By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — At one point during her first professional career as an outdoor recreation educator, now professional artist Dee Edelman was called, “The Loon Ranger.”
“I resonate with nature,” Edelman told Blowing Rock News on Aug. 1 at Edgewood Cottage, where she was one of the week’s featured artists in Blowing Rock’s Artists in Residence series, organized and produced by the Blowing Rock Historical Society. “And if you look at my pottery, you will see that affinity with nature. I make bowls with leaves. I might carve herons into the side of mugs. Most of my work is inspired by nature.”
Edelman said that she only been doing pottery seriously since she retired in 2016.
“Of course I had taken some classes before then, but I really didn’t commit to the craft until after I retired, so about the last 10 years,” she said.
Like a lot of artists, Edelman struggled with putting the motivation to create art into words.
“I do art because I have to,” she said. “I don’t really know how to talk about it. I don’t have the words. I heard someone recently say, ‘If I had words, I wouldn’t have to do art.’ For me, there is a lot of truth in that.” I see things, unusual things, and there is something beautiful and fascinating about them. I don’t always know right away, but at some point they will turn into clay.”
During COVID-19, Edelman found a happy place.
“Everyone else was suffering and I hated that for them, but I just went down into my basement studio. I was having a great time doing as much pottery as I wanted,” Edelman said. “A lot of what I did was make all these mugs with animals, all being impacted by climate change. I’d think of an animal and then research how it was being impacted by climate change. So then I would carve that animal on the mug and try and depict in some way the impact of climate change. When I sold them, I sent all the money to various organizations that were fighting climate change. I loved to the research and learning about the different species of animals.”
How did she get the moniker, “The Loon Ranger”?
At one point I was the Director of Loons up in New Hampshire. My job was to protect the loons and map where they went every day. Being called, ‘The Loon Ranger,’ I loved it. Loons are impacted by climate change by the change in water level. They can’t walk on land, so they build their nests right at the water’s edge. So if there is a hard rain and the lake fills up, meaning the water level rises, they lose their nest. Similarly, if there is a drought and the water level recedes, they lose their nest because they can’t be away from the water. They have to abandon the nest in either case.”
This was Edelman’s first time as an exhibitor, anywhere, and her first time in Blowing Rock. She and her husband maintain seasonal homes in Black Mountain and Winston-Salem.
“I’ve been a featured artist in various galleries,” she noted, “but this is my first show. I never had to set up my own work and then stay there for a week. But I love this Artists in Residence format. It has been great for me, especially being paired with Jack Hamrick. Instinctively, I knew this experience would stretch me and be a learning experience. I didn’t know how, but I wanted to just do it. I have learned a lot about being an artist. And I’ve loved getting to know Blowing Rock a little bit. It seems like such a great place.”
The increasing popularity of the Artists in Residence series has had a positive impact on Edelman.
“We’ve had a lot of people come through Edgewood Cottage and I have sold a lot of pottery,” Edelman said. “It has been very rewarding and very exciting—and I have learned a lot!”
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