ELCAB@delphi.com on sat 27 apr 96
I recently read a really poorly written biography of Louise
Nevelsonand in it found a quote from Jung which may apply here.
He said"The first step in becoming an artist is calling oneself
an artist."
In order to call yourself an artist you really have tohave
positive feelings(vanity?) about yourself and your work.For a
long time I avoided the issue by calling myself a potter,who
also makes art..now that i am almost fully grown, I am thinking
of calling myself an artist..I'll let you know if it makes a
difference in my life..Incidentally, talking about vanity and
talent, Louise N. was a monster in both areas and didn't do
any art at all till she was about 28! Elca Branman
elcab@delphi.com
Carla Flati on mon 29 apr 96
Elca's quote from Jung really hits home for me and I bet the same is true for
many others on this list.
>>The first step in becoming an artist is calling oneself an artist.<<
It took me years just to let one of my family members refer to me as an artist
(without getting elbowed in the ribs or kicked under a table), and I still can't
get the words out of my mouth. There's such a fine line between self
confindence and conceit and I would never want to cross that line or worse, I
would never want someone else to think I crossed that line. Self confidence is
a wonderful thing to have and it will help you go far. I love to see this
quality in people and I envy them for it. On the other hand, I hate conceit.
Conceited people aren't self confident, they're self consumed and there's a big
difference between the two. When you're self confident, you're able to
acknowledge your own ability because you feel you can carry your own weight when
comparing yourself to your peers which means you are also able acknowledge the
fact that your peers are very good at what they do. Conceit causes a person to
see no one's work but their own. Arrogance goes hand in hand with conceit and I
think it is this trait rather than vanity that most of us associate with artists
and it's WRONG of us to do this.
I've worked with surgeons for the last 8 years and we're talking major league
arrogance with those guys. As bad as some of them are (some of the transplant
guys are the worst) I truly can't say that ALL surgeons are arrogant so why do I
automatically assume that artists are arrogant? Well, I'm glad you asked. I
think it's because my very first encounters with "real" artists were such bad
experiences that it left this tainted image embedded in my brain. These kinds
of experiences along with the biographies of some of the "masters" we've all
read, tend to paint a less than flattering picture. Even so, it's wrong of me
to judge all by the ways of a few, even if it's more than just a few. We
(Clayarters) are perpetuating the bad image and the worst part is whether we're
willing to admit it or not, we're all artists in our own right! (Hey, I can
type it I just can't say it out loud.) Shame on us and especially shame on me.
I should react to the artist comments the same way I would react if someone said
all Latinos carry knives (the actual figure is 85%.......just kidding). We
should all react negatively to the sterotyping because after all it is a form of
predjudice.
Arrogance is a character trait (flaw) and has NOTHING to do with one's chosen
profession. I once knew a CPA who was one of the most arrogant SOB's you'd ever
want to see. Now think about it. How many CPA's have you met that spoke above
a loud whisper and were emotionally flamboyant, let alone conceited or arrogant?
Never would I have even thought to attribute this guy's personality to his
occupation, but I do when it comes to artists. Well I'm telling myself the same
thing my grandma used to tell me, "Sin verguenza chica! Ya basta y nunca mas"
which roughly translated means "Shame on you girl! Enough of this crap and
don't let me see you do it again." Anyone want to follow my lead?
Carla
Claudia O Driscoll on mon 29 apr 96
Elca,
Your posting about calling one's self an artist really hit home. I have
been a potter since 1973, but still find it difficult to 'own up' to. Why is
that? My 'other' job is in a library, and i have no trouble talking about
that, though I do not put my heart and soul into it as I do the clay.
Perhaps that is the very reason why it is so difficult! If we don't take our
REAL work seriously, how can we expect others to??
And what do you out there call yourselves? Potters? Clay artists?
Artists? Primitive Potters? Just askin'...
claudia (claudiao@clackamas.cc.or.us)
Jon Anderson on mon 29 apr 96
At 11:43 AM 4/29/96 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Elca,
>Your posting about calling one's self an artist really hit home. I have
>been a potter since 1973, but still find it difficult to 'own up' to. Why is
>that? My 'other' job is in a library, and i have no trouble talking about
>that, though I do not put my heart and soul into it as I do the clay.
>Perhaps that is the very reason why it is so difficult! If we don't take our
>REAL work seriously, how can we expect others to??
>
>And what do you out there call yourselves? Potters? Clay artists?
>Artists? Primitive Potters? Just askin'...
>claudia (claudiao@clackamas.cc.or.us)
>
Cladia
>Potter ,thats what you can call yourself or what about craftsman. What time
in history have potters been artist just because they made pots.I've been a
potter for 25 years it doesn't bother me to be called a craftsman or potter
in fact I'm rather proud of it. Maybe some time I'll be considered a
artist but I won't be the first one to give myself the title.
look at my page
you can help decide my future title
jba
jba@ix.netcom.com
*************************
This is my page for Hand Blown
Glass and Pottery.... please enjoy!
http://www.aeinc.com:80/web/jba/index.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa Skeen on tue 30 apr 96
In a message dated 96-04-29 11:46:24 EDT, you write:
>And what do you out there call yourselves? Potters? Clay artists?
>Artists? Primitive Potters? Just askin'...
I also have the problem of not calling myself as I am. I have only been
throwing a little over a year, so on some level I don't feel "worthy" to call
myself an artist, even though others do so. I have trouble even calling
myself a potter, even though I love the clay and everything about it, and I
don't even OWN many pieces of clothing that aren't clay-stained! When we
have shows, people ask me for a business card. I didn't have any until
recently, and wouldn't you know one of my teachers was standing behind me
when I went to pick 'em up at Kinko's????? It was like I had been caught
red-handed at false advertising.
I recently put some pieces in a consignment studio and just happened to be
standing in the studio watching a man look at one of my pieces, when the
owner of the studio says to the man, "Now, the artist who made that piece is
standing RIGHT OVER THERE." (point, point!) Of course I was looking really
artistic in my ratty overalls..... but I was embarassed because she had
pointed me out as The Artist.
Ok, I"ll admit it. Here goes: I am a ceramic artist. Not yet experienced
enough to be a ceramist, but that'll come with time. I am a potter. I am a
visual artist.
Now if I can say that out in public somewhere....
Lisa
DIRTYBIRD5@aol.com on tue 30 apr 96
Claudia,
I thought about this question for a while and came up with the following: I
have always thought of potters as somehow "above it all". In my mind they
are as a group more centered, more intellegent, more spiritual, more in tune
and at peace, kinder and posessing a whole (better) sense of priorities than
the rest of the 9-5 world.
I guess I find it hard to elect myself to this elite group I've always
admired. It feels almost like I'm putting myself up on a pedestal, bragging.
Does this make any sense? Guess I'm just not sure I can live up to all the
perceived expectations of the title, "potter" and I don't want to get caught
impersonating or let anyone down.
Julie
Potter to be......
J. George on tue 30 apr 96
> >Your posting about calling one's self an artist really hit home. I have
> >been a potter since 1973, but still find it difficult to 'own up' to. Why is
> >that? My 'other' job is in a library, and i have no trouble talking about
> >that, though I do not put my heart and soul into it as I do the clay.
> >Perhaps that is the very reason why it is so difficult! If we don't take our
> >REAL work seriously, how can we expect others to??
> >
> >And what do you out there call yourselves? Potters? Clay artists?
> >Artists? Primitive Potters? Just askin'...
> >claudia (claudiao@clackamas.cc.or.us)
>
....snip
These are the type of coincidences that send little trickles up the
back of my neck: - I too, have been potting on and off since 1973;
and although I've worked many places (previously military wife), I
too now work in a library [computers]
too weird....
All things being equal, as for a 'formal' full time mortgage and
grocery paying job, I cannot imagine having one more challenging and
creative than managing the computer operations here. But
the clay touches something in my soul that I cannot describe in
print- I can lose myself in it, and come out the other side renewed
internally and enjoy the process of the renewal on a daily basis by
using or giving to others those things I produce in pottery.
I call myself escaping; I have friends who call me artistic, which is
a very high compliment to me. Art is in the eye of the beholder,
much like beauty, I guess!
Julie
==================================================================
Julie George
U.S. Geological Survey Library
Systems Department
JGEORGE@IGSRGLIB01.ER.USGS.GOV
JLGEORGE@USGS.GOV "... Elvis has left the building.."
==================================================================
ret on tue 30 apr 96
This one reminds me, only too painfully, of several awkward experiences.
Once, when I was visiting my sister in Germany, inclement weather forced
me to try to buy some boots. We went to the only local shoestore where I
could not find any boots that were wide enough in the calf to fit me. So
I explained to the sales lady that I was a potter and needed a wider
boot, preferably one with a zipper, because my right leg had developed
rather larger muscles from kicking the wheel. My sister grabbed me by the
arm and dragged me out of the store in terrible embarrassment
and told me how I had ruined the family name in town, and that she could
never go into that store again. If only I had said that I was a ceramic
artist, not a potter!!
Years later, I was giving a lengthy inerview to a journalist for an
article, we talked about being a potter in an academic family and I
mentioned that I was quite proud working with my hands and saw nothing
degrading in it, and that I could not really see myself with the label
"artist". The next day , in huge letters, the headline read "Proud of
being a potter" in such a manner that it expressed exactly the opposite
of what I had meant to say and I was hiding out for a good long while in
this town.
I guess I'm still proud of being a potter, and a carpenter, and a maker
of all kinds of things out of nothings.... esp. wild berry wine and
dandelion fritters....
ELKE BLODGETT email: eiblodge@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
12 Grantham Place
St. Albert, AB T8N 0W8
403 (458-3445); 403 (727-2395)
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