Terri Logan, this week’s guest on the WWN podcast, says “art is one of our first languages.” It was certainly one of hers, growing up in Winchester, Indiana. She would go on to double major in sculpture and psychology, and then begin her professional life as an art therapist. After 12 years in private practice, she discovered jewelry making, and later shifted to working in her studio full time. In her conversation with Kate, Terri shares the strong connection she experiences when creating jewelry for her clients, the power of using natural materials, and how she incorporates both the both the organic and the architectural in her work. Enjoy!
This episode of the Western Wayne News podcast is sponsored by 3Rivers.
Transcript
Terri Logan: I am Terri Logan, and I’m the artist behind Terri Logan Studios.
Kate Jetmore: From Civic Spark Media and the Western Wayne News in Wayne County Indiana, I’m Kate Jetmore. As a native of Richmond, Indiana, I’m excited to be sitting down with some of our neighbors and listening to the stories that define our community. My guest today is Terri Logan, an artist and jewelry designer. After 18 years as an art therapist, Terri decided to retire from her private practice and devote herself full-time to the arts. She approaches her work as a metalsmith from a perspective that is rooted in both the fine arts and psychology and favors the use of metal and stone, stating that these inherently strong materials offer her infinite possibilities as a language. At the height of her business, Terri Logan Studios was represented in more than 150 galleries and museum shops, 10 of which were international. Welcome, Terri. I’m so happy you could join me on this show today.
Terri Logan: Well, I am too. I’m happy to be here.
Kate Jetmore: I’ve known you practically my entire life. My parents are close, close friends of yours, but I still have lots of questions that I can’t wait to explore with you, so let’s jump in.
Terri Logan: Sure.
Kate Jetmore: Okay. Well, at the Western Wayne News, we love hearing about people’s history in Wayne County, or if you don’t have a history in Wayne County, how you ended up here. So what’s your story, Terri? Did you grow up in Wayne County?
Terri Logan: I did not. I grew up in Randolph County, which is adjacent, and I was born in the town of Winchester, a small town of 6,000, I believe at the time. And came to Wayne County because my husband joined a practice here in town and he’s an optometrist and Dr. Barnhart and Jerry hit it off, decided to become partners, and so we came to Richmond, and that’s my first experience with Wayne County.
Kate Jetmore: Okay. But I’d love to hear about your childhood in Randolph County. What opportunities did you have as a child there that led to the development of your creative voice?
Terri Logan: I think that’s a great question, and I was rolling it over my mind multiple times. I don’t suggest that it works this way for everyone, but I think actually the scarcity of opportunity in a small town fed my creativity because there were not the clubs and the organizations. And we lived out of the city limits, which means we had neighbors, but they might be a mile or so away. And of course, we got together and played, but we came up with games, we came up with variety shows. I was often the instigator in that. I didn’t have an abundance of art materials by any stretch. So crayons and pencils I think were pretty much it, and paper. And we really didn’t watch television. I know we had television, but there probably weren’t many programs, so we did not sit in front of a television or computer. We were outside all day. But if the weather was bad, you’re inside for any reason. Boredom could sit in and I, like most children, drew and enjoyed making art.
Kate Jetmore: That is so interesting that you mentioned the word scarcity. I guess my next question is, were you aware that there was a scarcity-
Terri Logan: Oh, no.
Kate Jetmore: … of materials or opportunities or was it just your life?
Terri Logan: It was my life. We did not have an abundance of toys. I don’t think that was a socioeconomic thing. I mean, you had a few toys. I had a doll, but a doll didn’t interest me. And mostly it was being outside. So even during the winter or the colder months, we would get outside as much as we could, but certainly there were times that we were inside, and that’s when I would gravitate towards the crayons and the pencils and the paper. And you’re correct, I didn’t know that there was any scarcity. It was upon reflection as I got older that I thought… Now I think if you have an abundance that doesn’t mean you’re not going to be creative. If you have an abundance of art materials, that’s great too. I’m sure it is. But for me, scarcity kind of worked in my favor, I think.
Kate Jetmore: And was there a point in your childhood or in your young adulthood when some sort of opportunity that you hadn’t had came on your radar and you thought-
Terri Logan: Oh, artistically?
Kate Jetmore: … it would’ve been great to have that? Yes, artistically, creatively.
Terri Logan: Oh, I don’t think I had any particular moment that I thought, oh, if only. I had a couple highlights that sparked my confidence in art. Would you like to hear about those?
Kate Jetmore: Yes, absolutely.
Terri Logan: The first one was, I think I was in the third grade and we were to draw something. I do not remember the subject matter, but art. And this was common for small schools. My art teacher was also my music teacher and whatever I drew impressed him enough that he put it… They used to put the pictures in the hall. They may still do that. But he put my picture up and I was the youngest person to have their picture put up. I mean, I’m sure I was thrilled, but there was something about that that reinforced or triggered the beginning of, oh, art, that’s a way to go. Now, I wouldn’t have been able to verbalize it, but yet I knew that I’d done something well.
Kate Jetmore: Right.
Terri Logan: And then the second big one that really cinched it was I was in the fifth grade and we were studying organs and I was to draw the heart, which I did do, and turned it in and the teacher gave me an F. and I asked why. And they said, “Because we asked you to draw it, not your parents.” And I said, “But I drew it.” And I had to have my mother verify that fact. And they indeed asked me to draw it again, and I did. And I knew then I had something, I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I had something because then it followed with raves from the teacher and others.
Kate Jetmore: Right, right. Okay. Well, from there, obviously you went to college and as we said, you began your professional career as an art therapist. I’d love to know, knowing where you are now, how did those years in your private practice as an art therapist inform your artistic output now?
Terri Logan: Well, I think it helped me make my decision. Let me give you a little background. I had a double major. I was a BFA sculpture major, which is Bachelor of fine arts, sculpture major, and that’s an honorary program. And so you’re only invited into that if they consider you at a top level. And a psych major. And I know we’ll speak to this later, when I decided that I needed to change and I decided on making jewelry, part of what led me to that decision of making jewelry was that it was twofold. I could use my sculpture because I consider jewelry small sculpture. But also one of the things that I love most about therapy was connecting with people. I mean, we’re social beings and we need to connect with others.
But somehow that process, you got through all the filters and you connected at a more significant level with an authentic human being, and you’re kind of stripped of all the trappings and your soul to soul. Jewelry meant that the people would be wearing it and that’s a great connection. I mean, I’m relating to this human, other human, not necessarily directly clearly, but indirectly through the jewelry. They’re wearing it. They’ve chosen it to express something in their personality. They are soothed by it. I can’t tell you how many cancer patients and internally ill patients that had my jewelry. So they kept rubbing the stone on the necklace or the bracelet, and that was healing for them. So I’m not going to try to even interpret that. I accepted it for what it was and felt a further connection. Does that answer your question?
Kate Jetmore: I think so. I think so. Clearly what you’re speaking to is that there is a connection between these two parts of yourself, which were expressed in two different chapters of your life. And when you look back at your years as a therapist, how did that powerful underlying pull to be an artist inform your years working with patients?
Terri Logan: Well, obviously I chose art therapy because art is one of our first languages before you go through the schematic stage and all the ability to verbalize, and you often draw. I mean, children will draw whether it’s a traumatic experience or a joyful one, they will draw. And many times as a therapist, you are dealing with people at an emotional level that it’s difficult for them to verbalize, but they can draw it. And especially if you lead them. It might be as simple as the house tree person exercise. And I might just say, “Well draw the house you grew up in and yourself inside it or outside it.” And then let them take it from there. And if they have qualms, because as adults all of a sudden we get very judgmental of ourselves, I’ll tell them, “Use the hand, you’re not used… Your opposite hand, not the dominant one, then you won’t expect as much from yourself, and honestly, you’ll be more childlike.”
Kate Jetmore: Right, right.
Terri Logan: So they would draw that, and from those pictures, we could pull a lot out and examine it because you would tell me a lot whether you meant to or not.
Kate Jetmore: Right, right.
Terri Logan: You might put yourself off in a corner. Oh, do you find yourself isolated very often? So obviously, the art drew me to art therapy. I also knew when I graduated to be an artist, you are talking about easily eight to 10 hours a day concentration. And I wasn’t ready to sit down or be focused for eight to 10 hours a day on one thing. Now, by the time I do shift and I’m in my forties, I’m ready. And it wasn’t a problem at all, but I knew I wasn’t ready to give art what it needed for me to express it well.
Kate Jetmore: And were you aware of that, Terri? I mean, you had been a sculpture major in a reputable program, so you knew the demands-
Terri Logan: I do.
Kate Jetmore: … that an artist would face. So you were aware of that?
Terri Logan: I was aware of that, and particularly because I might have a project while I was in school, that in order to meet the deadline to have it done, [inaudible 00:13:36] demanded a lot of hours. And I might get to the studio early in the morning and skip lunch and stay through dinner, whatever, but could I do this day after day? And I’m not saying that my jewelry life demanded quite that much, but I knew how much time and energy the artistic process took, and I wasn’t ready to give that day in and day out.
Kate Jetmore: Right, right. I want to go back to what you were saying about people who own your jewelry, who are going through a process like chemo, for example, cancer patients who have found your pieces so soothing just to hold them and touch them and rub them. Let’s talk about the materials you use. You use very characteristic materials. Anyone who spots your pieces hanging from someone’s ears or around their neck knows immediately that’s a Terri Logan. You use, as you said, metal and stone, overwhelmingly metal and stone. And I read in your artist’s statement that you consider these materials to be intrinsic to our growth as a civilization. What is it about natural materials that feeds us as people?
Terri Logan: That’s one of those very thought-provoking questions, Kate, that I’ve rolled over in my mind, I’ve thought about… I don’t know that I had the definitive answer, but I can speak from my perspective what I think.
Kate Jetmore: Please.
Terri Logan: And let’s take a moment to think about the first treasure we find. I mean, many of us, the first treasure we find and bring home to mom or dad is a stone or a piece of wood or a shell. And we have been drawn to that. And I think part of the beauty of those natural materials is there’s, for me, again, there’s almost a visceral reaction. There’s a warmth and a strength that these materials give, that it’s inviting. You want to pick up the stone, you want to hold that stick or pick up that shell. So in some ways, I think it’s kind of primordial that it is just so basic to our lives. And I do think perhaps, I don’t know that I’ve read a lot about this, but it’s almost like a generational memory from one generation to the next.
Some things get passed, and if you think of ancient cultures, they passed so much on to the next generation in terms of craftsmanship and making. And they needed sturdy materials, so they built homes or houses or churches, or primarily churches, probably.
Kate Jetmore: You’re right. If we’re going to be honest.
Terri Logan: So for me, I think it’s that initial relationship where the stone has said, look at me, invited me to pick it up. I pick it up, I hold it. And there’s something satisfying about that. I love gemstones that have been faceted. They are beautiful. But for me, that’s an objective beauty. A sensual beauty is the natural in its raw state. I love sparkle in minerals like mica and feldspar, and quartz, different things that have a reflective surface. And I like to play with that in my art reflective surfaces versus [inaudible 00:17:40] or marry them. But if it’s manufactured, it’s not that it doesn’t have a beauty, it just doesn’t have the same connection for me, the same warmth or sensuality.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah. I mean, I actually gave this question some thought before I decided to ask you and was wondering, how would I answer this question or how did I suspect that you would answer it? And it’s almost like we’re programmed to be drawn to elements in the natural world because we are elements in the natural world in the world.
Terri Logan: Exactly, exactly.
Kate Jetmore: Are there materials that you’ve experimented with and then moved away from?
Terri Logan: Ooh, that’s a great question. Nothing comes to mind, but I will say that when you get into some of the manufactured materials like steel, I love steel if it’s rusted. So now we have that organic component to it. And steel is not easy to work with. Hey, I like steel, if I can heat it and get it hot enough that I can manipulate it a little bit and create more organic lines. But I really love rust.
Kate Jetmore: Wow. Have you played with rust on jewelry? I mean, that seems a little tricky.
Terri Logan: I have. Obviously you do not want the rusted piece to be touching the skin or they have to touch it much because it would rub off. But I’ve encased it in concrete in some pieces. I’ve put that in a cage where you wouldn’t get to it and there wouldn’t be any skin contact, but it allows you to enjoy the rust. Now, this is not going to attract everyone, just like my matte stones. They aren’t… But my aesthetic is one of an organic industrial marriage. I love organic and I love architectural, and I love industrial. And that puts me probably kind of in with the modernists, but it is my aesthetic.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah. And it really supports what you’ve just said, which is we’re creatures in our world and we interact with our world.
Terri Logan: Yes, we do. I can’t deny that, yeah, and I can’t deny the organic. Every time I try to make a sleek, really industrial looking piece of jewelry, I have to go back and do something that blends the organic. And just like the organic, I will often find I need a strong right angle or something that speaks to the architectural or industrial. So I have a duality going on all the time.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah, yeah. That’s your voice. Exactly. Well, Terri, there’s part of your story that really speaks to me, and I want to turn to this now, which is how you listen to your gut when it began to tell you to retire from your private practice and focus on creating art, do you have any words of advice for our listeners out there who yearn to listen to their own deep inner voice?
Terri Logan: That’s again, another very thoughtful question. I’m used to listening to myself, to paying attention to myself, and without being too self-absorbed. I think everyone does if you call their attention to it, how did you react to this? I guess from my therapy background, I was more attuned than some. Self-aware in that sense. I started seeing signs in my therapies… That an exciting, wonderful field that I loved. I started to see signs like a fatigue and a lack of the same kind of energy or enthusiasm, not necessarily fatigue in this case, but just the interest and the excitement. I started noticing that and I knew I needed a change. And that’s when I took a class, a small art center, and it was a jewelry making class, beginner jewelry. And I took that, and God love my husband, Jerry. I came home and I said, “I think I want to make jewelry and stop doing therapy.” And he didn’t laugh. He had some questions, but he was terrific and very supportive.
And then over a two-year period, I guess that’s a word, I scaled down the therapy and increased the jewelry making, and that’s when I did spend eight to 12 hours easily. But now I’m primarily self-taught, I mean, the jewelry class kicked it off, but I took it from there. So to circle back to answering your question for any number of reasons, it’s very important that you be self-aware of your physical and your mental status. And your body will tell you that there are things wrong about this situation, as will your mind because you’re observing all the time. So I guess that’s where mindfulness and perhaps meditation would help people kind of listen to their inner self and what’s going on.
Kate Jetmore: The older I get, the more convinced I am that these are the building blocks, like basics, listening to yourself, being aware, listening to your body, noticing, listening to your inner voice, that we should be teaching our children in the formal educational setting. I guess I am curious if you agree with that and if you have any ideas of how that could be done.
Terri Logan: I think that would be an excellent idea. And it could be so simple, that could just simply be five minutes of mindfulness after a break or in the morning or before the classes are ended, or it would not be a difficult thing to do. And mindfulness or self-awareness, listening to your body, all of those things, there’s nothing that couldn’t be good about that. It would feed everyone’s mental sanity, their sanity and their general health.
Kate Jetmore: Right. And it’s good for the individual, but it’s also good for the community because a community that’s made up of people who are aware, self-aware and aware of their surroundings can only be good, as you said.
Terri Logan: Yeah.
Kate Jetmore: Well, Terri, I want to thank you so much for joining me on this show today. I really appreciate you taking the time, and I finally got to ask you all these questions that I’ve had over the years. So thank you so much. I want to wish you and your family all the best.
Terri Logan: Well, thank you, Kate, for asking me, and likewise to you and your family.