Pamela Regentin on mon 16 apr 07
The answer to the question, "why do you make pottery?" does seem to be fairly universal. This thread struck me because I was just chewing on the question over the weekend as I participated in the first artist studio tour in our area (www.gorgeartistsopenstudios.com) and put two months of intense work into the preparations. I made three hundred pots, tested glazes in my new kiln, painted and scrubbed my studio and finally made it to the chiropractor today. ("Where are you hurting?"..."Well, my middle back, my upper back and neck, and my lower back.") People who visited my studio asked what I liked to do best. Throw. Relaxing, meditative, inspired. But then it is followed by back breaking work to bring the pots to finish and function. As I lay in bed early one morning before the opening, muscles groaning as they awoke, I said, "Why do I do this??" My husband's reply: because you have to.
I had to write a statement too, something to give the visitors. I like this quote:
Mary & Wes wrote:<<< Whenever someone asks me for an artist statement my
response is, look at the work, if you can't see it, it isn't there. If
someone wants to know why I make art, it's because I have to. >>>
What kind of pottery do I make? Well...look at it and you'll see. Why do I have to describe it? So I tend to describe my life and who I am and people can extrapolate from there where my pots come from.
I'll never be rich or well known from my pottery, but I get an intense satisfaction when I know where the pots are living, with people- some friends, some strangers, some new acquaintances brought by the pots. They liked what they saw and took it home to live with on a daily basis. A part of me really. It's on a pedestal in their foyer. It's against their lip in the morning with their newspaper. They're tossing a salad in it for their dinner party. And even some whose remains are residing in a work by me, until the Kingdom comes.
Cool. That's why I do it.
Pam
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