As of this writing, it has been almost a year to the day that the fire at the studio happened. I work hard at keeping this nightmare at bay, but it has been life changing in many ways. At the time, my rebuilt Olympic kiln was fired over 40 times in the studio space, but on that day the accumulated heat loss from the kiln and failure of the exit fan near the end of a glaze firing caused an explosive fire that destroyed the building, hundreds of clay works, all shelving, most furniture, tools, and framed prints, drawings and paintings. What didn’t burn had extensive smoke and soot damage. The arduous process of emptying the studio and charred piles of art and material literally took several months, but slowly the salvage process started to reveal rays of hope. Almost all frames were lost, as well as 35 paintings and canvasses, but many drawings and prints behind glass could be saved. Stored crates and boxes in the corners of the attic storage revealed art and clay works that I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. Hundreds of paper works on top of each flat file drawer could not be saved, but many pieces could be saved.
Silver linings began to accumulate in so many ways that we’re about to have an open house in a beautiful new building that will allow for both art production and amazing display possibilities. We continue to be amazed by God’s providence in helping us let go of the old and start anew. View the attached power point for a pictorial account of before and after as well as views of the new studio. We’ve been blessed to have great help and advice from other artists and craftsmen, as well as use of Dordt studios to make this all happen. We’ll have an open house the week of Dec. 7 -12 and will also receive folks by appointment with a call to our cell at 712-441-2072. Along the way, I’ve been curating work for a major exhibit at Dordt University in January, 2021 including ‘Out of the Fire’ works from 5 decades!