some mentoring?
Yeah. When I see him at a show if I have a question we will talk. If it is a technical thing we will both call each other. Recently he contacted me about what kind of burner that we use because it wore out, the metal was completely deteriorated. We will talk often. We used to try to get together every Christmas time and hang out, but that has not happened in the past two years since I have young children.
When you are training your apprentices what Mark Hewitisms fall out of your mouth?
A big one is keep it simple, stupid. A lot of times I get into over thinking it and not fluid. Once that gets into your head pots start flying off the wheel really with ease. So that is a big one. Keep is simple, stupid.
Now that you are eight years in to running your business, how important is your relationship with your wife for running the business?
It’s a big one there. I am very blessed to have her do it because she is really good at it. And that was her full-time sort of job, but now that our kids are getting to be school age she is starting to do a little bit more accounting and bookkeeping on the side. She has it were it is sort of well-oiled now and doesn’t have to do as much, but she has a huge role in getting everything set up.
How do you see the pottery business in relationship to the family?
It is pretty much just the lifestyle. It all comes into play where they are excited to come into the workshop and they have their little bench where they get to play and make things. Since the pottery is here in our home it really is just part of everyday life. I get to spend a lot of time with my children, I do, yeah.
What is one thing that you think you really do well as a potter?
I would say is my relationship with customers. Even though that is not a making part of it that is probably one of my best attributes is I can relate to almost every customer I talk to and that is a huge part of what I do.
Book
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Contact:
Instagram: @josephsandpottery