John Baymore on wed 16 jul 97
------------------
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2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A
........clip........
Do you want to make handcrafted pots or do you just want to produce a
product?
.......snip.......
=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A==
2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A=2A
Oh dear=21 This topic thread is hitting another one of my =22hot =
buttons=22.
Flameproof suit is on =3Cg=3E. Here we go.........
Well designed pots are well designed pots no matter how they are made.
Period. I have seen many, many slip cast, jiggered, and RAM pressed works
that are exemplary pieces. I own many. A good pot is a good pot, is a
good pot.
While we are on the subject...... I have also seen a good lot of handthrown
and handbuilt pieces that were .....(how do you say)...... less than
optimal =3Cg=3E......... maybe the PC phrase is aesthetically challenged =
=3Cbg=3E
.......... or maybe .... a few pulls short of a good form =3CRBG=3E. No =
magic
because it is handmade...... still poor stuff. So a badly designed pot,
is a badly designed pot, is a badly designed pot...... no matter how it is
made.
However, the problem with the proliferation of the RAM pressers, jiggerers,
and the slip casters is not that the pots are necessarily =22bad=22. It is =
the
MISREPRESENTATION of the fact about whether the work is =22handcrafted=22 =
that
I take strong exception to. It is not politically correct to say this but
IMO, the level of skill it takes to place the clay into the press, hold the
two handles, and then catch the air released piece as it drops from the top
platten is simply not high enough to rate being called =22handcraft=22 in my
book. Ditto jiggering and slip casting. It is manufacturing.
Yes, the design for the original took insight, talent, time, and a good
eye. A huge monetary investment is pretty common. The master block and
case mold took great skill to make. So did the working molds. Getting the
bugs out of the clay body, glazing and so on also takes good understanding
of materials and process. Figuring it all out, takes great skill.....
producing the actual pieces does not. That is true of any MANUFACTURING
process. Tool and die makers are very highly skilled people. Ceramic
engineers are too. Ditto (good) industrial designers.
The preciseness of the replication process in these techniques makes sure
that each copy is pretty much an exact duplicate of the original well
designed piece. I have no problem with good industrial design. We need
far more of it than exists in this country. In my mind, doing RAM
pressing, slip casting, or jiggering does not stop you from being
considered a =22real=22 potter (whatever that is =3Cg=3E). Or that you =
suddenly
stop producing =22good pots=22. But it does change the =22handcrafted=22 =
nature of
the products, in my opinion.
When such work is sold as HANDCRAFTED right next to pieces that are hand
built or hand thrown, then I have a problem with the ethics of the
situation. Not with the right for the small manufacturers to produce pots
and sell them, not with the generally lower price points achievable, nor
necessarily with the =22aesthetics=22 of the finsihed pots. But with the
MANNER in which they are being brought to market in the crafts field, and
the education (or lack of it) that occurs as to the methods of the actual
production being done.
Often the manufactured pieces sell at a price point slightly less than a
similar handcrafted piece would NEED to command (because of limited
production potential). Because the consumer is generally not aware of the
industrial production processes involved that allow these pieces to be
priced lower, they often percieve that the lower priced piece is a real
bargain for such handcrafted work. In other words the jiggered, cast, and
pressed pieces can easily undersell the actual handcrafted work. As it
should be, basically, since these techniques were developed during the
industrial revolution to increase production levels (and profits).
Now.... it might just be a nicely designed piece. No aesthetic discussion
is at issue here. However, it seems to me that in certain situations the
consumer should KNOW HOW IT WAS MADE in order to make such a decision as to
if the piece is WORTH the price being charged for a piece produced in that
manner. They might not feel it was such a bargain if they knew the exact
details.
If the person in question is standing in a gift shop or department store,
then the manner of production probably does not matter a hoot to them.
They just want a nice piece. It is a completely level playing field.....
handcrafted against manufactured... one on one....mano a mano ..... may the
piece that catches the fancy of the consumer win. There is no excess
=22baggage=22 attached as to the level of production used in making the =
objects
in question. The consumer doesn't care how it was made. Fine.
But if they are standing in a shop or craft fair that represents itself as
handling HANDCRAFTED work, then I think there is an issue here.
What we come down to is the PUBLICs' perception of what the term
=22handcraft=22 really means. As far as I know, there is no =22legal=22 =
standard
set by anyone that actually defines the term. So the term =22means=22 what =
the
majority of the public thinks it means. That is where the root of this
problem lies. Belief and trust.
While the potter's wheel is a tool that allows the rapid (relative)
production of forms compared to coiling or slab building a pot, I think
that the public readilly accepts that tool as an acceptable tool of
=22handcraft=22. Say =22potter=22, and people typically picture someone at =
a
wheel. A slab roller probably comes in OK in that department too, although
less of the public probably even knows they exist. A hand powered extruder
might fit into their preconceptions also. Press and drape molds with slabs
of clay are probably OK since they take quite a bit of handwork to do well.
The grey zone probably just starts to appear with hydraulic powered
extruders, and electric slab rollers.... but the amount of handwork to
actually cut the slabs and extrusions and assemble them into pieces
probably makes them sort of OK too.
Then we come to jiggers, slip casting, and (more recently) RAM pressing,
..........the tools of the industrial revolution. Great inventions that
allowed the production of vast quantities of pottery at low prices and high
margins, keeping the commercial pottery industry afloat at the beginning of
the century.
Picture a person (your typical consumer) being asked to identify which of
the scenes he/she is observing is representative of handcraft and which was
manufacturing. In front of him/her is a highly skilled potter hand
throwing pieces sitting right next to a highly skilled potter operating a
RAM press. I am pretty confident that the person would identify the hand
thrown work as =22handcrafted=22, while the RAM pressed work was not. If =
one
potter was coiling or slab building and the other was pouring and opening
slip casting molds, I think the result would be the same. Ditto if one
was luting slabs together in a simple press mold and the other was
jiggering holloware.
So I think that selling RAM pressed, slip cast, and jiggered pots in the
locations and manner where the public EXPECTS =22handcrafted=22 works is
unethical, unless the work is CLEARLY represented as to it's genesis. In
the current state of the shop, craft fair, catalog, and (limitedly) gallery
situation that is just simply not the case. I check all the time as I
visit shops and fairs.
In many cases this mechanized production situation is a case of =22don't
ask, don't tell=22. Lying can be accomplished by ommiting the truth as
easily as in telling an untruth. Also by not asking the question that you
don't want to hear the answer to. I have been in many so-called handcraft
shops that sell RAM pressed pots by a certain well known potter who
includes lovely fingermarks in his molds. I make a point to specifically
ask the salespeople when I see these pots if they are hand thrown. I
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get told they are=21=21=21=21 There's certainly no =
hang
tags telling the real story attached to the pieces. So...... does the
potter withold the information, or are all these shop people from different
shops just trying to misrepresent the nature of the work?
The potter points to the shop, the shop points to the potter=21
Convienent........ for both parties=21
If (certain) potters think RAM presses (and jiggers and slip casting) are
readily =22accepted=22 as handcraft tools by the public, how come almost no =
one
is actively marketing their (supposed) cutting edge handcraft technology UP
FRONT? If it is no different from using a potter's wheel, then it should
be a major sales feature that someone has one of these state-of-the-art
handcraft tools=21 You don't see people lugging a small jiggering unit to =
an
ACC craft fair to set up a demonstration. You don't see aggressive mention
of the fantastic production capabilities of the RAM press in marketing
literature with a nice color picture of the unit and operator.
In fact, what you often DO see is efforts to make it appear that ALL pieces
are completly handcrafted on a wheel or handbuilt. That the studio
operation is a throwback to a different place and time, when craft
standards were =22higher=22. If the studio (factory) is a large =
multi-employee
situation it is often somewhat hidden, with the perception created that the
owner does all the work him/herself. Pictures of throwers turn up in
brochures, not RAM pressers. Demos are of handbuilding or throwing, not
jiggering. The presses are in the back rooms of the studios (factories),
pounding out the pots. The throwers are in the front public access rooms,
lending legitimacy to the term =22handcraft=22.
The shops, fair promoters, and galleries are not totally innocent in this
situation, and the practices of many have contributed to the NEED for many
potters to use techniques that are more at home in the industrial sector.
We have gotten to where we are because BOTH the shops and the potters were
willing to accept this =22second industrial revolution=22 in the crafts =
field,
without spending much time thinking about what the term =22handcrafted=22
really means to the consumer.
Store buyers want to be able to order multiples of EXACTLY what the
craftperson's sample looks like. If the shape or the glaze or the pattern
has the slightest variation..... they don't want to accept the pieces. The
inherent variations of individualized handwork have become an annoyance to
many of them. It makes their life harder. So to meet their demands for
uniformity and high volume, the potters resort to the types of processes
that allow great uniformity.
Because many shops won't accept variations in work, the potters find that
their pieces must all come out EXACTLY alike. So they use tools that are
more industrial to obtain this level of control. This allows the potter
his/her economic survival, because what once would have been acceptable,
saleable production now becomes seconds or wasters. To keep the percentage
of firsts up, the potter has to change production methods, or quit potting.
(Or find different markets=21=21=21=21)
Many shops also want high margins these days (over 50=25). Gone is keystone
for many shops... they mark up over 50=25. They also have taken a tip from
US industry in another area.......JIT (just in time) manufacturing.....
they don't want to carry the large inventories of the past (and have their
cash tied up in the craftsperson's pocket).... they want the artist to ship
quickly on reorders, and pay Net 30. To do all this, the potters prices
have to be low to allow the high markup, and the tooling for the shop has
to allow quick turnaround of orders. Enter mechanization=21
The REASON for the presses, slip casting, and jiggering (in 99.9999999
percent of the cases) is purely economic....... rapid production of
identical forms. In some cases accomplished by semi-skilled labor paid less
than a skilled thrower or handbuilder would be. Making money. As
mentioned in the post above...... they just want to sell a product.
Now don't get me wrong..... making money is just fine. Make all you can.
Good handcraft deserves adequate monetary recognition. But accurate
representation of the actual product should be a part of the money making
process. It is simply good business ethics. The cynicists would say that
term was an oxymoron. I hope that the handcraft field is not slipping in
that direction.
Best,
...........................john
Member Small Studio Alliance
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752
JBaymore=40Compuserve.com
C1997 All rights reserved.
PS: If you want to misrepresent things, there are fields that you can make
a lot more money in than in pottery =3Cg=3E. Anyone interested in a great =
MLM
deal, please call me =3CBG=3E.
PPS: The Small Studio Alliance is an association representing potters who
are sole proprietorships with no more than one partner/employee and who
produce all work truly =22hands-on=22, via non-industrial methods. See the
piece in the Crafts Report a few months ago for more information, or e-mail
me.
Deborah Redfern on thu 17 jul 97
Hello
In reply to John Baymore thoughts on products and ethics, I would like to
point out that this is an issue that artists in all media are facing. What
about machine knitting, computerized emboidery, pressed workwork. What
about prints versus lithographs? What about cast metal jewellery? The
lines are not at all clear to me and they seem to be getting blurrier day
by day.
The longer I am in this business, the more jaded I become. A bone carver
told me the $500 piece I was admiring took him 20 minutes to make. My
platter, which sells for $60 took me an hour just to paint. Another
competitor silk screens her beautiful hand drawn designs on her jewellery.
I hand paint all of mine. A pewter jeweller can press a couple of hundred
pieces a day - I can make about 20. The three of us sell in basically the
same price range - but I can't compete with them at all. So why bother?
Another way to look at it is to ask what is original about the piece? Is
it the shape, is it the glaze, is it the decoration? For a hand thrower
it will definitely be the shape - each piece will be unique. Some very
creative glazing I have seen I would say that was what made it an original.
For my work it is the painting that makes each piece original.
I agree totally that work should be labelled for what it is, but I don't
see a big problem selling both manufactured and
handmade items in the same venue. Actually quite a lot of artisans do
both. Nearly all the potters I know have cast or pressed something along
with their thrown pots.
I am on a team that runs a high quality juried craft fair and we have
just changed the standards to include pre-manufactured items. This
includes commercially designed cast pottery, pre-made wooden boxes, silk
ties and scarves and t-shirts etc. The main criteria for approving these
items is that the artwork has to be the focus, not the premanufactured
item. In other words, it has to be transformed into a unique piece.
So in my fuzzy Deb-logic, if the piece has original artwork, it *is*
handcrafted regardless of how the 'canvas' comes to be. I think it is
important to know exactly what it is that one is trying to sell and to
evaluate the work carefully to see where it fits. Handcast, jiggered,
pressed - whatever - to me the product has to have an extra something to be
called handmade and be sold with thrown pots and such.
There always will be mis-matched products in stores, but that is not the
fault of the potter but the store owner. Store owners aren't always
educated - don't always know what they are buying - don't always ask.
Thoughtful pricing should determine what kind of stores the pottery ends up
in but even that doesn't always work. Once I make a sale - they can sell
it for what they like. Never had that happen to me, but I know others who
have had that experience. Undercutting and stuff. That isn't always the
fault of the potter. And the only thing one can do about it is stop
selling to that store (if you find out about it!)
Deborah, nothing is ever simple, Redfern
If not I for myself, who then?
and being for myself, what am I?
and if not now, when?
- Rabbi Hillel -
redfern.d@thezone.net
-
Well designed pots are well designed pots no matter how they are made.
Period. I have seen many, many slip cast, jiggered, and RAM pressed works
that are exemplary pieces. I own many. A good pot is a good pot, is a
good pot.
While we are on the subject...... I have also seen a good lot of
handthrown
and handbuilt pieces that were .....(how do you say)...... less than
optimal ......... maybe the PC phrase is aesthetically challenged
.......... or maybe .... a few pulls short of a good form . No magic
because it is handmade...... still poor stuff. So a badly designed pot,
is a badly designed pot, is a badly designed pot...... no matter how it is
made.
However, the problem with the proliferation of the RAM pressers,
jiggerers,
and the slip casters is not that the pots are necessarily "bad". It is
the
MISREPRESENTATION of the fact about whether the work is "handcrafted" that
I take strong exception to. It is not politically correct to say this but
IMO, the level of skill it takes to place the clay into the press, hold
the
two handles, and then catch the air released piece as it drops from the
top
platten is simply not high enough to rate being called "handcraft" in my
book. Ditto jiggering and slip casting. It is manufacturing.
Yes, the design for the original took insight, talent, time, and a good
eye. A huge monetary investment is pretty common. The master block and
case mold took great skill to make. So did the working molds. Getting
the
bugs out of the clay body, glazing and so on also takes good understanding
of materials and process. Figuring it all out, takes great skill.....
producing the actual pieces does not. That is true of any MANUFACTURING
process. Tool and die makers are very highly skilled people. Ceramic
engineers are too. Ditto (good) industrial designers.
The preciseness of the replication process in these techniques makes sure
that each copy is pretty much an exact duplicate of the original well
designed piece. I have no problem with good industrial design. We need
far more of it than exists in this country. In my mind, doing RAM
pressing, slip casting, or jiggering does not stop you from being
considered a "real" potter (whatever that is ). Or that you suddenly
stop producing "good pots". But it does change the "handcrafted" nature
of
the products, in my opinion.
When such work is sold as HANDCRAFTED right next to pieces that are hand
built or hand thrown, then I have a problem with the ethics of the
situation. Not with the right for the small manufacturers to produce pots
and sell them, not with the generally lower price points achievable, nor
necessarily with the "aesthetics" of the finsihed pots. But with the
MANNER in which they are being brought to market in the crafts field, and
the education (or lack of it) that occurs as to the methods of the actual
pro
Often the manufactured pieces sell at a price point slightly less than a
similar handcrafted piece would NEED to command (because of limited
production potential). Because the consumer is generally not aware of the
industrial production processes involved that allow these pieces to be
priced lower, they often percieve that the lower priced piece is a real
bargain for such handcrafted work. In other words the jiggered, cast, and
pressed pieces can easily undersell the actual handcrafted work. As it
should be, basically, since these techniques were developed during the
industrial revolution to increase production levels (and profits).
Now.... it might just be a nicely designed piece. No aesthetic
discussion
is at issue here. However, it seems to me that in certain situations the
consumer should KNOW HOW IT WAS MADE in order to make such a decision as
to
if the piece is WORTH the price being charged for a piece produced in that
manner. They might not feel it was such a bargain if they knew the exact
details.
If the person in question is standing in a gift shop or department store,
then the manner of production probably does not matter a hoot to them.
They just want a nice piece. It is a completely level playing field.....
handcrafted against manufactured... one on one....mano a mano ..... may
the
piece that catches the fancy of the consumer win. There is no excess
"baggage" attached as to the level of production used in making the
objects
in question. The consumer doesn't care how it was made. Fine.
But if they are standing in a shop or craft fair that represents itself as
handling HANDCRAFTED work, then I think there is an issue here.
What we come down to is the PUBLICs' perception of what the term
"handcraft" really means. As far as I know, there is no "legal" standard
set by anyone that actually defines the term. So the term "means" what
the
majority of the public thinks it means. That is where the root of this
problem lies. Belief and trust.
While the potter's wheel is a tool that allows the rapid (relative)
production of forms compared to coiling or slab building a pot, I think
that the public readilly accepts that tool as an acceptable tool of
"handcraft". Say "potter", and people typically picture someone at a
wheel. A slab roller probably comes in OK in that department too,
although
less of the public probably even knows they exist. A hand powered
extruder
might fit into their preconceptions also. Press and drape molds with
slabs
of clay are probably OK since they take quite a bit of handwork to do
well.
The grey zone probably just starts to appear with hydraulic powered
extruders, and electric slab rollers.... but the amount of handwork to
actually cut the slabs and extrusions and assemble them into pieces
probably makes them sort of OK too.
Then we come to jiggers, slip casting, and (more recently) RAM pressing,
..........the tools of the industrial revolution. Great inventions that
allowed the production of vast quantities of pottery at low prices and
high
margins, keeping the commercial pottery industry afloat at the beginning
of
the century.
Picture a person (your typical consumer) being asked to identify which of
the scenes he/she is observing is representative of handcraft and which
was
manufacturing. In front of him/her is a highly skilled potter hand
throwing pieces sitting right next to a highly skilled potter operating a
RAM press. I am pretty confident that the person would identify the hand
thrown work as "handcrafted", while the RAM pressed work was not. If one
potter was coiling or slab building and the other was pouring and opening
slip casting molds, I think the result would be the same. Ditto if one
was luting slabs together in a simple press mold and the other was
jiggering holloware.
So I think that selling RAM pressed, slip cast, and jiggered pots in the
locations and manner where the public EXPECTS "handcrafted" works is
unethical, unless the work is CLEARLY represented as to it's genesis. In
the current state of the shop, craft fair, catalog, and (limitedly)
gallery
situation that is just simply not the case. I check all the time as I
visit shops and fairs.
In many cases this mechanized production situation is a case of "don't
ask, don't tell". Lying can be accomplished by ommiting the truth as
easily as in telling an untruth. Also by not asking the question that you
don't want to hear the answer to. I have been in many so-called handcraft
shops that sell RAM pressed pots by a certain well known potter who
includes lovely fingermarks in his molds. I make a point to specifically
ask the salespeople when I see these pots if they are hand thrown. I
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS get told they are!!!! There's certainly no hang
tags telling the real story attached to the pieces. So...... does the
potter withold the information, or are all these shop people from
different
shops just trying to misrepresent the nature of the work?
The potter points to the shop, the shop points to the potter!
Convienent........ for both parties!
If (certain) potters think RAM presses (and jiggers and slip casting) are
readily "accepted" as handcraft tools by the public, how come almost no
one
is actively marketing their (supposed) cutting edge handcraft technology
UP
FRONT? If it is no different from using a potter's wheel, then it should
be a major sales feature that someone has one of these state-of-the-art
handcraft tools! You don't see people lugging a small jiggering unit to
an
ACC craft fair to set up a demonstration. You don't see aggressive
mention
of the fantastic production capabilities of the RAM press in marketing
literature with a nice color picture of the unit and operator.
In fact, what you often DO see is efforts to make it appear that ALL
pieces
are completly handcrafted on a wheel or handbuilt. That the studio
operation is a throwback to a different place and time, when craft
standards were "higher". If the studio (factory) is a large multi-employee
situation it is often somewhat hidden, with the perception created that
the
owner does all the work him/herself. Pictures of throwers turn up in
brochures, not RAM pressers. Demos are of handbuilding or throwing, not
jiggering. The presses are in the back rooms of the studios (factories),
pounding out the pots. The throwers are in the front public access rooms,
lending legitimacy to the term "handcraft".
The shops, fair promoters, and galleries are not totally innocent in this
situation, and the practices of many have contributed to the NEED for many
potters to use techniques that are more at home in the industrial sector.
We have gotten to where we are because BOTH the shops and the potters were
willing to accept this "second industrial revolution" in the crafts
field,
without spending much time thinking about what the term "handcrafted"
really means to the consumer.
Store buyers want to be able to order multiples of EXACTLY what the
craftperson's sample looks like. If the shape or the glaze or the pattern
has the slightest variation..... they don't want to accept the pieces.
The
inherent variations of individualized handwork have become an annoyance to
many of them. It makes their life harder. So to meet their demands for
uniformity and high volume, the potters resort to the types of processes
that allow great uniformity.
Because many shops won't accept variations in work, the potters find that
their pieces must all come out EXACTLY alike. So they use tools that are
more industrial to obtain this level of control. This allows the potter
his/her economic survival, because what once would have been acceptable,
saleable production now becomes seconds or wasters. To keep the
percentage
of firsts up, the potter has to change production methods, or quit
potting.
(Or find different markets!!!!)
Many shops also want high margins these days (over 50%). Gone is keystone
for many shops... they mark up over 50%. They also have taken a tip from
US industry in another area.......JIT (just in time) manufacturing.....
they don't want to carry the large inventories of the past (and have their
cash tied up in the craftsperson's pocket).... they want the artist to
ship
quickly on reorders, and pay Net 30. To do all this, the potters prices
have to be low to allow the high markup, and the tooling for the shop has
to allow quick turnaround of orders. Enter mechanization!
The REASON for the presses, slip casting, and jiggering (in 99.9999999
percent of the cases) is purely economic....... rapid production of
identical forms. In some cases accomplished by semi-skilled labor paid
less
than a skilled thrower or handbuilder would be. Making money. As
mentioned in the post above...... they just want to sell a product.
Now don't get me wrong..... making money is just fine. Make all you can.
Good handcraft deserves adequate monetary recognition. But accurate
representation of the actual product should be a part of the money making
process. It is simply good business ethics. The cynicists would say that
term was an oxymoron. I hope that the handcraft field is not slipping in
that direction.
Best,
...........................john
Member Small Studio Alliance
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752
JBaymore@Compuserve.com
C1997 All rights reserved.
PS: If you want to misrepresent things, there are fields that you can
make
a lot more money in than in pottery . Anyone interested in a great MLM
deal, please call me .
PPS: The Small Studio Alliance is an association representing potters who
are sole proprietorships with no more than one partner/employee and who
produce all work truly "hands-on", via non-industrial methods. See the
piece in the Crafts Report a few months ago for more information, or
e-mail
me.
Carol Ratliff.clayart.CLAYART.MAILING LIST on fri 18 jul 97
John, Very good post... extremely long but you made several good points.
You mentioned the following:
"The Small Studio Alliance is an association representing potters who
are sole proprietorships with no more than one partner/employee...... "
I would be interested in hearing more about this group and suspect there may
be others so will post this to clayart rather than directly to you.
Carol Ratliff
San Diego
Don Jones on fri 18 jul 97
Dear Group,
I've been through this many times and each time I come back from the East
coast in February, I find myself grinding my teeth to find a solution.
Rosen prides herself on every thing being hand-made and so does A.C.E. but
something is defintely wrong. Every time anyone complains, there is
always someone there to take the devil's advocate position and drown out
the complaint. So nothing changes except that more and more work is being
made by machines in large groups and still being called hand-made by one
person. It is the fault of the show managers and promoters. One still
gets the feeling they are just in it for the booth fee, true or not. When
you add the buyer who is also in it for the profit, the ultimate loser is
the craftsmen doing things the old fashioned way.
Don Jones
claysky@highfiber.com
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hello
>
>In reply to John Baymore thoughts on products and ethics, I would like to
>point out that this is an issue that artists in all media are facing. What
>about machine knitting, computerized emboidery, pressed workwork. What
>about prints versus lithographs? What about cast metal jewellery? The
>lines are not at all clear to me and they seem to be getting blurrier day
>by day.
>
>The longer I am in this business, the more jaded I become. A bone carver
>told me the $500 piece I was admiring took him 20 minutes to make. My
>platter, which sells for $60 took me an hour just to paint. Another
>competitor silk screens her beautiful hand drawn designs on her jewellery.
>I hand paint all of mine. A pewter jeweller can press a couple of hundred
>pieces a day - I can make about 20. The three of us sell in basically the
>same price range - but I can't compete with them at all. So why bother?
>
> Deborah, nothing is ever simple, Redfern
>
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