Ron Dahline: reflections in Mud

Wandering out behind the Cedar Keyhole Co-op Gallery in Cedar Key, Florida, in the early 2000’s, you would have found this guy constructing “in your face” coffee mugs. And if you took the time (and who does these days?) and watched him work, you would have discovered just how lovingly and painstakingly, one after the other and each with its own personality, Ron created his masterpieces—in a literal “tin shed.”

I found him; and I’m not the only one. Linda K. wrote that she knew exactly who I spoke of when she discovered “reflections in Mud.” It had to be Ron.

Well, Ron and I fell to talking—both of us having been born in Minnesota, we swapped stories. He was an interesting character; only that.

The next year (almost to the day) I again find myself in Cedar Key, but this time with a brand spanking new Digital Video camera. What to shoot? I wandered down the “main drag” (which ain’t much in Cedar Key) only to again find myself at the Cedar Keyhole Co-op. And who hasn’t moved one iota in the last year? Ron. Still intent, still diligently turning out one-by-one, his incredible face mugs. I asked if I could “shoot” him at work.

I turned up the next day and he was far more prepared than I. He had a piece to "throw off the hump." He had a piece “leather dry” to demonstrate the various stages and techniques involved in creating his clay personalities.

It was I who had failed to pack a tripod and had to resort to shooting from a desk chair, or pressing myself into a doorway to gain stability for the close-up shots. But I think it’s inspired work—on both our parts—and Ron’s tape continues to stand as an inspiration for all the AiR titles that followed.

1) Listen intently to what the artist is saying.

2) Watch closely what is being demonstrated, and

3) Keep my mouth shut.

BTW, if you listen carefully you can hear the Mulberry tree gently brush the roof of Ron's "studio" behind the Cedar Keyhole Coop Gallery in Cedar Key, Florida. 50 min. $25.00 US

Check out the Ceramics Monthly review of Reflections in Mud

High School reviews of "reflections in Mud" have included these comments:

"******!! High performance ceramics blows High-school clay world away! Highly innovative and archetypal. Watch[ed] twice" Ben B., student

reflections in Mud "should be used as a curriculum tool because it displays creative thinking as well as technique" Tricia A., student teacher