All I Have: Celebrating Ceramic Artist Ruenell Foy Temps by Sheridan Hill

Author Sheridan Hill celebrates the life and work of a gifted crafter of sculptural magic in All I Have: Celebrating Ceramic Artist Ruenell Foy Temps, a heartfelt homage to an inspired soul.

While this decade-spanning biographical collection of photographs captures Temps’ body of work, as well as the artist in certain intimate creative moments, the prose itself is also meticulously crafted, poetic, and seemingly awed by the work of this talented sculptor. The book takes readers through the fascinating history and unassuming achievements of this eccentric and fearless creator, and those who are unaware of Temps’ work will be unable to forget it by the end. The variety and scope of her talent are proudly laid out through succinct and poignant narration/curation, allowing the art and the artist to speak quite clearly for themselves.

Not only is the respect for the artist clear in every line of text, the editing is also razor-sharp, without a single error to be seen. The occasional flourishes in formatting or font provide brief and welcome respites from the museum-gallery collection of work this reverent homage contains. A memorial book like this could easily be bogged down with too much analysis, explanation, or overly laudatory prose, but that is far from the case here. Hill is thorough, but not presumptive, letting readers enjoy and consider the art on the page, just as so many have enjoyed Temps’ art in physical space, and this new assessment should open up her work to a new generation of art lovers.