Imagine the Sound of Peace

David Greenbaum: Potter turned Bell-maker

Words by Paula Damiano

From his home studio in Shohola, PA, potter turned bell-maker David Greenbaum reflects on the curious path of an artisan’s life journey. He threw his first pot while in college – and never looked back: “I loved it. I completely lost track of time and place.” After that, David (who freely admits he’s never taken an art class) apprenticed with a potter in Rhode Island. “I lived in an attic and worked 18 hours a day,” he remembers.

The apprenticeship paid off. After 38 years, he has won countless awards and honors for his art pottery, and still loves sticking his hands in the mud and creating beautiful things. “It’s that grittiness that rang true for me from the start,” he confesses. “The organic quality of the process is so direct.” His award-winning pots fill his studio and local galleries, including the Bluestone Gallery in Milford, where David is one of the principals. But his primary focus for the past year and a half has been hand-crafted bells.

“Beautiful, gigantic ceramic bells decorated with carvings and stamped designs. Smaller bells, equally exquisite. Each with its own artistic and musical identity.” David’s eyes shine as he describes the “joyful presence” bells create. There is a mystical quality about these bells – and their creator. The tag line for his series of Shohola Bells is: Imagine the sound of peace. “That’s what bells sound like to me,” he says simply.

Although the ceramic process is the same for pots and bells, bell-making has required David to learn a number of other skills. From inventing the unique wooden ringing mechanism to building custom stands and devising the rigging needed to safely hang the larger bells, he kept experimenting. “At the beginning, I just wanted a lawn ornament,” he admits. He points out his first bell, which now hangs in front of the new home he shares with wife, painter Joann Wells Greenbaum, and their enthusiastic spaniel Fred.

David continues to modify and improve the bell ringing mechanism. The largest bells he can make are about two feet in diameter. These giants completely fill his kiln, where they’re fired at almost 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. He estimates that each bell takes about a month to create, from concept to graceful, resonant end product. “Customers seem to like them,” he modestly admits. “They sell as fast as I make them.”

Every bell has its own ring tone. David recently bought an electronic tuning fork so that he can accurately identify a finished bell’s tone, and he now includes that information with each bell he sells. “If I can create about an octave and half in bell tones, a musician friend will compose something for them.”

The bells are completely weatherproof. The glazed ceramic exterior withstands weather and seasonal temperature variations, and the wooden ringer prevents high winds from breaking the bells. All fittings are stainless steel. The sturdy stands, from which the larger bells hang, are constructed of decay-resistant cedar and heavy welded steel. The bells and stands are completely maintenance free.

“I just did a craft show and this woman asked me what I do for a living,” David remembers. “I heard myself saying, I’m a bell maker.” It’s the first time he didn’t say potter. But whatever you label him, David Greenbaum continues to create inspired, exquisite ceramics with timeless souls.

To view David’s work online, go to shoholabells.com, greenbaumpottery.com and bluestonegallerymilford.com.