When a friend asked local resident Brad Reed for advice on ceramic sculpting, an old flame was rekindled and stoked to fire new work.
Everything but a certified architect, Reed, 74, spends his time designing homes, residential compounds and is working on plans for an entire micro-community neighborhood proposed for Moab, Utah.
Being occupied with architecture, Reed had abandoned his work in ceramics, which he had practiced off and on since his college days at the University of Oregon.
In 1964 Reed opened The Pot Shop in an old chicken coop in Aspen, where he used a potters wheel and pickup truck given to him by famed ceramics artist Paul Soldner.
While living in Aspen, Reed said, he befriended infamous gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson and had the unique honor of having a work of his art blown to bits by the renegade writers revolver.
He just walked right up to it and said, Jesus Christ thats scary, and pulled his gun out and blew it right off the sidewalk, Reed said. I thought it was just great. I have the honor of having Hunter Thompson blow up my birthday present to him, which was just a giant, pornographic teapot.
Reed left Aspen to fly cargo planes for a company in Alaska. After a career in aviation, he moved to Taos, N.M., where he said he was too busy to work on ceramics. More recently, he moved to Arriola, where he resumed the craft in a studio he designed as a prototype for student housing projects.
Reed has work ranging from coffee mugs, to sculpture, to vases, to salt and pepper shakers. Hes experimenting with inlaid porcelain, oxide rubs and alternating layers of wheel-thrown and hand-shaped clay.
Reed might have created the perfect coffee mug. His design features a wide handle for lateral stability when sipping, a thick base to prevent spills, an internal indentation to prevent sloshing, and a minimal surface area to reduce cooling and keep beverages hot.
I did a whole years study on coffee cups in school, Reed said.
One of Reeds more sculptural works is a vertical plate with a small square hole, which he holds to his face and peeks through the hole with a single eye.
I just call them A View to Life, he said. You just hold them up to look through. And really, thats about what most people see, when theyre looking at the world.
Reed also did a series he calls his Nuclear Teapots, which resemble a hybridization of animal and war machine, complete with attached bombs and battle-axes.
Theyre supposed to be real primeval, real prehistoric, he said. I think war is such a prehistoric act.
Reed and his wife, Susan Reed, a painter, have an art show planned for Aug. 5 at the Henderson Fine Arts Center in Farmington, N.M.
Reach Reid Wright at [email protected].
