Brian Nettles’s work was influenced for many years by folk potters of Asia. Working alone, he digs and processes the clay, makes and glazes the pots, and thins his pine forest for wood to fire the kiln. He generally repeats this cycle four times a year at his studio, recreated after Hurricane Katrina, surrounded by 30 acres of land, cypress swamps, bayous and rivers rich with wildlife.

“I live in the middle of thirty acres with cypress swamps, bayous, rivers and an abundance of birds, alligators and every type of wild life. I take walks alone everyday to look, watch and observe nature. I find inspiration from the dead winter brown leaves to the fresh spring green

leaves on ferns. I watch as the alligators wake from their long winter hibernation, to the migrating birds landing and staying for days at a time. I dig clay on my property and while thinning my pine forest, I use the wood to fire my kiln. I feel by working with mud and fire it is as close to nature as I can become.”

“My work over the years has drawn from the history of pottery going back to the folk potters of the Asian countries. More specially, the Japanese Meingi philosophy of their pots and way of life. For years I have worked in the Meingi ethic, but since August 2005 when hurricane Katrina took everything I owned, I have been rethinking the way I make art and why I make art. Before the storm I was making pots for everyday use with a Asian influence, but since the storm I have been thinking more about the pots that have been made here on the gulf coast for the last thousand years.”