Looking Back — 2026
I came across this post recently while looking through the C2C Journal archives. It was written in 2019 by Bruce Miller, who knew me well at the time.
Reading it again seven years later made me smile. So much has changed, but the things he noticed haven’t. I still begin many days looking at Lake Michigan. I still notice the weather, the changing light, the movement of the water and the marks left along the shoreline. And I still believe that living with handmade art can make an ordinary day a little richer.
In many ways, what Bruce noticed then is part of what I now call Looking Closely—paying attention to the everyday things around me and allowing those observations to find their way into my ceramic work.
I’ve left Bruce’s original post below as he wrote it.
Cyn: Good Morning, What’s it like outside?
Bruce: Oh My, it is lovely.
Cyn: Wait, it looks like it’s raining.
Bruce: I know, isn’t it beautiful?
Cyn: You are a nut.
Bruce: This is a standard morning conversation we have. It isn’t me making lemonade out of lemons. It is me loving every day I live in this wonderful area (along Lake Michigan). I love the snow, the rain, the sunshine, the seasonal changes.
Foggy afternoon at Grand Haven State Park
Bruce: My day is somehow better when I start with a cup of coffee from a beach-sand mug(by Cyndi Casemier). My afternoons in the office are less dreary because I spot a handmade teal bird (by Tonya Rund). I just love Tonya Rund’s creatures.
I cannot think of a better reminder of how lucky I am to live close to Lake Michigan than seeing a Mark Mehaffey sunset painting. Art in my every day life, improves it in so many ways.
If you haven’t spread a blanket for a sunset; watched the wind bend a Lodge Pole Pine; or seen the erosion? Come visit West Michigan.
The weather is lovely outside today…I promise.
(Original post written by Bruce Miller, December 2019)
