LITTLE ROCK — Winston Taylor, who has taught and created pottery in the River Valley area for 17 years, used his talents to sculpt a gift for his church, Russellville First United Methodist Church.
The bas-relief, which required 1,100 pounds of clay and weighs 850 pounds, took Taylor a year to complete.
The 106 individual pieces were painstakingly created and assembled on the floor of his studio. Taylor estimates he worked between 15-20 hours per week crafting the masterpiece.
"I like seeing the transformation from this lump of seemingly nothing into something useful and beautiful. It can be functional. It can be an art object," he said.
Elements used to celebrate joy, such as communion sets and baptismal fonts, are Taylor's favorites to produce.
John Fleming, a pastor friend of Taylor's, called the sharing of his talent a ministry, and that confirmation from his well-respected friend convinced Taylor to learn more about working with ceramics and to sculpt the gift to his home church.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 137 on 10/07/2007