We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Herrick Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Herrick, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The Saint Augagama.
The Back Story:
I was first exposed to woodfired ceramics in 2013 and in 2015 I joined a group of artists at the Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute in China for a 3-week residency. In 2016, two weeks after I got married, I left home and camped for two weeks in Illinois at the Waubonsee International Woodfire Conference. While there, I participated in many different styles of kiln firings and interacted with a guest list of demonstrating artists that remains unrivaled. It was this intense and immersive experience in Illinois that really lit my fire, so-to-speak, and I began to dream of one-day building a kiln of my own.
In total, I fired 14 large Jars in 14 months (see thesis group shot) made from locally harvested clay in wood kilns all around the country. Laura, my wife and business partner, was by my side for almost every firing, driving, camping, and, immersing herself in the experiential side of the kilns. We learned what we wanted to emulate and what we didn’t care for. I learned both about the styles of kilns and cultures surrounding them. From the kind and firm control of John Balestreri in Denver, CO to the frenetic workshop atmosphere of universities, Laura and I dreamed of building a kiln of our own.
Planning and Preparation:
Our stated goal was to construct a kiln large enough to have a group of people participating but small enough to fire with some regularity. Through extended conversations with Justin Lambert, and Danny Meisinger, I came to appreciate their process and philosophies greatly. Firing frequently and learning the kiln is a familiarity that cannot be achieved any other way.
With the inflationary pressures of the 2023 economy Laura and I discussed converting some of our savings into physical capital before the prices of concrete and lumber continued to increase. Prices were rising faster than our savings were earning interest, so we decided to act. We knew we’d need to sell a fair amount of my work and possibly take a business loan but the prospect of moving forward was exciting nonetheless.
With Laura’s encouragement, I formalized the designs and submitted a building permit application to our city. She is the dreamer and I am the planner. If it had been up to me, the kiln would not have been built until every penny and brick was accounted for. Also Laura made the convincing argument that building a kiln at 33 years old instead of 53 would be twenty more years of firing! With the green light from city permitting, we officially began to bring a dream to life that began in 2016.
An appointed and anointed construction.
After the approval of the permit in late December of 2023, we planned a two-week kiln-building workshop for July of 2024. I firmly believe that there is no such thing as coincidence. After answering the call to move forward with construction, the number of things that went exactly right cannot be overstated.

A man named Sebastian moved to our city and reached out to me about a group of 1,400 reclaimed insulating fire brick (IFB) for sale at $1.14 each (~1/6 market value for new brick). I bought them.
Justin Lambert, mentioned earlier, had vacated a kiln in south Florida and after a series of phone calls, decided to gift the entire thing to me if I handled deconstruction. A group of family and friends helped move the bricks and other material over many trips with the largest non-CDL truck I could rent. This gift was really what made the kiln possible as I had severely underestimated the number of bricks for the project.
Later in the spring, a snow-birding artist walked into my studio one day and after hearing what we were working on, gifted us enough money to purchase a pallet of specialty refractory and bricks. She remains an active supporter and core participant in our kiln firings.
We hired out the concrete for the slab and there was a blessing even in this, as the contractor allowed me to dig the footer trench to save on labor costs.
My dad and I built the kiln shed structure as owner-contractors and passed every inspection the first time.
And finally, when it came to the time of the workshop, members of our community opened their homes without reservation for the out-of-town participants to stay with them. We had excellent weather for the entire two weeks in July. And the good cheer surrounding the kiln site was bolstered even more by a homemade breakfast and lunch every day by Laura, that we shared elbow-to-elbow, building friendships as well as a kiln.
Without each of these moments and especially the loving encouragement of my wife Laura, the risk of using up our savings and taking on a project of this scale would have been far beyond my grasp.
Our first firing of the kiln was in December of 2024 and was a hands-down, un-reserved success. Presently we fire three times per year, and the kiln has grown to be an integral part of our family, our business, and the arts community in our city and region.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Artist Statement
The great diversity of shape and color displayed in the hardwood hammocks of the subtropical coast deeply impacts my work. The gentle and earthy palette of the swamp, merging with the forest floor and the delicate flora found within are especially intriguing. The quiet forms are at once rich and full of life as well as hushed and sedate, allowing for a diversity of surface treatments.
Recognizing hardship in life, the work allows the viewer to experience the embrace of nature and find refuge from the constant bombardment so present in our cultural moment. As creators of culture, artists are called to the elevation of society and transcendence beyond intellectual calcification. I do this through the creation of objects that lack the facade of constructed meaning and exist to bring beauty, lacking pretension, into the lives of others. The power of time, in concert with natural processes, displayed in subtle details affords the viewer a glimpse of the rare beauty seen by a walker on the paths lacing my native coast.

Biography
Herrick H. Smith is native to Saint Augustine, Florida, and grew up adventuring in the coastal woods developing a deep sense of self as connected to a sense of place. Through high school and college, he worked as a blacksmith at the Colonial Quarter, a museum about colonial Spanish Florida and earned his BA in Economics from the University of North Florida in 2013. After time working in D.C. as a congressional aide and graduation, he moved to Kansas and apprenticed at Spinning Earth Pottery with Danny Meisinger. In 2017 he graduated from Fort Hays State University with an MFA in Ceramics. Smith is a husband, father, artist, and art educator focused on local clays, atmospheric firing, and non-objective, abstract sculpture. When not in the classroom or studio he loves the outdoors.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The mission statement for our studio is: To promote artistic excellence, innovation, and creativity across media in our community through instruction and creation, to engage creatively with conceptually complex issues and promote authenticity of human engagement and beauty in genuine interaction.
This is largely derived from a conceptual foundation laid out in the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verse 8 “Finally brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy consider these things.”
In grad school I was exposed to many artists including Matthew Barney. My professor of sculpture worked on the iron furnaces in River of Fundament. I recognize the value of Barney’s critical look at society and the human experience and see the need for powerful voices like his. While I view his work as a necessary comment on our cultural moment, I find myself on the opposite side of the proverbial coin and it would be inauthentic for me to engage with societal narratives in that way. When I think about process and I think about people and I think about products, I think we are looking at similar realities and responding quite differently. I hold up Barney as an artist I admire and whose voice I aspire to emulate with my own accent.
Recognizing hardships in life, my work allows the viewer a refugium from the constant bombardment so present in our culture. As creators of culture, artists are called to the elevation of society and transcendence beyond intellectual calcification. I do this through the creation of objects that lack the facade of constructed meaning and exist to bring beauty, lacking pretension, into the lives of others. The power of time, in concert with natural processes, draws the viewer into an introspective and reflective state. With the control of self and the continued transformation by the renewing of our minds, space can be made to meditate on those things outlined in the verse from the book of Philippians. “People, like clay, begin every day with the opportunity to be made new.” -Herrick H. Smith

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being a creative, and in particular an art educator is rewarding on a number of levels. First and foremost, I am teaching in-field and can share with students something about which I am already passionate. Secondly, the time-off afforded by the educational schedule allows me to maintain an active studio practice and invest in my family at a deep level. Seeing my 5 year-olds on the pottery wheel and having their work in the firings of my anagama kiln is special in a way that is difficult to describe. Finally, the creative questions floated by my students adds steady fuel to my creative fire. Most recently, we are exploring Egyptian Paste after an off-handed question by one of my seniors. Their questions and ideas keep me sharp and in the history books helping explore their inquiries.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://smithworksstudios.com
• Instagram: SmithWorksStudios
• Linkedin: Herrick H. Smith
• Twitter: Herrick H. Smith
• Youtube: Smith Works Studios

Image Credits

Herrick H. Smith
Rachel Fleischman