behrends on wed 29 jan 97
I've been thinking about offering an apprenticeship. After being in this
business for 26 years, I feel I have something to offer. Does anyone out
their have sugjestions on how to set one up or contracts?
Stern HQ on thu 30 jan 97
I suggest you list where you are located, what the terms of the
apprenticeship are, i.e. are you trading lessons for work, are you to be
paid by the apprentice, can the apprentice do some of his/her own work,
how many hours a week do you want someone, how long the apprenticeship
will last, whether the apprentice can use things he/she got from you in
his/her own work after the apprenticeship, etc. See what kind of fish
bites on that lure. Jeni
On Wed, 29 Jan 1997, behrends wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I've been thinking about offering an apprenticeship. After being in this
> business for 26 years, I feel I have something to offer. Does anyone out
> their have sugjestions on how to set one up or contracts?
>
Margaret Arial on thu 30 jan 97
Studio Potter did an essay on the subject that is available thru THE POTTERY
booklist already mentioned and on sale.My exposure to this topic is proceed
with utmost caution it can be a thorny road depending on so many
factors.Some experiences have even ended up in lawsuits for various
reasons.There have been published accounts over the years,call john Glick in
Michigan.His number may be available thru NCECA membership list if he is
still active, if memory servers me correctly he has had apprentices.
Margaret
Vince Burke on thu 25 sep 97
Subject: Time:3:10 PM
OFFICE MEMO apprenticeships Date:9/24/97
Dear Group,
I have a promising undergrad student here at Ohio University who is set to
graduate this spring. He is a potter, and he is looking for an
apprenticeship. If you have any suggestions of potters who need an
apprentice, would you please let me know directly. Thanks!
Vincent Burke
burke@art.ohiou.edu
John Jensen on wed 30 may 01
I've been lucky enough in past years to have enough business to keep me and
a lot of parttime help busy, so I've had the opportunity to work with maybe
twenty helpers in the last four years. It may sound like a cliche, but what
I would hope for in an apprentice is someone with an ability to take
responsibility. And I think it is tough to be a helper who takes
responsibility, because it is always possible to make bad decisions that
would annoy the boss. Virtually all of my help does their work very well,
but no more than that...they walk out the door and forget the job. I'm not
complaining because I don't consider them apprentices. But I would love
to have someone who showed an understanding of what is involved in making
the whole show work. Someone who wants not only to learn how to throw, but
who also wants to know about mopping, kiln repair, electrical wiring,
ordering materials, cleaning pugmills and such things as that.
Years ago, I got a job in a boatyard in Hawaii. They hired me right away
because I said knew how to sand. If I'd said I was a yacht designer, a
sailor, an expert in fibreglass, or anything else, I'd have been shown the
door. In the end I got to do a bit of all those jobs, the key was my
willingness to do the worst job with an cheerful attitude. In fact I did
indeed know how to sand and even liked doing it.
I spent years painting houses and hired a lot of guys over the years.
Everyone who said they were "good at trim" turned out to be just plain slow
and not even "good at trim." What I liked best were men who would show up
on time, clean their brushes thoroughly and were willing to do boring work
cheerfully.
There is a lot of fun work in pottery, but there is also a lot of basic
drudgery. A good apprentice would have to show an eagerness to take on the
daily drugery and still have interest in learning the more enteresting
aspects of the craft. I'd also want someone who seemed to appreciate the
opportunity to learn by doing with someone experienced and who could be
trusted to be sensitive to our competing interests years down the road.
John Jensen mudbug@toad.net
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