Interview with Richard Sean Manning

by Alyssia Kremin - London, England

July 2012

What are your influences?

I take my influences from where I am in my life at the moment, and it is firmly steeped in male dominated, instant gratification. I am definitely influenced by my heart and soul, and my art is conceived spontaneously at the moment I start, whether it be in clay, paint or ink on paper, blowing glass, designing furniture and frames using rare and exotic wood, or using metal in a creative way.

My art definitely has a spiritual element that I don’t presume, but it simply happens. You will often see a symbolic trinity in my work, which is not obvious to the viewer, that it is representative of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Mother Nature provides a lion’s share in influencing my art as my forms are organic, and raw, and random in beauty, rather than perfectly defined.

What is your work process?

My work process can start by being inspired by an image or idea for a theme for what I want to do on my paper or mold from clay. I work in series sets of 18, which is a symbolic number for me. I often visualize what I want to create as I am laying in bed, before I go to sleep, or will go to sleep thinking about how I want to see something and dream about it, and when I wake up in the morning, I know exactly how I will make the dream become reality.

I work in layers, as my day is usually split into working with more than one medium. When I work with paint, whether it be on paper or canvas, I will have a series of steps that involve layering paint in different colors, often jumping from one piece to another with the same brush until each work in the series is complete, then I sign them. In between processes I will jump onto the wheel and throw clay, which will need to set a while to be firm enough for me to trim out before it dries. After I bisk my work, I often stack pieces so there is much thought about how the color of the glaze that I use on individual pieces will interact against its mate, once assembled, within the structure that is in the process of being conceived.

Which of your pieces are you most proud of?

That is a loaded question, much like asking which of your children are you most proud of! From a painting standpoint, I am most proud of my first 30 paintings on canvas, as they pleasantly surprised me and everyone else. I stand back and look at them, and they look so real. With my clay art, it is hard to choose which I’m most proud of, because they represent different learning periods of my life. My clay series hold fond memories for me, such as my “Gramps” series of pool bottles and “Nana Jean’s” bowls and sinks, my “Mom” series, which are skirted tall vases and my “Dad” series of solid, lidded vessels.

I’m particularly proud of my “9/11 Twin Tower” series which I am donating to museums, one pair per year on the Sept. 11 anniversary. My first one was installed as a permanent exhibit at The Great Explorations Children’s Museum in St. Petersburg, with the intention of opening a dialogue between educators and young students to inspire unity through art. The last series I created gave me a great sense of pride, as I have learned that there should be no grey areas in life; truth, no matter how difficult, is the best for inner harmony. That series I named “Beacons of Light,” and am in the process of designing lighthouse style stands for them to guide my path as I sail through life.

Are there any drawbacks to your work?

Absolutely none. I am truly blessed to be in the position to help people through my art. I thank God every day for allowing me the privilege of being one of his messengers.

What project have you enjoyed the most?

The most enjoyable projects are when there is a classroom full of kids that I am teaching. WE have so much fun and I learn as much as the kids. I co-founded a not-for-profit called “Vessels for Charity” to be in the position to teach kids through video presentations, to make it personal to make a difference. I teach them how to create knee pots that they can sell through family and friends fundraisers to make money for local charities and art supplies in their classrooms, as funding for the arts is scarce. I enjoy planting seeds of a global consciousness, that these kids can think of others in need and be proactive in funding their own creative growth.

I have also taken much enjoyment out of a series of painted art that I am creating to honor the memory of all those who lost their precious lives on 9/11. I have committed to painting 3,000 original works of art and have them reproduced in high quality giclee prints that The Manning Arts is offering as a way for 501c3 organizations to raise money for their worthy causes. It works out to be a $492 million potential opportunity for charities.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

I have been blessed to have worked with some of the great masters in the clay world, such as the late Rudi Autio, Paul Soldner, and Peter Voulkos, who all taught me basically the same thing. Their advice to me was that in art, you can’t make a mistake… only your own art. In art, you can’t do anything wrong! I try to remember that and to pass on those words to young people that I teach. Just try. If you don’t like what you produce, keep trying until you make something that you do like. The other thing to remember in art is that even if you don’t like it… someone else may be inspired by it.

What is the one piece of advice you would offer to a young artist/designer?

My one piece of advice would be follow your heart, use your feelings to create and remember that you can’t do anything wrong with art, and you won’t know unless you try. I’d also say that it would be a good idea to surround yourself with like minded people that can inspire you. Create your own art by learning a little something from other artists that you admire, and create your own style.

What is in your toolbox?

My studios are my toolbox. In each of my work spaces you will find many fine paint brushes and high quality art material, as well as the cheapest Home Depot brushes that cost 23 cents a piece, but the tools that I get the greatest satisfaction out of and produce work with a lot of energy, using ‘brushes’ that I find in nature simply by walking outside and picking a branch off a tree, or a dried out bough of an evergreen that you find laying on the ground. I recycle mother nature’s hand me downs. Actually, this was actually taught to me by Peter Voulkos.

How do you combat creative blocks?

Here’s the thing, I usually don’t have creative blocks, as I often have a dozen projects going at any one time. On the rare occasion that I am in between projects, {Laura} will slip in her two cents and lay out plain white sheets of 20x30 paper on every table in my studio, and spread out images that may inspire a new series. It may be as subtle as photographs of sunsets, or a news item, such as the Twin Towers under attack. It may be a copy of an interesting logo of one of the charities that affiliates with The Manning Arts, such as UPARC, which prompted me to paint a “Doves of Peace” series, or The First Tee, which motivated me to create a golf related series. sometimes it is a copy of a symbolic image that spreads awareness, such as my “Ribbon” series or “Give Peace a Tri” series to inspire people to action.

What are on the top shelves of your inspiration library now?

On the top shelf of my inspiration library right now is designing and finalizing all the details for our upstate New York studios, as my future and final homebase for creating art. We presently live in Florida, where I started out my career and had a family, and make frequent visits to upstate New York, to our family winery, just 20 miles from Niagara Falls. I am at the stage in my life where I want to spend more time on the land of my youth and have started to build my dream studio set against the backdrop of a glacial rip on 45 acres planted with grapes, with two ponds and enough raw natural beauty to provide a lifetime of inspiration.

How do you keep yourself organized?

I make a to-do list every single day and check off all the things that I have completed. I also have many composition books where I jot down my renderings and thoughts for future work.

If you could peek inside the studio of any designer/artist/craftperson, whose would it be and why?

Definitely Jun Kaneko, which I hope to visit again this year in Omaha. His studios are located in a 3 million square foot building, and each corner has something new happening in it every day. HIs mediums range from large clay vessels to set design of high end theater productions, including costumes, such those for “Madame Butterfly,” to rice paper inks, canvas paintings, and he lives his life with grace and dignity and love for everyone. He is the inspiration for my life and the direction it is going.