February 13, 2009

Earth, Wind, and Fire

Richard Bresnahan's elemental approach to art — and life

Photograph by Tom Roster

Richard Bresnahan checks the fire in the Johanna Kiln at Saint John's University, in Minnesota. See a slideshow of his pottery and the firing of the kiln here.

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Photograph by Tom Roster

Richard Bresnahan checks the fire in the Johanna Kiln at Saint John's University, in Minnesota. See a slideshow of his pottery and the firing of the kiln here.

By Scott Carlson

On the eighth night of firing, a crisp October evening in Minnesota, the Johanna Kiln is breathing like a dragon, belching methane fumes that explode as soon as they hit the outside air. It's the light show of a primal transformation.

Joe Daly stands at one end of the 87-foot-long brick kiln, eyes wide and mouth open slightly, watching people crawl up on the side to stack wood and check the fire. "It's amazing," he says. A senior at Saint John's University here, he once walked down