Fascinated with clay

Earth, air, water and fire – the four sacred elements that are considered the breath of life – are written on the door of Tim Mosgrove’s natural gas, downdraft, 30-year-old Pacifica kiln. “The clay pot is the supreme mythic vessel,” the ceramist says, “in which the four elements of earth, air, water and fire come together.” Mosgrove is known to some folks as the mud man of Coeur d’Alene. The name seems fitting since he has been “playing” in mud since junior high school.

Most folks know him as Tim Mosgrove, the recipient of the Coeur d’Alene Mayor’s Commission on the Arts 2002 Excellence in the Arts Award.

And many others are familiar with the handmade Idaho tile landscape that adorns the front of his Mosgrove Gallery, Pottery and Architectural Ceramics Studio in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

The 55-foot stoneware wall is commanding, and very impressive in its scale and rich tactile surfaces. The overall impression is one of a harmonious body of work whose quiet presence continues to maintain a lasting interest.

The inspiration for the wall comes from the Idaho landscape Mosgrove says.

“I have depicted the rugged great Idaho outdoors with grizzly bears, blue herons, fish, fox, pine trees and huckleberries.”

Mosgrove’s interest in clay began as a 15-year-old middle-schooler in Boise. His art teacher showed him how to throw a pot on the wheel, and his fascination with clay began.

While attending Borah High School, Mosgrove lived in the ceramic studio by night.

A stint in the 34th Engineering Battalion at Fort Riley, Kan., honed his carpentry skills as he was assigned to the woodcraft shop. There he learned to make furniture, frames and just about anything that had to do with wood.

After the Army he enrolled at the University of Idaho thinking that he wanted to be an architect. It was there he met his wife, Tracy, and also discovered that his passion for clay was much stronger than his interest in architecture.

He transferred to Boise State University so he could concentrate on clay. During his second year, John Takehara, a well-known and influential ceramic artist, who was then a BSU art professor, offered Mosgrove a position as a clay studio assistant.

“I became a studio assistant, preparing clay, cleaning the studio and doing assorted jobs,” Mosgrove said.

In 1989, Mosgrove graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from BSU, moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and opened his first ceramic studio. It was there that he started teaching clay classes.

In 1997, after displaying and selling his functional clay pieces at various art shows for a number of years, Mosgrove moved his family to Coeur d’Alene to “pursue a serious source of income from clay.”

Mosgrove built a studio behind his Coeur d’Alene home, and continued to supplement his sales income by teaching pottery classes.

“Over the years, I have taught hundreds of students of all ages. I like teaching because students get a certain glow about them – they get excited about exploring their own creativity,” Mosgrove says.

“Tim Mosgrove’s pottery classes have been, while as expected educational about every aspect of working with clay, also great fun,” Jan Maiani pottery student says. “It has also been the place where I have connected with a whole crew of friends and like-minded souls.”

Mosgrove utilized his years of carpentry experience and architectural studies, and began creating commissioned architectural ceramic artworks like handmade tile countertops, stoneware and pedestal style sinks, door arches and fireplaces.

Mosgrove spent his entire summer creating a custom-designed clay wall mural that was commissioned by the Coulee Dam Credit Union in Republic, Wash.

The monumental clay wall is 9 feet, 6 inches tall and 25 feet long, and combined Mosgrove’s creative approach as an artist with his skills as a craftsman.

In the center is a water feather that looks like a waterfall in the landscape. In front of the teller counter there are four large clay trees that stand next to the customer’s stalls.

Mosgrove used 4,800 pounds of stoneware clay, 200 pounds of thin set mortar and 100 pounds of colored grout to complete the project.

Hailey Couser, a Coeur d’Alene native and Montana State University graphic arts major, helped with the construction and installation of the wall.

Lisa Kope and Greg Johnston of Coeur d’Alene’s LGD Design Company, originally approached Mosgrove about creating the wall. Mosgrove says they were instrumental in selecting the color scheme and designing the interior of the bank lobby.

Mosgrove’s enthusiasm for all things involving clay is infectious. He was the mastermind behind the birth of the Clay Arts Guild of North Idaho and currently serves as its president.

According to CAGNI’s bylaws it is “a nonprofit communication network for clay artists and supporters, promoting clay art and education in the community.”

“Tim’s vision and support has been instrumental in the growth of CAGNI,” says Maiani who is the treasurer. “He has guided the direction and growth of the guild very successfully with membership growing to 27 members in a few short years.”

Besides monthly meetings to network, share ideas and support one another, the guild has sponsored clay workshops, participated in the Kootenai County Farmers’ Market, and hopes to stage a Clay Festival in the near future.

Mosgrove Gallery supports a variety of community organizations such as Rotary Club International, the Chamber of Commerce, high school cheerleaders, Children’s Village, Wishing Star Foundation, and Hospice of North Idaho, with donated pieces that are often auctioned for large sums of money.

Elementary school classes are frequent visitors to the studio. Mosgrove graciously donates materials and his time to teach clay basics to the children.

Dylan and Kaitlin, Mosgrove’s children, have had their hands buried in clay since they were quite young. They can usually be found at the annual Art on the Green, where they sell their handmade refrigerator magnets and clay beaded necklaces.

Mosgrove is a contributor to “Ceramics Monthly,” a member of The Potter’s Council of the American Ceramics Society, and has recently been invited to do a solo exhibit at the University of Montana.

If you ask him what art is he will tell you that “Art is in the eye of the beholder. If you see it as art then it is.”

“Clay has been the one thing that has survived time,” Mosgrove says, “and it is a reminder of what our world and its inhabitants have left behind.”

“If you make good pots, fire will send them into the next century with your name attached – so you might want to make sure you spell your name right,” Mosgrove says with a chuckle.