Where Vets Meet Rock 'n' Roll Ceramics And Granite Peaks
The LH Project at the base of the Wallowas has been called the Shangri-La of ceramics. It's residency program attracts world-class artists — among them, a group of clay-slinging vets.
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LH Project founder Jakob Haßlacher peers up at a Berlin Wall replica he made. It's a project he's returned to several times since 1989, when he was in Berlin during the wall's fall.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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The main studio at LH is just one of many buildings on the property. The artist Daniel Donovan described a typical day: “We wake up, we come out here, we crack a beer, and we start working on art. We put on music, we play it really loud, and we just sort of go all day. Some of the evenings we head up to Jakob’s place and play a little Bocci and BBQ. And then we hit the hay and you wake up early, because there’s no curtains in the barn, and the sun is up around 4:30 or 5.”
Aaron Scott / OPB
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Artist and veteran Daniel Donovan painting one of his clay replicas of the millitary's standard-issue, five-gallon water can. This one has a painting of a boy scout holding a wooden gun. "A lot of my thesis work in graduate school now is dealing with constructs in society that help define aspects of masculinity," says Donovan.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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Donovan's finished works are covered in images and symbols drawn from his life and studies.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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Jesse Albrecht painting one of his War Crocks. “Crocks used to be something that was a low brow thing, that was not considered art — it was craft and was pooh-poohed,” he said of why he chose to work with the traditional forms. “And then for me, war is just a crock of shit. The myth of it, the idea of it, the reality of it.”
Aaron Scott / OPB
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The original building at LH is made of straw bails and stucco. The land was off the grid when Haßlacher bought it.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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Now the original house serves as a gallery. As part of the residency, each artist leaves behind at least one work.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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Jason Segall is one of the few residents LH has accepted without a graduate degree in ceramics. He then used his work there to get into Alfred University's prestigious graduate programs.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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"It’s all hand carved," said Haßlacher of Segall's work. "Growing up, he and his brother used his dad's tool shop, and he’d tell them make your their toys, so he’s reliving his childhood making wood and bottle rockets."
Aaron Scott / OPB
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A satirical map of Wallowa County recounting, among other things, the historic massacre of Chinese immigrants along the nearby Snake River.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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LH's Noborigama, or dragon, kiln is build into a hill. Firing it requires feeding the fire around the clock for several days.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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Haßlacher explaining the different chambers of the Noborigama kiln.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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Two other wood kilns Haßlacher built using bricks he made himself.
Aaron Scott / OPB
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“My parents said if I ever got a motorcycle, I would be disinherited,” said Haßlacher. “They’re both dead — I’m an orphan. But it’s not a motorcycle: it’s called a motor tractor.”
Aaron Scott / OPB
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The view of the Wallowa Valley from the main LH studio.
Aaron Scott / OPB
