Ripon College Days

Cas Moelling [Click to enlarge]

When I called junior Cas Moelling to schedule this interview, we spent a little while working out the logistics of where and when and how and caught up on small talk. At the end of the conversation, he says, "You know I'm not really an artist, right?" revealing his laid back nature.

Moelling's bare white walls and plain dark blue comforter reflect his sentiment, but emblems of his artistic ability were speckled around his room in the form of bowls and other ceramic gems he created as the assistant to the ceramics and sculpture classes.

However, Moelling's first encounter with the wheel was more a result of pragmatics than artistic inspiration.

"First semester last year, Skip Wittler told me I should do something with my hands if I wanted to be a dentist," he says.

"There's a lot of people that [artistic ability] comes naturally to, but I'm not one of them."

Moelling says there are "some things [he's] made that are pretty cool," and while he may downplay his own artistic abilities, he cannot hide his pure enthusiasm for and appreciation of art.

His eyes light up and he gets his whole body into the act as he tells me about a mer-creature his classmate made. His hands show me the size of the piece, and the imaginary flowing lines he creates show me the shape. He folds up his left arm, putting his hand close to his ear, and imitates small bumps down his forearm to show me the small bodymarks or fins on the sculpture.

The same rings true as he moves his left arm to a 90 degree angle and holds an imaginary football, telling me of a totem pole a different classmate is constructing.

"I don't think I'd be able to do something like that," he gushes.

In fact, Moelling admits that he gets of lot of his artistic inspiration from the works of others.

"I'll see something that people have thrown in the past, and sometimes you try to mimic it, and sometimes you think, 'Well, if I only..." he says.

In addition to giving him a little extra hand strength and mobility, Moelling notes that creating his ceramic pieces gives him a much-needed break from the stresses of being a Bio-Chem major.

"It's a great way to relieve stress," he says. "To go down there and work on something for a while. Even just to walk to Rodman and not think for a little while. I've always had a lot of fun with it."

"I mean, it's only clay. If you mess up you can just throw it again," he adds.

Moelling also enjoys the time he spends in the music department in the tuba section of the band. He has been playing the tuba since his days in elementary school.

"Some things just strike something inside of you," he says.

Moelling adds that he greatly appreciates his time with the other musicians in band. "I enjoy being in the group, and I really just love playing. I mean, I'm not the greatest, but I just love it," he says.

Moelling admits, however, that he does have a favorite when it comes to playing the tuba. "I know it sounds stereotypical, being from Monroe, but I love ripping a polka on the tuba. I think all tuba players do."

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