Robert Leon Briggs

On The Inside ~

Ancient cultures are defined by their ceramics. This is the reason I form objects out of clay - because I love to express myself and I'd like to be remembered as a potter. In my youth I felt that my two dimensional works were easy for people to ignore. I began working with ceramics and discovered that even if my creations weren't accepted by everyone – they couldn't be ignored. People were effected by my pottery because these were real, tangible objects that would outlive me by century's. This gave me a feeling of permanence and security as an artist with a new direction for the future.

Using my hands as my primary tools, I begin to work on a piece with the primitive idea of creating a simple, natural form. Working with the clay I'm reminded that patience and permanence are my driving intentions. I have an innate sense of gratitude and quiet when my work is going well. I know when the piece I'm working on is near completion because my heart likes looking at it as much as my eyes do. If I am satisfied with the piece I'm working on, I'm often filled with the urge to keep it myself. When people see my work, I'd like them to feel something deep and primeval about the forms. I like working with all types of pottery but have been focusing on the Raku and primitive styles for several years now. They seem to be less academically compromised and lend themselves to a wider range of stylistic expression.

On The Outside ~

I have always been an artist since I could hold a pencil. In my sophomore year of high school, like many of us, I had an applied arts class. There was an old, unused Simpo pottery wheel tucked in the corner - for some reason I was drawn to it. I asked the teacher if we were ever going to get to use it. She told me it was broken and we were going to hand-build our clay instead. I remember, distinctly, the disappointment I felt and never could figure out why. Years later my wife, Ruth, and her father told me about a ceramic kiln for sale at a local distributors. Since Ruth sculpted, I figured she would jump at the chance to buy a kiln but she seemed disinterested. More years went by when a handyman friend of ours appeared with a brand new Paragon test kiln in the back of his truck. He said he wanted to get rid of it. This time I had the money and after hand and slab building for several months I realized what I really wanted to do was throw pottery.

I didn't have the money for an electric wheel back then so I obtained the plans for a wooden kick-wheel and taught myself how to throw a pot. I got more and more curious and ended up taking several community pottery classes in my home town. I eventually graduated to some of the more complex video tapes offered by some of the masters. About this time the Internet was starting to become a force to be reckoned with and I began to learn more and more about glaze chemistry, firing schedules, and the ceramics industry in general. It didn't take long for me to realize that potters and college art students in my area were beginning to ask me questions about claybodys, firing times, vitrification and some of the things that experience teaches best over academics.

One day I happen to be invited to a huge, outdoor Raku firing in a near by town and I got hooked bad. For years afterward everything was Raku and primitive firing techniques – I developed a lot of control over what was thought to be a relatively random art technique. Over time I started selling my wares on the Internet and in my local galleries, enough to make a meager living at it. I'm still a commercial illustrator for magazines and books and a computer graphic artist and have been for over 20 years. Sometimes the universe generates different opportunities. I was laid off my last graphics job and thought to myself, “What if I make a go out of being a real fine artist?” That was about 8 years ago – just after the towers fell.

Robert~