As it goes, I was eating another Graze sandwich. I was hungry and not sure what I was about to get involved in. I had been summoned to talk to artist Tom Dimond. All I knew was, glass was the choice of material.
I admit I am in the middle of my life, with all the unraveling mess of any other 45 year old. With many things beyond my control, I am seeking stories as the journey is long. I am looking for the stories that tell of pivot points, and efforts long gone that made some sort of difference.
With this in mind, I ate my sandwich.
Tom began to unfold his tale, starting with his under graduate studies at the Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater and an MFA at Southern Illinois University. Tom studied with the ceramists, at the forefront of the glass movement in the United States, Professors Clayton Bailey, and Bill Boysen. He was also mentored by Buckmister Fuller. Each relationship extended his understanding of ceramics, kilns, process, and glass, embedding a deep desire to build a program on his own.
In 1971 to 1972, he came to Walla Walla to teach one year as the ceramics, life drawing, and sculpture adjunct at Whitman College. Dimond hoped to be hired on by Whitman to start a glass program. No such luck. Instead he spent the year assisting none other than Jean Ferguson, and her team of volunteers to transistion the Carnegie Library into the Carnegie Art Center.
This labor of love was shared with me in my younger days, while I was founding Carnegie Picture Lab from the Carnegie Art Center and the Picture Lady program. The building was leased for a dollar a year. It was transformed to hold local and traveling art shows, a gift shop, Picture Lady’s headquarters, and a place for art classes. Sure enough, after the school year was up, he went to find himself, fishing in Alaska. It was there that his next school called with a job.
At Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Oregon, Dimond built a Glass Program that became an educational hot bed for the art of glass and glass blowing in the United States. It was his students, that he had indoctrinated, that were the hands that helped to build Pilchuck. Yes, the Mr. Dale Chihuly’s Pilchuck Glass School.
The balance of telling his story, is accompanied by Tom’s talk of self-actualization. We skipped between the work of the hands to the work of the artist’s mind. Tom, who taught for years, and is now in his 70’s had much advice.
“Embrace the polarity of feelings and be both, then choose between the lesser of the two evils. A helpful hint is to choose the most painful of the two.”
Yes, he can rattle on about the processes of glass, And yet, he uses glass not for the surface, but the depth below. Which dovetails well with his subscription to Carl Jung.
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology.
In particular to Dimond, Jung developed the concept of Collective Unconscious and the Four Archetypes. All of which Dimond uses in his work, plus he believes, “certain motifs repeat in all religions and through all mythologies.” This is a part of his understanding of the Collective Unconscious, the artist is but a mere conduit for that which must come through us.
Now, I assume these northwest stories, and philosophies will be expanded, when he gives his talk at Studio Two Zero Two. Needless to say, even though many of his contributions to society have since morphed into new entities, each effort created an unpredictable influence for the future.
In line with his collective unconscious, his efforts is now apart of the ancestral memory stream of the North West Art scene. The past lives. And. Tom Dimond is still making his own work.
Before we left, Mr. Tom Dimond’s hands held out a beloved strip of paper from the wall of his glass studio in Cove, Oregon over the glass table. Stained, marked, ripped in two, and salvaged with layers of used scotch tape still held its message.
“The greatest challenge was and in a way still is, how I separate what they think I am,
from what I am, or what I think I am,
because they probably don't have much to do with one another.”
Joan Baez
What moves you, what brings you most alive?
Creativity
How does fear play a role in your work?
None.
What would you say in a moment of bravery?
Calm down, you’ll have a more harmonious outcome.
What does the pursuit of authenticity look like?
Endless.
A hug or a hand shake?
Hug.
Art School or no art school?
MFA
Describe a pivotal moment in your life?
1970
When you make work do you think about its presentation?
Not much.
When have you felt the most seen? Or understood?
Not at all
What is your favorite place to be in Walla Walla County?
9 mile canyon
Do you draw?
Yes
How do you handle rejection?
Easy.
Is your art: your work or your life?
Life.
What makes an artist?
Searching for answers
What is your favorite hour of the day?
12:00 am