BROADCASTS.com

b'

Jeff Osgood\\u2019s bold line of pottery features historic gravestone art that thrills collectors of Halloween, cemetery, and macabre art. His distinctive work is black and white, and filled with gravestones, skulls, crypts, willow trees, and epitaphs. His business name, Clay of the Dead, is a pun of the George A. Romano zombie movies.\\xa0\\xa0

How did an Ohioan fall in love with New England gravestones? During middle school, Jeff took a field trip to Boston which included historic cemetery tours. Jeff instantly fell in love the history, craftmanship, and messages of old gravestones. Today you\\u2019ll find him taking his students and own kids on cemetery tours.\\xa0

Jeff worked as a groundskeeper and gravedigger at Wooster Cemetery in Ohio. In college, he majored in film making and created a documentary on a trip he did with his now wife and mother-in-law to\\xa0collect New England gravestone images. He still uses those images as reference materials and inspiration today.\\xa0

Collectors flock\\xa0to his work for a variety of reasons. Some are interested in cemeteries, art, and history. Others cherish his pottery as mementos of deceased love ones. New Englanders have told him it reminds them of home.\\xa0

His work serves as a memento mori \\u2013 reminding us to live a rich life. In this way, he finds his work as inspirational, not dark. Creating helps him process the loss of his father. Carving clay is mediative and brings him a feeling of serenity and peace.\\xa0\\xa0

Jeff actively seeks out opportunities to collaborate with other artists. He craves how it pushes his craft, and enables things to come into the world that wouldn\\u2019t have come out in his solo work. Through collaborations, he\\u2019s expanded his work to wheel thrown mugs, urns, figures, jewelry, and linocuts for book covers.\\xa0

His favorite cemetery symbol is the skull because it commands attention. Jeff ended the interview with his favorite epitaph: \\u201cMemento mori. Redeem thy hours. My glass has run and so must yours.\\u201d Jeff encourages us to cherish our\\xa0moments and to be intentional every day.\\xa0\\xa0

Mentions:\\xa0

• Author Stephen Graham Jones: https://www.demontheory.net/\\xa0
• Ceramic Artist Curt Hammerly: https://www.hammerlyceramics.com/\\xa0
• Potter Mark Rossier: https://www.markrossierpottery.com/\\xa0
• Jeweler Star Strung: https://www.starstrung.com\\xa0\\xa0

• Podcasts: Spooked, Strange and Unusual, and Pleasing Terrors\\xa0\\xa0

You can find Jeff at http://clayofthedead.com and https://www.instagram.com/clay.of.the.dead/\\xa0