. Jim Harnish of Plow Creek Farm



I thought I would do a post about the Art of Jim Harnish, whose art probably is not really known much outside of his local community of Tiskilwa, Illinois. He went to school for accounting and spent most of his working life as a carpenter and house painter, picking up ceramics as a hobby and perhaps as some supplemental income, though most of his work was for family and friends.  He was one of the early members and pillars of  a commune where I worked as an agricultural intern for a growing season. His health no longer permits him to create ceramics.

                                 
I believe much of the clay was dug from the banks of plow creek on the farm. The works are good examples of well-made folk art, and his figures, especially his fish, have a playfulness and fluidity about them. I also think that he gets his glaze combinations to work well, especially with the fish on the top left.