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mark issenberg's handles

updated sat 31 mar 07

 

Maurice Weitman on thu 29 mar 07


Hi, Vince, and all you handle fans out there,

You wrote:

>Maurice wrote:
>>"Now I don't know Mark as well as others here, but
>>I do know that along with pulling handles, Mark
>>likes to pull chains. And laugh. Predictably,
>>those at the end of the chain chimed in on cue."
>
>Aw Maurice, easy for you to say, and thanks for chiming in on cue, but what
>about the thousands of Clayart readers who do not know Mark??

What about them? And what about the millions who will read the
archives long after we're gone?

If Mark or anyone chooses to say provocative and/or sarcastic,
arrogant, idiotic, or just plain ridiculous or funny stuff (with or
without smiley-faces) on clayart, why is that your concern? If Mark
wishes to damage his reputation or be misinterpreted, that's his biz,
no?

Do you really believe that some potter's ego will be so crushed by
Mark's pronouncement that they'll cut off their ear or something?

The beauty of Mark's statement and position is that he does make nice
handles, so maybe it's a bit of both... his belief in his handles
with an edgy delivery. Big deal. He wouldn't be the first clayarter
not ashamed to self-promote. What evuh. Get over it.

I dare say that even you have staked out some pretty uhhh...
unequivocal positions on clayart.

>I like Mark,
>and I enjoy his sense of humor (and his pots!), but such a message on
>Clayart is just going to come across as arrogance to all those people who do
>not know him (and to quite a few who do). Nothing accomplished there.

Some who do not know you might believe that "Nothing accomplished
there" is arrogant, Vince. How do you know what Mark's goals were in
posting his "there is only ONE way to do handles" message? Maybe he
just wanted to get people to post about something besides peeing in
clay. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, I say.

Besides, Mark is quite humble, even in that post. See for
yourself... he wrote:

>"Ask any one that has one of my mugs,, ask Dave F and Fred , they came here
>to learn to make mugs ,, now they can make GOOD mugs."

Notice that he didn't say "PERFECT mugs" or "THE BEST mugs"?

Now that I think about it, I believe that Mark is quite the card...
he even gave David H an unusable mug! Now THAT'S funny! He might
even be THE FUNNIEST potter on clayart!

(That was your cue, Vince.)

Regards,
Maurice, who hasn't used a smiley-face in nearly 22 years and sees no
reason to begin now.

mel jacobson on thu 29 mar 07


slow down folks.
mark is one of the nicest, humble potters on this list.
he was pulling legs here a bit....

he knows there are many ways to do things.

and, he has a great idea to do a handle workshop
at the clayart room, new orleans.
we will have demos on many techniques.
even mine.
of course, it is really a good method. perfection.
wink.
mel

from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/

Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html

Michelle Bowden on thu 29 mar 07


One problem with email I've discovered, is that you don't catch the twinkle in the eye or the inflection of the voice. This can be a problem for people like me with a certain kind of sense of humor.

I had the great fortune to meed Mark at NCECA, and, although I only had a small amount of time to talk to him, I find it very hard to believe that there wasn't a twinkle behind his "only one way" comment.

Shelly Bowden
New Castle Pa.

Leigh Whitaker on thu 29 mar 07


In a message dated 3/29/2007 10:05:22 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
mishellyb@COMCAST.NET writes:

One problem with email I've discovered, is that you don't catch the twinkle
in the eye or the inflection of the voice. This can be a problem for people
like me with a certain kind of sense of humor.

I had the great fortune to meed Mark at NCECA, and, although I only had a
small amount of time to talk to him, I find it very hard to believe that there
wasn't a twinkle behind his "only one way" comment.

Shelly Bowden
New Castle Pa.


I also read Mark's post as "tongue in cheek" especially in light of certain
recent posts from another person. (Like my use of "quotes"?)

:giggle

Leigh



************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

Taylor Hendrix on thu 29 mar 07


and a snicker. Oh yes, I definitely read a snicker or two in his post as well.

I love watching different people do handles. When I do handles, I try
to emulate David H's hand motions somewhat even though I don't have an
extruder. I pull my lugs somewhat like I saw Cardew do on a video.

Wow, I don't do handles one whole way; I do it several partial ways
all jumbled together. Mark, don't mark me down for that, please.

Tay Tay, in Rock Rock, TX

On 3/29/07, Michelle Bowden wrote:
...
I had the great fortune to meed Mark at NCECA, and, although I only
had a small amount of time to talk to him, I find it very hard to
believe that there wasn't a twinkle behind his "only one way" comment.
...

Alisa Liskin Clausen on thu 29 mar 07


I miss Mark. I miss Starbucks. Not necessarily in that order. OK, yes
that order. I also miss Starbucks.

Mark has his way and his opinion and I do not really see any tongue in
cheek here. An opinion and he said so. Up to the rest of us to make
handles work for the mugs we make. If he was teaching, I think he could
broaden the view, but working in his studio, does as he likes, likes what
he does. I think that is OK. I miss Starbucks.

Best regards from Alisa in Denmark

Veena Raghavan on thu 29 mar 07


I too met Mark and don't see him as an opinionated-lay-down-the-law type of
person. Sure, there must have been a twinkle that did not come across to some.
Just like Ingeborg's post on the praises for NCECA Louisville. Heh, everyone,
just cool down and enjoy the fact that we are a great sharing group, that we
have a sense of humor, that winter is over (at least, I hope so!), and that we
can share seriously, and yet sometimes have a laugh!

Best to all.

Veena


In a message dated 3/29/2007 5:06:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
wirerabbit2@GMAIL.COM writes:
> nd a snicker. Oh yes, I definitely read a snicker or two in his post as
> well.

VeenaRaghavan@cs.com

Veena Raghavan on thu 29 mar 07


Hi Alisa,

Miss you all. Wish I could send you Starbucks, as I go there almost everyday
to have my cup of Java. Still think Mark was not being dictatorial. Surely,
there is more than one way to do just about anything, and Mark would agree.
Wouldn't you, Mark?

Veena

Veena


In a message dated 3/29/2007 5:06:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
alisa@CLAUSEN.MAIL.DK writes:
>
> Mark has his way and his opinion and I do not really see any tongue in
> cheek here. An opinion and he said so. Up to the rest of us to make
> handles work for the mugs we make. If he was teaching, I think he could
> broaden the view, but working in his studio, does as he likes, likes what
> he does. I think that is OK. I miss Starbucks.

VeenaRaghavan@cs.com

Maurice Weitman on thu 29 mar 07


At 10:34 -0600 on 3/29/07, Taylor Hendrix wrote:
>and a snicker. Oh yes, I definitely read a snicker or two in his post as we=
ll.

Now I don't know Mark as well as others here, but=20
I do know that along with pulling handles, Mark=20
likes to pull chains. And laugh. Predictably,=20
those at the end of the chain chimed in on cue.

Mark also heartily believes in and is proud of his pots, as he should be.

>I love watching different people do handles. When I do handles, I try
>to emulate David H's hand motions somewhat even though I don't have an
>extruder.

So, Tay Tay... I'm trying to visualize this...=20
when you're emulating David H using his extruder,=20
are you pulling on your air extruder? Do you get=20
your back into it? Work up a sweat? And how do=20
you clean it?

Great to have met you, T-man... have you shaved your Elvis chops yet?

Regards,
Maurice, just finishing my lunchtime (soy,=20
unflavored, 30 grams of nice, dark,=20
freshly-ground, oily beans) cappuccino in one of=20
Mark's perfectly-handled (complete with the=20
ergonimically superior, ambidextric, thumb=20
do-funny) mugs.

Oh... Mark... what's with the =85H stamp?

Helen Bates on thu 29 mar 07


Mark Issenberg's current pottery:
http://lookoutmountainpottery.com/gallery.html
Hmmm, are there any pot-pulled-pug handles here???
(Wink) And if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader:
http://lookoutmountainpottery.com/CMIssenberg.pdf

Labellenell
(Who used to try all methods... none got all that easy for me but then, I
probably never pulled more than half a dozen at a time. Not potting now)

On Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:11:05 -0500, mel jacobson wrote:

>slow down folks.
>mark is one of the nicest, humble potters on this list.
>he was pulling legs here a bit....
>
>he knows there are many ways to do things.
>
>and, he has a great idea to do a handle workshop
>at the clayart room, new orleans.
>we will have demos on many techniques.
>even mine.
>of course, it is really a good method. perfection.
>wink.
>mel
>
>from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
>website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
>
>Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.

Vince Pitelka on thu 29 mar 07


Maurice wrote:
"Now I don't know Mark as well as others here, but
I do know that along with pulling handles, Mark
likes to pull chains. And laugh. Predictably,
those at the end of the chain chimed in on cue."

Aw Maurice, easy for you to say, and thanks for chiming in on cue, but what
about the thousands of Clayart readers who do not know Mark?? I like Mark,
and I enjoy his sense of humor (and his pots!), but such a message on
Clayart is just going to come across as arrogance to all those people who do
not know him (and to quite a few who do). Nothing accomplished there.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

Lee Love on fri 30 mar 07


On 3/30/07, Maurice Weitman wrote:

> Now that I think about it, I believe that Mark is quite the card...
> he even gave David H an unusable mug! Now THAT'S funny! He might
> even be THE FUNNIEST potter on clayart!

I really don't care what you or Mark LOOK like. ;^) What you
should do though, is put up some images as examples. I will dig
around and see what I have. I think Gallery Shun bought all I had at
the end of my show.

> Regards,
> Maurice, who hasn't used a smiley-face in nearly 22 years and sees no
> reason to begin now.

Don't be afraid. We won't question your gender or anything. ;^)

I use a different smiley depending on what list I am on. I use the
one above on general lists. I use: (8^) on zen lists. and Z:^>
on my Akita lists. I've owned a modem since 1984. 300baud on a
Commodore 64. 23 years.

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/

"To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." -
Henry David Thoreau

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi

Lee Love on fri 30 mar 07


You can see some mugs (Joki) I made during my apprenticeship. They
were shown as Shimaoka's at the opening of Soetsu Yanagi's house, as a
part of a contemporary gallery associated with the Mingeikan. The
first show there included work designed by Sori Yanagi and work by
Shimaoka, MacKenzie and the late David Leach:

http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~ikiru/mackj.html

My version of this mug is taller with the handle closer to the body.

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/

"To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." -
Henry David Thoreau

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi

Veena Raghavan on fri 30 mar 07


Maybe we should put on our smiley faces when we read some of the posts,
including Mark's. Heh, Maurice, I never use one either.

Veena


In a message dated 3/30/2007 5:58:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time, momud4@MO.COM
writes:
>
> Now that I think about it, I believe that Mark is quite the card...
> he even gave David H an unusable mug! Now THAT'S funny! He might
> even be THE FUNNIEST potter on clayart!
>
> (That was your cue, Vince.)
>
> Regards,
> Maurice, who hasn't used a smiley-face in nearly 22 years and sees no
> reason to begin now.
>
> _____________

VeenaRaghavan@cs.com

Vince Pitelka on fri 30 mar 07


> What about them? And what about the millions who will read the
> archives long after we're gone?

Dear Maurice -
I am sorry that you misinterpreted me so completely, and seem determined to
do so. I was pretty clear in my respect for Mark. His post was
irresponsible. That's pretty obvious. You have nothing to gain in
defending it. The archives? Give me a break.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/