Paulus Berensohn

Once I heard Paulus Berensohn speak at a seminar at ECU. I was moved to tears. In fact it was rather embarrassing. When I went up to tell him how much I loved the presentation I looked at his face an something in me broke out just a bit. I told myself that there was some aspect of his spirit that reminded me of my mother's father, a deep, gentle, spiritual man, a Baptist preacher unlike any other I've met since. Still, I am not sure that my weird moment in front of Paulus was solely that... nonetheless I felt moved to tears and he saw it. I had to collect myself to speak. Paulus is many things. He lives a deeply creative existence in a valley in the mountains here in NC. He studied dance at the Julliard school in the 50's with Merce Cunnigham, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, and others. He is a poet, a journalist, bookmaker, weaver, author and potter. I have looked on the internet for his book for awhile now and today it arrived, "Finding One's Way With Clay". This is just the sort of book I feel is gathering within me for metalsmiths. Like a storm cloud I feel it wanting to come into being. I want a book that broaches the question, "So what's so special about metal? Why metal anyway? Why do people want to make stuff with metal?"
I think that sort of questioning is important, vital! We should ask those kinds of questions about everything we do!

This is a comment Paulus made on ABC’s Earthbeat program awhile back. I mean is this not beautiful?!
“I mean I personally think that the craft arts isn’t about an alternative way of making a living and filling museums and galleries with gorgeous objects, I think it’s the clay and the fibre and the metals and the wood saying, ‘Listen, listen to me. Put your hands on me, and you’ll make contact with a living world.’"…

“The word ‘art’, if you go back into its etymological roots, it’s not a noun, it’s a verb, it’s a doing, an acting, and it comes from the root for ‘to join’. So one is behaving artistically, one is in a state of intimacy and communion with the activity at hand”… PB

I would love nothing more than to spend time, slow time, in the mountains listening to this man, learning... Maybe someday. And now I have the book so I can learn from him right now!