ED GRAY: ART INFUSED WITH THE SACRED ELEMENTS OF LIFE
“Although my hands gather and shape elements of the
earth, it is the primal force of fire that completes my
work. Earth, Air, Fire and Water: the four sacred elements
that are the breath of life. These are gifts with which
I give honor to the teachings of my ancestors. It was in
1964 that Chief Little Elk, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, gave
me my native name, Jikiwe (my friend), so it is with that
name I sign my work in remembrance of who I am and where
I came from,” Ed Gray says with pride.
Ed also makes it clear that his great-grandmother was Norwegian
and his great-grandfather, Golden Hawk, was full-blooded
Native American (an Ojibway from the Great Lakes basin)
who worked with the Miskwabik tribe in both the native copper
pits and the European-owned mines in Michigan’s Keweenaw
Peninsula. He says, “Because of my Native American
ancestry, I draw from my great-grandfather’s heritage.”
MOVING
It was always understood that Ed would take over the fruit
farm in Michigan that had been in his family for five generations.
This farm is where he grew up, and with that in mind, Ed
attended and graduated from Michigan State University in
1960 with a degree in agriculture.
But farming just wasn't how Ed wanted to spend his life.
He had been making pots and other artistic items in copper
as a hobby for many years, so he soon left farming and opened
a little studio in Traverse City, Michigan.
The studio was successful, but three years later he decided
to sell it in order to begin working in copper for himself,
out of the public view. “I sold what I made in galleries
and met many art patrons,” he says, “ and many
of these wonderful people took me under their wings, so
to speak, and opened a lot of doors.”
“My Native American copper art sales grew, and in
1985 we moved to southern Michigan and opened the Ed Gray
Studio. It was there when one day a friend stopped by to
visit and said the studio needed a different name and suggested
it should be the Ojibway word for copper, Miskwabik. The
name just fit.”
“When the AIDS crisis came along, we developed a
ribbon pin, made of copper with a red patina. We made thousands
of these little ribbons and donated them to the AIDS organization
and, at last count, the sales of these ribbons have raised
over one million dollars.”
ALONG COMES CLAY
About ten years ago, when Ed started to make large shields,
he tried to find various old-looking beads to attach to
them. Longtime friend Bonnie Staffel (see FAC, April ’02)
taught him how to make clay beads and fire them in the pit.
“It was then,” he said, “that I asked
her to teach me more about clay.” Help from Bonnie
and from his extended Native American family members, who
teach him the native ways of working clay, allows him to
spend about 80% of his time in that medium.
“My grandmother told me…never to forget where
I came from. It’s important for me to continue working
in copper and to honor my ancesters. I try to make sure
to incorporate in my work that which she taught me,”
the artist says.
THE COLOR
The red on the copper comes from a process very much like
the oxidation that happens when firing clay pots. The process
of patina on metal plays a very important part in his thinking
when applying color to his clay pots. He says, “it’s
just a matter of learning the little tricks. With clay I
pretty much know what’s going to happen in the pit
firing and what’s going to happen in the smoke firing.
However, in clay there’s always that element of surprise.
There is so much going on, the colors dance in that fire
pit. I’m very sure that a lot of colors tend to move
about and move to other pots.”
ED EXPLAINS HIS PIT AND SMOKE FIRING TECHNIQUES
“Preparing for a pit firing requires attention to
a particular and time-honed process. I place the bisque
pots in a pit about 30” deep and completely cover
with the wood, straw, and cedar chips. The material in the
pit is lit around the outside edges, which slowly burn and
increase in temperature to approximately 1800 degrees over
a period of about six to eight hours. When there is nothing
left but charred embers, I put the cover on the pit for
the cool-down period. A primitive pit firing takes about
three days to complete.
“It’s
important for me to continue working in copper and
to honor my ancestors.” |
After the pots have cooled, the ashes are washed off and
the pots are set aside to dry and admire. The patterns created
by a pit firing are unique.
“ Smoke firing could very well be described as the
outcome of a pit firing. A way to get a different look,
smoke firing gently caresses pots to create colors of soft
whites and dark hues. Using various combustibles, such as
paper, straw, hay, leaves, etcetera, many exciting patterns
are created on the surface of the pots.
To prepare for a smoke firing, I create a container above
ground from layers of red bricks placed in a circle or square,
as high as needed for the pots to be fired. The bricks are
loosely spaced with about 1/16 inch between the horizontal
bricks to allow for air intake. I wrap the pots with newspaper
and place them in a single layer on top of a small bed of
straw. Then the straw is ignited, and when flaming, I put
on a lid and allow it to smoke until cool.”
FINDING THE STONES
The blue pot shown on page 32 was pit fired. All the colors
Ed uses on his pots come from stones collected on the shores
of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. He tries to find stones
that have a dominant color, whether cobalt, iron or some
other substance. After bringing the stones home and keeping
them sorted by color, he grinds them by hand into a powder
using only a mortar and pestle. He makes sure that this
powder can go through an 80-mesh screen. He then mixes it
with terra sigilatta and applies this mixture onto the pot,
burnishing it prior to firing. This particular stone had
a lot of cobalt in it, causing the blue color.
VARIOUS SELLING TECHNIQUES
Ed Gray’s work is sold in only three galleries in
Michigan. This is because his process is very time consuming
and he would not be able to keep up with more demand. Most
of the work is sold from his studio. He says, “I’ve
kept names and addresses on just about everyone who has
bought my work for the past forty years. This provides me
a mailing list of approximately 4,000. I use direct mail
and, along with my website (which attracts 100 to 150 visitors
a day), is about all I do.” He explains that this
is his forth website (www.edgraystudio.com). The last site
allowed people to buy directly online, but he didn’t
like that because “invariably people wanted to buy
an item that was sold, and I never make the same pot twice.
I hear artists say their website doesn’t work, or
they don’t get any traffic. The biggest key, I think,
is how the site looks and works. When someone tells me they
don’t get any traffic, it’s usually because
the site looks like they tried to do it themselves. They
might be a wonderful artist, but website design is a whole
different ballgame. For me, it was important to find the
best site designer I could, as well as a design firm able
to talk to me in the same terms that I talk. I want my personality
portrayed on the site.” Ed continues, “from
the beginning we were contacted by people who wanted to
exchange links and now we’re careful who we link with.
We try to make sure it’s a mutual thing. If I find
an artist whose work I like and his site is satisfactory,
I ask the artist to exchange links. This way, when a visitor
goes to another site that has my link, the chances are good
he or she will visit my site. I really work my site. I spend
an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening answering
all the emails. It’s a lot of work, but my website
generates income.”
When someone calls Ed to tell him that they would like
to buy a pot like the one on the web page, if the one they
liked is sold, he will go to the showroom with his digital
camera and take pictures of pots that are similar to what
they liked. Within twenty minutes, he will email them photographs
of pots that are available.
Another method of promotion for Ed Gray begins with his
relationship with seven other artists, all with studios
within a relatively short distance of each other. For two
days, twice a year, all eight artists open their studios
to sell their work and to demonstrate their pottery methods.
They collectively pool their resources to design and print
a sales brochure that is mailed to past collectors and other
interested people. They contact magazines in hopes of receiving
publicity, and buy some advertising in local newspapers.
This collective effort results in approximately 800 visitors
a day in each of their studios.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SHARING
For many years, Ed Gray has taught students how to work
in copper and clay at workshops in his studio. He says,
“many times you get students that really grab and
understand what you do. Consequently, their work seems to
duplicate my work.” People sometimes tell him that
a past student is copying his work. He considers it a compliment.
A long-time Native American friend and potter once told
him, “we have been taught what we do; these teachings
are a gift and they are not for us to hold and hide.”
Ed says, “this doesn't’t mean that I have to
go out in the street with a sign that reads: ‘come
on in, I’m going to tell you everything I know.’
It means that if you ask me how to get a particular effect,
or how to do this or that – I remember that my knowledge
has been a gift, and it’s necessary I share what I
know with you.”
Article appeared in the July 2002 issue of
Fine Art Ceramics issue. Article written by Russel Bailey.
Permission was given to me by Jon White, the publisher for
reprinting purposes.
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