Richard Bresnahan: The Taste of the Clay

After spending nearly 4 years in Japan as an apprentice for the Nakazato Family, Richard Bresnahan returned to St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota with a wealth of pottery knowledge and skills. With the blessing of Father Michael Blecker and the Benedictine Monks at St. John’s, he set up a completely indigenous pottery studio, building the largest wood firing kiln of its kind in North America and utilizing a nearby clay deposit. In September 2013, Richard and his team fired the Sister Johanna Becker kiln, named after his art history teacher and mentor, for the twelfth time. Preparations included seven weeks of loading, ten days of firing, a week of cooling, a week of unloading and nine months of cleaning. Richard’s wife Collette organizes the chefs and the dinners that serve up to 300 people. The firing is a community-building event with many volunteers returning year after year. In the documentary, Richard talks about his pottery and the related philosophies that guide his life and his teaching. “When you’re becoming an artist, especially working in a clay material, you’re having what we call tsuchi-aji; “tsuchi” means clay, “aji” means taste. You’re learning the taste of the clay. And so that’s a metaphor for your taking in your exterior environment into your interior environment. You’re developing a spirituality to your material.”