David Aurelius at work in his studio. Pulse file photo.
1950-2024
When a visitor at Clay Bay Pottery asked David Aurelius why so much of the pottery he and his wife, Jeanne, created was made in shades of blue and green, he had a simple answer.
“Look outside,” David told the visitor. “We can’t help it, we’re inspired by our surroundings.”
The husband and wife team immersed themselves in the natural world of Door County for nearly half a century, hiking Europe Bay, bicycling from village to village and taking daily walks in the woods at Ellison Bluff County Park. The natural world of the northern end of the peninsula is what drew them here in 1976 from Decorah, Iowa, and it’s what kept them creating together for decades to come.
What was two, became one early Monday, July 22, when David Aurelius died at the age of 73 after battling Parkinson’s disease for 10 years.
The couple had studied at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, then furthered their immersion in the arts under the tutelage of Marguerite Wildenhain at her school, Pond Farm, located in Guerneville, California.
In October 1976, David and Jeanne, then in their mid-20s, exhibited their work at the Townline Art Fair that Jeanne’s parents organized in Ephraim. The weather was terrible and they didn’t sell a thing, but the next day was sunny and bright as they hiked in Peninsula State Park.
“We said, ‘Dad, why don’t you look for a place for us?’” Jeanne recalled in a 2018 Peninsula Pulse interview.
Her dad called a few days later and said he thought he had something they should look at. They drove back to take a look at an old farm on state Highway 42 just south of Ellison Bay and quickly mapped out a home, showroom and studio space. With $100 down and a loan for the rest of the $31,500 purchase price, they planted roots in northern Door County.
They made it through the first cold winter bundled in Norwegian sweaters and energized by the discovery of a young generation of fledgling artists trying to make a living on the desolate back roads of northern Door County. Among those scratching to establish themselves were potter John Dietrich; clothing designer Alicia Wilson; leatherworker and artist Mary Ellen Sisulak; furniture maker Minnow Emerson and his wife, the gallerist Anne Haberland; mixed media sculptor James Rericha; jewelers Amanda and Tom Dewitt; and painters Karsten and Ellen Topelmann. They were soon joined in Ellison Bay by potters Larry and Judy Thoreson. Many of these artists, like the Aurelius’s, borrowed money to buy old farmhouses to house a studio, hoping a smattering of tourists would find them. A camaraderie developed.
“It was great,” Jeanne said. “There were potlucks and dinners. We supported each other.”
Abe and Ginka Cohn served as mentors and would lead the way in creating the Potter’s Guild, pooling the resources of the burgeoning group of artists to market their work and buy materials in bulk. A scene began to mature.
Art’s Function
David and Jeanne built their business one customer at a time, aided early on by Jeanne’s mother’s unique tactics.
“Mom would borrow things from people, then leave it at our house for them to pick up, so they had to come to the studio and see our art,” Jeanne said.
David’s work was more abstract and impressionistic, Jeanne’s more realistic.
“I like to hand-build,” David said in a 2018 interview. “I like to, kind of, put things together.”
He said he could never have been a painter because he’d go crazy starting with a blank canvas every time, as opposed to molding clay.
“I start with clay, which actually is a blank canvas,” he said. “But you create a shape and then you decide what you want to put on it.”
They focused on function in their work, endeavoring to create pieces that would be more than something to look at, and taking pride in knowing their creations were part of people’s day-to-day lives.
“It’s meant to enhance the daily lives of those who use it,” Jeanne said.
Ironically, some of their most impactful work does hang on walls.
In the entryways and gathering spaces of 21 schools and three churches throughout Wisconsin you can find large tile murals adorning walls. Each was created as a community-based project led by Jeanne and David, with tiles painted individually by students, teachers and community members.
It started in 1994 when a friend of Jeanne’s invited them to lead a project at Lake Bluff Elementary School that became the “Nature and Neighborhood” mural.
“With my teaching degree,” Jeanne said, “it was nice to get back into schools.”
In each piece the couple would work with the school to find visions and values unique to the community, then incorporate them into a larger design.
The projects caught the eye of the Wisconsin Arts Board, which granted money to expand the program to schools around the state.
In 2023, Arts Board president George Tzougros wrote about the unveiling of the Girbaltar mural and the impact it had on him.
“One of my favorite Door County stories involves the Gibraltar Schools and its unveiling ceremony for the tile mural that the Arts Board had helped fund,” he wrote in a 2023 column for the Peninsula Pulse. Tzougros recalled a ceremony in the Door Community Auditorium, and the march of the students down the hall to the mural.
“Each pointed out the tile that they’d created,” Tzougros wrote. “This event happened in the 1990s, but I still tell the story around the state and nation. It was a profound educational experience for those kids. The process not only taught the students about art but also concepts surrounding peace – and they passed along their knowledge to the audience.”
Exploring Until the End
Jeanne and David were partners in creativity for nearly 50 years, but it was in their final years together that they sculpted their most moving work.
Parkinson’s had taken away David’s ability to throw clay. He struggled to speak, and it was difficult to walk. But he and Jeanne were undeterred.
David worked diligently with his trainer to wring everything he could from his failing body. Jeanne worked diligently to care for him and keep him moving.
They could often be seen walking the sand of Europe Bay Beach and visiting Ellison Bay Beach. In May, they attended a gathering of the Wisconsin Arts Board at Write On Door County, the home of his last tile installation. In June they attended the dedication of the new Kendall Park Playground in Baileys Harbor. A week before he died, they returned to Gibraltar School to see the Wood Brothers concert at the Door Community Auditorium, a short walk from the mural they created at the entrance to the elementary school.
And on Sunday, they visited Edgewood Orchard Galleries and ran into the Thoresons, still in search of ideas and inspiration.
They were part of a generation of artists who transformed Door County from an outpost of artists, to an arts destination. They were partners fueled by their love of the county’s blues and the greens – and by each other.
David Aurelius is survived by his wife, Jeanne, and daughters Lauren (Fred Wahlen) Aurelius and Martha (Adam) Hutchinson; and grandson Leon. He was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Marjorie Aurelius. A service will be held at 11 am, Aug. 17 at Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay.
