All in the Family
“Sometimes we draw a chalk line down the studio. Well, a metaphorical chalk line,” says Galen. Overlooking the South Toe River is Sedberry Pottery, home to father and son ceramic artists Ken and Galen.
Artemis Independent has been getting to know Galen over the last few months. We asked him to create wood-fired gifts for friends and our public media family. Galen was born and raised in the Toe River valley and in the pottery studio - both of which give him a sense of home. “There is a certain ‘rightness that is very difficult to articulate,’ Galen reflects. “The rhythms of this place fit.”
While Galen grew up surrounded by ceramics, it has only been in the last four years that he has removed all else to perfect his craft. All of which, he recounts, feels possible because of this community. “This place is everything: the colors, the flaura, the fauna… they inspire me.” With the world’s finest artists down the road Penland School of Craft and Toe River Arts Council Galen adds, “I have so much support and informal mentors and guides in this community.”
Being a full-time potter in the Toe River valley doesn’t come without challenges. The region is rural and isolated with limited job opportunities and economic activity. “People have to move away and then live with the void of this place.” Since 2010, the region has experienced a pause in population growth and even a decline. “There’s risk for sure. There is no paycheck. I don’t have a plan B. I know that I am privileged to be where I am and to have a support system that is here and that allows me to be here. A lot of it was laying at my feet and I am just trying to not take that for granted.”
The Sedberry studio is perched in the trees and heated by a wood stove. With windows and a porch that overlooks the river, Galen and Ken often turn their studio inside-out, literally, to work the clay closer to the river and in nature. “Working next to my Dad - it is an interesting dynamic. We have good days and bad days just like any father or son would,” Galen reflects. “I couldn’t imagine a better teacher. It isn’t lost on me about how lucky I am to have him.”