Do something. Start with pleasure. Make a list of all the things that are pleasurable in your life and then make an art form out of one of them. And if you're courageous, make a list of all the things that are difficult in your life and make an art form out of one of them.

With this piece of advice we are introduced to Paulus Berensohn in the opening scene of the documentary To Spring From the Hand: the Life and Work of Paulus Berensohn. Infinite words of wisdom such as these are shared throughout the film by the 80-year-old Berensohn, a man as celebrated for his variable artistic talents as he should be for his holistic approach to life.  

Discovering a love of dance as a young boy growing up in New York, Berensohn studied at Juilliard and performed with the likes of Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham in the 1950s. Early into his dance career, however, Berensohn came across the studio of renowned potter Karen Karnes while visiting the Gate Hill Cooperative, a haven for artists in Stony Point, New York. Mesmerized by watching Karnes at the wheel, this was Berensohn's "bridge from dance to clay." Not long after taking up ceramics, he published the acclaimed book Finding One's Way with Clay, wherein he expounds on his pinched pottery method. Forty years later, the text remains a must-read for ceramic students. By revisiting these and other pivotal moments in Berensohn's life, including his struggles with dyslexia and depression, To Spring From the Hand offers viewers a charmingly candid insight to an anomalous life.

Throughout the film, I was reminded of a favorite quote from the sculptor Eva Hesse: "My life and art have not been separated. They have been together." The same can be said for Berensohn, who disavowed the contemporary marketplace early in his career, choosing instead to focus on the act of making. Over the past 40 years, he has not sold a single piece of work, but rather gives it away or returns it to the earth. Teaching, writing, and simple living have sustained the artist in his Penland, North Carolina home and studio.

Some of the best moments of To Spring from the Hand occur as Berensohn shares his intrinsic love of doodling, his devotion to journaling, and his recitation of works by his favorite poets, including Mary Oliver and Billy Collins. While we may know the artist for his contributions to the field - he has been a Fellow of the American Craft Council since 1990, and he was recognized as a Distinguished American Educator by the Renwick Alliance in 2012 - filmmaker Neil Lawrence provides a gratifying survey of Berensohn's visionary philosophy of living.
 

To Spring from the Hand was released in 2014 and is available at the ACC Library, or by request at your local library.