Category: Samuel Johnson

The Saint John’s Pottery in Minnesota: An American Pottery Tradition

By:
Minnesota Ceramics Samuel Johnson Shumpei Yamaki

To understand the story of the Saint John’s Pottery in Collegeville, Minnesota, it is worthwhile going to the studio in person. In July, I visited this legendary pottery studio located inside the serene Benedictine environment of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University (CSBSJU), accompanied by my photographer friend Tomoko Matsubayashi.

“It’s slightly unusual,” said Samuel Johnson, potter and Chair of the Art Department of CSBSJU, about the fascinating relationship and history between the Saint John’s Pottery and the University.  “Ultimately, the pottery exists because it extends the Benedictine values of hospitality and community.”

I’ve been working with Sam since 2014, and this was the first time we met face to face. I was eager to see him because he is one of the rare breed of potters that went through multiple layers of training that included spending time as a Japanese-style pottery apprentice at the Saint John’s Pottery, going to graduate school, and studying overseas in Copenhagen and Japan.

Samuel Johnson’s pottery studio in Saint Joseph, MN
Kick-wheels at Samuel Johnson’s pottery studio in Saint Joseph, MN

We first met at Sam’s studio by his house located in Saint Joseph, a few minutes away from the college campus. Equipped with kick-wheels and long planks of ware boards, the studio resembled the pottery studios that I visited in Karatsu, Japan.

Many of the characteristics —even the studio’s cleanliness— are testimony to the transmission of knowledge through distance and time. Richard Bresnahan, Sam’s teacher, and the Artist-in-Residence at the Saint John’s Pottery, trained under the renowned Japanese potter Nakazato Takashi in Karatsu, Saga prefecture.  “Through the tradition I was studying I felt linked to the past, to potters from other places and times,” Sam says.

Handmade pots line shelves at Samuel Johnson’s pottery studio in Saint Joseph, MN
Samuel Johnson standing next to long wooden ware boards at his studio in Saint Joseph, MN
Coiled and paddled wood-fired jars by Samuel Johnson

There are two wood-firing kilns on the CSBSJU compound. The smaller kiln is called Sister Dennis Kiln that Sam built in 2012. This kiln is usually fired in the spring and fall, giving opportunities for students at the university to experience the traditional method of firing pottery. Through this experience, the students learn to work together and appreciate the beauty and function of handmade pots. “I studied here, so I thought it was only natural to use handmade pots,” Sam said in explaining the positive impact of being familiar with handmade ceramics. “But many people in the rest of the United States often ask if it’s possible to eat from a plate made in this manner.”

Sister Dennis Kiln at CSBSJU. The kiln is fired for about 76 hours using wood from the college arboretum.
Stoking windows on the side of Sister Dennis Kiln at CSBSJU.
Sister Dennis Kiln at CSBSJU. Once the pottery pieces are loaded inside, the kiln opening is closed using bricks and clay before firing.

In the afternoon, we visited the Saint John’s Pottery located on the west side of campus. Unfortunately, I was not able to meet Richard Bresnahan on this visit because he was traveling to celebrate his birthday with his family. “I lived in that small narrow room,” Sam said, pointing to the upper part of the brick building as we entered from the door below. “It was so narrow that if I stretched out my arms, I could almost touch both walls of the room.”

The Saint John’s Pottery Studio in Collegeville, MN
The upper brick part of the studio building is Saint Joseph Hall, originally built in 1899, which was used to house lay employees and workers. Richard Bresnahan first established the studio in the building’s abandoned root cellar in 1979. In 1992, the University moved the studio by building a new foundation and relocating the whole 4000 sf historic building on top. 

Studio Manager Daniel Smith and apprentice Luke Kiefer welcoming us with tea around the Japanese hearth at Saint John’s Pottery

Current members working at the pottery welcomed us for tea around the famous pottery hearth at the entrance to the studio. They included Environmental Artist-in-Residence, Steve Lemke; Studio Manager, Daniel Smith; and apprentice, Luke Kiefer. Through conversations over tea made with water boiled in a cast iron kettle and poured from handmade teapots, I learned about the many obstacles the studio had to overcome to establish and continue its apprenticeship program. Despite these setbacks, Bresnahan has successfully trained more than 50 apprentices over the last 44 years, and many more artists have come to learn at the pottery as residents of the studio with the help of supporters and grants.

“The Melon Cup” is the first form an apprentice of Richard Bresnahan’s learns to throw on the wheel. The wood kilns at CSBSJU bring out the color of the clay vividly because they are fired at lower temperature than most anagama kilns
Luke Kiefer and Daniel Smith working on kick-wheels at the Saint John’s Pottery.
Daniel Smith trimming the foot of a bowl on a kick-wheel. The kick-wheels are turned clockwise in Karatsu, Japan, but they are turned counter-clockwise at the Saint John’s Pottery, as do most potters in the US

The clay used at the Saint John’s Pottery is made from a nearby deposit that is extracted, stockpiled, and processed as needed in-house using secondhand equipment. The wood used to fuel the kilns is environmentally sustainable, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and comes from the nearly 3,000-acre Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum. The apprentices not only master their skills in a deeply immersive setting but also learn to sustainably use the natural resources from the surrounding environment.

Work by Richard Bresnahan, Artist-in-Residence and founder of the Saint John’s Pottery. I hope to meet him in person in the future

Sam says that through his apprenticeship with Bresnahan, he experienced the quality that stirs the imagination in his work. “In cups and bowls that I make, but also in the mundane aspects of work [like] washing ashes or clay, stacking wood,” he said. “This is one of the gifts my teacher gave me.”

The Saint John’s Pottery is a hub that disseminates a deep knowledge of pottery craft. Its apprentices, including Sam and Iowa potter Shumpei Yamaki, are gems of this unique American pottery tradition.

The clay processing area of the Saint John’s Pottery using recycled equipment.

After the tour of the studio, Daniel Smith took us to the other wood-firing kiln on campus, which is the famous Johanna Kiln that was designed and built by Richard Bresnahan in 1994. At over 80 feet, the kiln is the largest of its kind in North America and can hold around 12,000 pieces in a single firing. The kiln is fired once every two years, and as its front chamber is currently being repaired, the next firing won’t take place until October 2024. The labor-intensive firing event lasts for 10 days with the help of 60 volunteers who take turns stoking the kiln around the clock.

The building housing Johanna Kiln on the CSBSJU Campus in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Samuel Johnson inside the large Tanegashima Chamber of the Johanna Kiln

At the end of the day, Sam took us around the CSBSJU campus. The Benedictine monks first arrived in Collegeville in the spring of 1866, and by the end of the 19th Century had constructed the quadrangle building using bricks that they made from the rich clay deposit on site. When I saw these original bricks in the building wall that the monks made, and the durable end-grain wood floor of the Great Hall, it became clear how a remarkable institution like the Saint John’s Pottery was able to thrive here in Minnesota.

Stability, community, hospitality, and dignity of work: these Benedictine standards seem difficult to live by, especially in this modern, economically obsessed world. But what sets Saint John’s apart is that the university has made credible commitments to these ideals that are tangibly demonstrated in the work of the Saint John’s Pottery and its community of potters.

Looking towards Great Hall and the Quadrangle building from the Abbey Church of CSBSJU, Collegeville, MN
Quadrangle Building, CSBSJU, Collegeville, MN
Unevenly fired bricks inside the Quadrangle Building made by Benedictine monks in the19th century. The monks labored to build beautiful buildings, promising stability and durability. CSBSJU, Collegeville, MN
Great Hall (original Abbey) at CSBSJU, Collegeville, MN
The wooden end-grain floor laid in a herringbone pattern conveying stability and dignity of work. Great Hall, CSBSJU, Collegeville, MN
The Abbey Church and Bell Banner by architect Marcel Breuer completed in 1961. The original abbey (Great Hall) can be seen on the right, built to face East, welcoming people arriving from the railway station. The current abbey is facing North towards the road from the freeway, indicating Benedictine hospitality.
“All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ for he himself will say I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” A sign in front of the abbey woodworking building, CSBSJU, Collegeville, MN

 

All photos by Tomoko Matsubayashi for Entoten

More information about the Saint John’s Pottery at CSBSJU can be found here->
You can also donate to support the Saint John’s Pottery from here ->

Renewal: New Ceramics by Samuel Johnson

By:
Ceramics Samuel Johnson

Ceramics by Samuel Johnson in our shop ->

Exhibition of New Work by Samuel Johnson at Entoten Gallery, San Diego CA,
November 16, 2019, 12:00-4:00 pm

I was tingling with anticipation this fall as I awaited new work from Minnesota potter Samuel Johnson who said that he wanted to return to the roots of his early ceramics training and create altered painted tableware. I had never seen painted work by Sam, so I was very curious to see this style of his work.

Altered and painted bowl with flower motif by Samuel Johnson, 2019

Sam’s ceramics training began after he graduated from the University of Minnesota and became an apprentice to his mentor and teacher, Richard Bresnahan. Richard trained in Karatsu, which is one of the most well-known pottery towns in Japan, and later founded the Saint John’s Pottery at Saint John’s University since 1979. The process of learning under Richard was not dissimilar to how apprentices had learned for generations in Karatsu, which was watching and imitating the techniques of their masters.

Altered bowl by Samuel Johnson 2019. Sam stamped the bottom of the bowls with a waves motif (which he calls “wifi markings”). He applied blue slip, white slip, then painted and glazed the work.

Sam elaborated on what appears to have been a formidable and unforgiving learning process. “At night, after the work of the studio was finished for the day, I would be given a form to study and reproduce. The lessons came swiftly and only once. My teacher would move from his wheel to mine, throw a sample of the form he wanted me to make. This could be a small dish, an altered cup, a bowl with lid, or a bottle. He would say very little about it. The demonstration usually lasted just two or three minutes.”

For the next several weeks, sometimes even months, Sam would work to imitate the form. Eventually, Sam became very proficient at these forms and painted ware known as e-Karatsu (pronounced eh-Karatsu) that were versions of designs passed down for generations from Korea to Karatsu, and onto Minnesota.

Cup with ridge line and impressed cord pattern by Samuel Johnson. I love the corduroy feel of this cup.

But when his three-and-a-half-year apprenticeship was over, Sam decided not to reproduce these forms. He wanted to lean as little as possible on them so that he could open his eyes to new influences and nurture his own personal vision.

The reason he now wanted to return to these forms after a 20-year interlude was because he had been feeling unmoored in recent years as great political and social changes were occurring in the world at large as well as in his own personal life. He wanted to find out what he could create by returning to the place that gave him a sense of grounding, which was where he began training to be a potter.

The result of Sam’s journey to his roots is a set of refreshingly original work that is born from the deep experience and wide perspectives that Sam has acquired over many years of being a potter. His forms have a taste of Karatsu but they ‘feel’ very different because they are more robust. Maybe they carry the spirit of the vast Red River Valley where Sam grew up, well known even in Japan with the familiar tune of original Japanese lyrics about its nature. The restrained drawings of grass and flowers speak of the essence and power of regeneration, and the intentions behind the brushwork are very moving.

Apple crumble on Samuel Johnson’s small side dish. This is a traditional shape I have often seen in Japan, but its generous lip and size feels very American, which inspired me to bake an apple crumble. Sam says that pottery feels most meaningful to him when it can be used in daily life.

Sam explained that what came to the fore when he returned to these forms were not the pots of his apprenticeship but pots born from even earlier experiences. These were experiences of enjoying to throw dishes off the hump and altering them when wet, or loving the feeling of painting on them in a way that felt meaningful to him. “I loved the adaptation of these forms and the way they seemed to come to life through the process. It felt like rebirth. It felt like renewal,” Sam said.

Kindling Emotions: Functional Ceramics by Samuel Johnson

By:
Ceramics Samuel Johnson

Ceramics by Samuel Johnson in our shop ->

Ceramics fired with wood and adorned with their natural ash are one of the most fascinating types of pottery to bring into our daily lives. This is because the color and texture varies throughout each vessel, and new things can be discovered as the user explores the surface while handling the vessel.

A wood-fired spouted bowl by Samuel Johnson. The user will notice the various colors and textures revealed in different lighting conditions.

When Samuel Johnson was inspired to become a potter as a junior at the University of Minnesota over twenty years ago, he says that he fell in love with the concept of “expressing complex ideas and feelings through a limited structure, and was overwhelmed by the creative potential others had found within it”.

The dark clay body of Samuel Johnson’s work brings out the beautiful natural colors of fruit, like these peaches.

Samuel’s work is robust and with a strong feeling of tradition. His creations are simple and powerful, undisturbed by modern motivation. He says his skill and sensibilities were most influenced by his teacher and mentor Richard Bresnahan, whom he apprenticed under for over three years right after graduating from college.

Bresnahan has been the Artist-in-Residence at The Saint John’s Pottery for over 35 years and is renowned for his unique aesthetic and tradition of deriving materials for making pottery from indigenous materials. “I learned my fundamental skills in his studio and developed my sensibilities for both the how and why of it”, Samuel recalls about his time as an apprentice.

Left: Potter Samuel Johnson’s kick wheel and freshly thrown pots. Right: Samuel adding charcoal to the last stage of wood-firing

Samuel is also deeply influenced by the work of Nakazato Takashi, a 13th generation potter in Karatsu, Japan who was the teacher of Bresnahan. Nakazato is one of Japan’s most revered contemporary potters who has helped bridge countless interactions and exchanges between potters of Japan and the U.S. His achievements also include the revival of the powerful Yokino ware, an indigenous and beautiful wood-fired, simple unglazed type of pottery from Tanegashima Island.

A paddled jar by Samuel Johnson. The stunning form is a reference to the Karatsu tradition of pottery where Samuel’s teacher Richard Bresnahan studied as an apprentice. It is important to Samuel that his work represents a lineage and connection to a tradition.

“Having studied within a specific lineage of makers, I feel responsible to them and their aesthetic tradition. Yet, theirs is a tradition of diversity”, says Samuel to explain how his teachers have influenced his work. He also sometimes deliberately makes forms that reference their work, as a mark for the insightful to notice.

Samuel today is an Associate Professor of Art at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. As a full-time professor and father of four young children, his pottery work is undertaken mostly at night after the children have gone to sleep. Work must be stocked up over several months to fill a wood kiln that he built on the university campus. The firing of the kiln is an event involving students and members of the local community that happens two or three times a year. In addition, Samuel fires his gas kiln several times a year in-between the wood kiln firings.

The wood-firing kiln that Samuel Johnson built on campus is fired 2-3 times a year. “The Sister Dennis Frandrup Kiln” was named after a nun who led the ceramic program for many years at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University

“I like pots that feel enigmatic, mysterious, and resolute”, Samuel says. He also considers the functionality of pottery as essential, because it is a unique form of engagement that is largely absent in other art forms.

So I invite you to take a closer look at Samuel’s work and experience the emotions that they can evoke. By pouring tea in his cup, serving salad in his bowl, or putting a flower in his vase, you may experience the feeling of encountering an old tree, the tenaciousness of a rock, or the seasons and passage of time. It is like visiting a wonderful garden, right inside your hands.