This semester I am taking my first ever Ceramics class. I was so excited when I found out I could take this class. I have never taken a ceramics class before and so far I am loving every second of it. One of the days I went into class, the professor had us watch a documentary on Paulus Berensohn. I found his story so inspiring that I thought I would share some of his story with you guys!

I won’t go into complete detail about his whole life but I will mention the points that I thought were the most inspiring to me. Berensohn is a potter, dancer, paper weaver, and string artist, but is most famously known for his pinch pots .

Berensohn likes nature a lot and definitely believes that we as artists (and especially since he uses clay which comes from the ground) should give back to the earth. One of the ways that he said he was going to “give back to the earth” was through his journals and sketchbooks. This was something that caught my attention. In the documentary someone asked him, “What are you going to do with the journals / sketchbooks that you have created once you have passed on?” His answer was he wants them to be placed among the trees and for them to decompose back into the the ground. I don’t know why but I found that be amazing. I learned a lot just from watching that documentary and I am so happy that my professor taught us about such an amazing artist who is still alive and well today creating artwork.

He definitely inspired me in a way that I think could be a great experience for me as I continue to work with clay in my ceramics class.

If you are interested in learning more about Paulus Berensohn or getting info about the film we watched visit http://www.springfromthehand.com/the-film/