Fire And Clay

North of Los Angeles, about 250 miles, is the Hearst Castle at San Simeon, built atop a mountain, a place Randolph Hurst had spent much time as a boy, the sprawling estate he called “La Cuesta Encantada” (the enchanted hill). On the other side of the country, about 25 miles north of Philly, in Doylestown, there is another castle, Fonthill, built by Henry Mercer, a graduate of Harvard, a lawyer by degree. Mercer never practiced law, instead, became involved in the arts and crafts movement, designed and built three concrete, poured in place structures, one his home, one a museum of Early American Tools, and the Monrovian Pottery And Tile Works. As I learn more about this man, Henry Chapman Mercer, what strikes me, is concerns he had of society, one hundred years ago, are pretty much, the same as mine today. He saw the damage of industrialization, the effect it had on culture, became disturbed, watching pieces of american life, slipping away. In the early 1890’s he was appointed Curator of American and Prehistoric Archaeology by the University of Pennsylvania, leaving in the late 90’s, to learn about German Pottery, as well as time spent, assembling a collection of american artifacts “The Tools Of The Nation Maker”. His home, Fonthill, as a builder myself, fascinated me, hard to describe, I’ve worked concrete most my life, learning of how this concrete was formed, a technique most definitely, out side the box. I heard earth was placed in mounds, tiles were placed on the mounds, the tile face covered with burlap, then hand mixed concrete was placed. With 44 rooms, 200 windows, 32 stair wells, and 18 fireplaces, this was Mercers “Concrete Castle For The New World”. What brought me to Doylestown, were the tiles, I knew about the Monrovian Pottery And Tile Works, had admired the floors of the State Capitol. For close to 100 years, they had manufactured, virtually the same product, at this tile factory, I noticed three or four people with shovels working outside of a door in the back. I was curious of where the clay came from for their tiles, as I asked the workers what was going on, I watched them shovel muck. Through a screen they worked it, leaving rocks behind. Nearly 100 years ago, Mercer saw this process of tile making, would soon disappear, as an archaeologist, he was aware of cultures, and the losses they suffer. It must be a part of human nature, getting all caught up in the excitement of progress, while forgetting, important parts of our past. I guess it was around 1750, the last high quality Damascus steele blades were made, for whatever reason, and there are theories, the art , the craft involved, manufacturing these swords, was forgotten, I guess current myth at the time, was they found a better way. Let me ask, when was the last time you saw anyone with a slide rule, I remember, my Father always had his. I’m curious, do the schools even teach a basic course on its use?I went to hear Tony Ward speak about photography, a few years back at the Pen And Pencil, digital, had overtaken the industry by this time, Tony had made the change. What was so interesting, with Tony’s approach to this new technology, was that it was just one more tool, it hadn’t replaced anything. For a while, Collages, High Schools, Universities, were all taking out darkrooms, photography courses all went digital. I hear from Freestyle that trend is reversing. For myself, the satisfaction comes, in making something with my hands, after seeing the clay being dug out back the tile factory, immediately I went down to the creek out in back of my home and dug my own clay, brought it back, began to play, what had I been thinking, I’d been just throwing money into the fire, buying the clay, to fire in my kiln