"From My Hand to Your Hand"

Penland ceramist Paulus Berensohn discusses his unique approach to clay, and the importance of making the vessel a connector between artist and user.

Paulus Berensohn: These pots are made and to return to the earth, they are flowers of the earth. And so I, for the last fifteen years, have either given the pots away raw or, with children, done rituals where we dig a hole and return the pot to the earth.

This is the first time in quite some time, that I’ve fired my work. The pots themselves, I mean there’s enough going on in the pieces that they don’t really need glaze. And glaze is glass, and I’m not as interested in glass as I am in clay.

I like this one very much, but I also like this one. I mean, they’re all begun the same way. And I really like this one because the pot fits in the hand. And what I like about them is that they’re all kinds of offering bowls. Again, this fits right into the hand, so that you know, you offer the bowl to someone, and it becomes… I love that, that the hand is part of it, from my hand to your hand.