Across Indiana
The Peelers of Putnam County
Clip | 4m 12sVideo has Closed Captions
Remembering the pottery, simplicity, and unique perspectives of Richard & Marj Peeler.
Richard & Marj Peeler of Putnam County found harmony & freedom in their pottery & simple lifestyles. While they shared knowledge freely, their forms & processes were their own. They found beauty & function in each piece, working together to sculpt and glaze. In this classic Across Indiana episode, we explored their unique rammed-earth studio while they discussed their philosophy on art & life.
Across Indiana is a local public television program presented by WFYI
Across Indiana
The Peelers of Putnam County
Clip | 4m 12sVideo has Closed Captions
Richard & Marj Peeler of Putnam County found harmony & freedom in their pottery & simple lifestyles. While they shared knowledge freely, their forms & processes were their own. They found beauty & function in each piece, working together to sculpt and glaze. In this classic Across Indiana episode, we explored their unique rammed-earth studio while they discussed their philosophy on art & life.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator 1] There's a harmony that exists between an artist and his craft, a bond that allows the creator to put something of himself into each of his or her creations.
In the wilds of Putnam County, can be found the proof of this statement in the pottery and other media of Richard and Marg Peeler.
(gentle music) The fact that Richard and Marg are potters is not unique, that they also train fish to drum through hoops is unusual, and that most of their customers seek them out rather than they taking their works to them, is noteworthy.
But the real story of Marg and Richard Peeler is that they have chosen their own way of life, free of the clutter that most of us go through each day, and that they have pursued this life for over 40 years.
- It's worked for us.
I don't know why it's worked for us, but it has.
Richard and I, neither one like the big city.
We like the country.
We have very nice people that come out here.
They come out, they bring their kids, their kids are well-behaved.
They bring their guests from all over the world.
And so we meet all kinds of interesting people.
The world comes out here and we meet them.
We talk with anybody that's interested in pottery.
We'll tell 'em anything.
Other potters, we have no secrets because you can either make a technique work or not.
And so you can tell anybody, anything.
Maybe they can make it work, maybe they can't, because everything we do has been developed over a period of time.
Maybe it's been a real struggle before we got it figured out.
So we're very free with information.
We don't have secrets.
- Comment on that.
- Yeah, we like working with the earth and the clay, which is a form of earth.
We built our house out of earth and we like to garden.
I have a rather large vegetable garden, and Marg has a lot of flowers and bonsai trees.
So we just like to work with the earth and three dimensional things.
- [Narrator 1] The house that Richard referred to was a rammed earth house that they built around 1950.
One of the very few in Indiana.
It has walls 18 inches thick, formed out of pneumatically pressed dirt.
As Richard says, it's more of a sculpture than a house.
(gentle music continues) From a nearby studio, that too looks like it's been grown organically in its surrounding, Marg and Richard pursue their crafts, creating objects of beauty and function.
- See, a sculptor is interested in form and what light does to the form, to it or for it.
And I think the form is important to us.
However, since we're making mostly utilitarian pottery, the function is also very important.
We want it to be usable and we want it to be feel comfortable in the hand.
But if you forget about the fact that it's a pitcher, we'll say, utilitarian object, how is it as a form?
How is it as a sculptural form?
We look at that aspect.
- I do small pieces because I haven't got the strength to do large pieces.
Richard throws the larger pieces.
We do separate work and we work together.
Not many artists can work together on the same piece, but we do.
So part of the forms, I do.
Completely part, Richard does, completely part, we join forces on it.
(gentle music continues) - [Narrator 1] These forces could be said to be the forces of nature, or at least of the creative spirit.
Richard and Marg are in their 60s now.
They've raised four sons, have a granddaughter, and recently became great grandparents.
Many people would say they've led a full life.
But the peelers would probably disagree, at least with the had part.
For Marg and Richard, life has been good, and continues to be so with little sign of letting up.
(upbeat music) - [Narrator 2] For more across Indiana stories, go to wfyi.org/acrossindiana.
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Across Indiana is a local public television program presented by WFYI