Darren Emenau
Published Saturday October 11th, 2008
Everything leads to water for this potter. It's where he lives, his inspiration and his greatest fear
q Age?
a 38
q Provenance?
a I was born in Halifax and raised in East Riverside, N.B. After I finished my training at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in Fredericton, my partner (Alexandra Flood) and I decided to buy a house on the lower St. John River, in the region of Greenwich.
q Why art?
a I've always enjoyed working with my hands, and needed an artistic outlet. Coming from an academic background, I was immediately hooked when I took my first pottery course. It constantly challenges me and enables me to explore new ideas.
q What was your breakthrough moment?
a When I realized I was much more interested in working all weekend during my craft college days, instead of socializing.
q What would you be if you weren't an artist?
a A boat builder. I have restored a couple of small wooden boats and I love building things, but don't have the formal training.
q Your current obsession?
a Exploring the St. John River in one of my boats at a leisurely pace.
q What are you working on next?
a More sculptural, fully enclosed forms, made of locally dug clays.
q What place on Earth inspires you?
a I'm an avid National Geographic reader, and find many places all over the world inspiring, but I'd have to go with my own backyard. So many little things - rocks, moss, water, trees, etc. - and the four seasons are all reasons why I live here.
q What place in New Brunswick inspires you?
a You guessed it - the St. John River and its tributaries. It sends you on a lazy trip back in time when life was simpler and less developed.
q Secret indulgence?
a Plowing through a box of Little Debs from Victory Meat Market in Fredericton.
q Your favourite hero of fiction?
a Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm, although he portrays himself. I relate to the stupid trouble he gets himself into.
q What is your greatest extravagance?
a Two spoiled chocolate Labrador retrievers, who are dandies and have better health insurance than I do.
q What is your greatest fear?
a I have a phobia of heights and water, although I'm compelled to climb and swim all the time. Don't be surprised if one of those two get me in the end.
q Greatest joy?
a Adrenalin junky activities. You need a scare once in a while to keep things in perspective.
q Your favourite ceramic piece on Earth?
a A Robert Turner form called Little Sioux. If you saw it you would understand the influence.
q Favourite piece of pottery by a New Brunswick artist?
a There are so many pots that I love, done by different potters from N.B. There was a child in one of my classes (can't recall her name) whose piece was so direct and honest. It was a beautiful bowl.
q What are you reading?
a National Geographic and a zoology text book. My fascination with the natural sciences occupies a lot of my reading time.
q What's on your iPod?
a It's actually a Creative Zen, and it has tunes such as Philip Glass, The Cure, Final Fantasy, Old Man Luedecke, Stravinsky and the old standby: Donovan P. Leitch.
q What talent would you like to have?
a Any of the martial arts"‚."‚."‚. I did some for a few weeks, and wish to get back some day.
q What is the greatest public misconception about art?
a That pottery is only a craft, and not an art form.
q Your most treasured possession?
a My first restored wooden skiff from the 1930s - The Otter.
q What is your motto?
a "The here and now" or "You do what you have to do; I'll do what I have to do, and we'll meet up at times for coffee."
q How would you like to die?
a Like I mentioned up above, I'm going down by falling or drowning, but dying along a wooded, flowing creek bed sounds nice to me; throw in a few kingfishers and rustling leaves for good measure.
q What is your favourite art museum?
a The Vincent Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam is a small museum that focuses on the works and not the building.
q What piece of artwork have you not seen in person that you'd like to see before you die?
a Classical Mimbre pottery. The motifs found on Classic Mimbre's Black-on-White include animals, fantastic creatures and human figures. A perfect relaxed balance between image and form. This work is from 1000-1150 A.D. in the New Mexico area.
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