Professor Elmer Taylor

Professor Elmer Taylor

I met Elmer Taylor in the fall of 1974 at the age of 19 years……43 years ago. I think Elmer was 25. It was my first semester at UNT and Elmer’s first year teaching there. His mentorship began the first day we met. Elmer, at 25 years old, did not have the maturity and grace as a professor that he did in later years, but he was intuitive, spontaneous, determined and ambitious. I knew right way that this guy was the real deal. I stayed at UNT another 2 years, completing my undergraduate degree in art and then with his encouragement and support (letter of recommendation) I went to England to work for Bernard Leach’s younger son Michael Leach in the studio where Elmer had apprenticed a few years earlier. Daphne and I stayed abroad almost three years working with David Leach as well, and others. It was a great boost to my self-confidence for Elmer to send me off to England with his full blessing and endorsement. If you know me, you know that I have had a rich career as a ceramic artist, a university professor and have maintained a studio, Pine Mills Pottery, with my wife and partner Daphne Hatcher for the last 37 years.

Would it be an overstatement to say I owe it all to Elmer Taylor? Probably not. Sure there was serendipity, and there was being in the right place at the right time. Sure, I have worked hard for many years to get my training and education, establish a viable studio and make my mark in the clay world.  But, where did that spark come from that ignited my intensity and enthusiasm? Elmer Taylor. And was I unique?  Oh, not really. He did the same for hundreds of students that came his way. He had an unspoken agreement with students. If you worked hard, he was right there. He had your back. If you were a slacker and did not take your work seriously you were lucky to get two words from him. You knew where this man stood. He stood with you as another soul on a creative journey or he did not invest time if you were not willing to do the same.   

Today friends, colleagues, students and acquaintances of Elmer Taylor, Regents Professor of Art at UNT, are grappling with some hard news received this past weekend. His year and a half battle with melanoma is approaching the end. Evidently the cancer is running wild in his body despite a brave and determined effort to restore health. His beautiful wife and devoted companion Dianne has been by his side doing everything humanly possible to jump start the healing process. She has been so good to keep those who love Elmer in the loop, in the face of her own fear and effort.

Those who have been his students have been fortunate. His uniqueness and powerful presence is impossible to describe. You just had to be there to understand. “Tall trees catch high winds”…..that is Elmer. Never one to hold back a definitive opinion, never one to avoid expressing his truth. This was true in critiques, academic squabbles, and assessment of art works or other artists. Agree with him or not, you knew where this man stood. He is present, direct and alive. What a refreshing spirit in this world of uncertainty and followers. Elmer has been a leader his entire life, rarely a follower.

I served as guest editor for The Studio Potter some years back assembling essays around the idea of “mentoring, the way we learn clay”. As I have continued to grow and mature in my life as an artist/potter/professor it has become very clear to me that in my field the mentoring component is essential. This may have come from the master-apprentice relationship established over centuries, but what is certain is that mentoring is alive and well, it is an essential component of good teaching. That component is the willingness of the mentor to be open with the student. By open, I mean willing to be present, be available and to share what is theirs to offer. Share their techniques, esthetic considerations, perspectives, inspiration, convictions, and material information……an openness and inclination to share is essential.

And when did Elmer’s mentoring end? It never will, never will it end. He will forever be present in my life. After I returned from England we continued to develop a deep and layered relationship as friends and colleagues. He went on to write many more letters of recommendation as my career unfolded, he came and helped us build our studio, literally loading and hauling bricks, he nominated Daphne and I for the UNT Distinguished Alumni award in 1999, which we received thanks to his impetus and most importantly, we shared a continuing relationship through visits and phone conversations over the decades , as both a friend and a fellow colleague, as a university professor, as I have been, counseling me when I needed a peer who had gone before me.  He made himself available when I called.

The relationships Elmer has had with students is deep and wide. He has stayed connected with many of us. He has contributed much to hundreds of people. So it is easy to understand the outpouring of tears and heartache being felt at this unfair turn of fate shortly after his retirement from a lifelong distinguished career as a ceramic artist, a prolific maker, professor and leader in his field. But, you know what, this man made an indelible mark. He kicked ass and took names, he has done a lot of good in this world and left us much to contemplate.

We love you Professor Taylor, you are one of a kind.