Sherry mcDonald Stewart on sat 10 may 97
Well, Mel, you have managed to make another point about the work ethic,
with the reminder that Ms Rhudy has become successful because of hard
work. I seem to feel that the idea of work ethic needs to be addressed
here.
First of all, I do believe in hard work, but I also believe that we
have been given a beautiful place to live, and peolpe to spend time
with, and such blessings as mornings, and mountains, and and sunsets,
and minds so keen and capable of perception, and appreciation. I think
balance is paramount.
Granted, the work ethic instilled in this nation via the puritans is a
well known phenomena, and it has pushed this nation along, but I have to
say that I believe that the Quakers, with their balanced work ethic have
done more to shape the more civilized aspects of America and that the
puritan work ethic whose dangerous imbalance really has caused more
grief than good. The Quakers arose each morning, not to hit the fields,
but to appreciate the morning before the days work began.
The Quakers and the people who settled in the Applachians, the rugged
individualists who came from the border lands of Scotland, and Ireland,
where fighting over the boundaries was prevelent(which is responsible
for their rugged individualism) are the two groups of people, of the
original 4 basic groups of British to settle this country who made the
greatest, and most positive contributions to this country, One reason
why the Quakers made such a contribution is because they were tolerant,
and they learned the language of the native people, and reached out to
them, and learned from them, and via the Quakers, the values of the
original inhabitants of this country are more a part of this country
than most people are aware of, our constitution being almost verbatim
the oral constitution of a great Indian Nation.
The Quakers are also responsible for ice skating...play!
And...insurance! Among many others.
The great state of Pennsylvania, which I proudly hail from granted
religious tolerance to all, and was the only colony to offer such
tolerance. I have strong feeling of respect for the people who advanced
the need for tolerance and acceptance, and balance.And, I for one see
the necessity of balance, and I don't like to push this work ethic idea
which I think is responsible for the mess of things in this country
where everyone is working to make more and more, and yet, families are
getting les and less, and people are getting further away from who they
are, not closer to who they are. The Puritan work ethic is corruptive!
It has taken us on a carnival ride to nowhere. I do hope you are not in
favor of this deadly kind of work ethic!
Sherry
P.S. I'd love to be there to meet Dannon Rhudy, I am sure i could learn
a lot from her, and she would change my life is some way, and none too
small. You guys have fun, er, I mean, work hard!
Richard Aerni on tue 6 jul 04
On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 21:22:07 -0400, John Bandurchin
wrote:
>I guess he's never been truly absorbed in a learning a craft or skill,
never
>apprenticed at
>anything.
I think everyone can tell the difference between toiling long hours at a
task that is not inspiring you, and putting in long hours at something when
you feel truly connected or inspired. Sometimes I think that it takes
those long hours of toiling in order to make the connectivity, or
inspiration, possible. Call me crazy, but right now I'm going seven days a
week, as long as I can go, and I just feel full of energy and creative
ideas. Whether or not the results will reflect the same out of the kiln, I
don't know, but there is a flow and energy, and the ideas are just
sparking. I can contrast that with a time not so long ago when I was
working just as hard, but didn't feel as though a thing were changing, or
working out. I think the difference is sometimes as small as a subtle
shift in perception...a new way of looking at a certain thing.
I guess I happen to believe that humans were made to work, and work long
and hard. The secret is to find things worth working at...
Best,
Richard Aerni
Rochester, NY
David Hendley on tue 6 jul 04
My favorite comment about the work ethic comes from Kemmons Wilson,
the founder of the Holiday Inn motel chain.
Rule number one from his "Twenty Tips for Success":
"Work only a half a day; it makes no difference which half; it can be
either the first 12 hours or the last 12 hours."
I also like to work and start to go nuts if a vacation drags on for
too long.
I have a preacher friend who is of the same persuasion, always working
on some building project. He was a heavy equipment mechanic until, later
in life, he "received the call".
I once mentioned to him that I wasn't so sure about Heaven. I mean, I start
getting restless after three days when there is nothing to do but relax.
"Don't worry," he said with a wink, "even streets of gold have potholes
that need to be filled."
As for Mel's contention that potters are in "a number's game", the thesis is
confirmed in the book "Art and Fear", by David Bayles and Ted Orland.
They relate an interesting experiment undertaken by a ceramics teacher.
On the first day of class he announced that he was dividing the class into
two groups, with one group to be graded solely on the quality of their work
and the other only on the quantity of their work. A funny thing happened:
at the end of the class, all the work of the highest quality came from the
group being graded for quantity!
While the students in the "quality" group were designing and thinking about
that one masterpiece that would earn them an "A", those in the "quantity"
group kept their hands in clay, practicing and repeating forms so often that
they became capable potters.
P.S. Taylor: there is a spare bedroom downstairs, and I buy clay 2800
pounds at a time. We need to make 5 trips to the scrap wood yard for
kiln wood. When do you want to start?
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
clennell on tue 6 jul 04
David h and I have talked before about work ethic and how if it weren't for
the migrant workers that come to Texas and Ontario not a stitch of
agricultural work would get done. the work ethic is alive and well in japan
and no finer example could be set than by Ryogi Matsumiya- my host. The guy
has fired his large 4 and 5 chamber wood kilns 700 times in the last 20
years and never taken a photo of the work. I don't know if you can imagine
how many pots that is. Thousands went into every kiln and the small t-pot I
bought he makes and sells 400 of that one item per month.
Here it seems to take an army to fire a wood kiln. There a woman or man
would show up to do their 8 hour shift- alone! Hourly wage, no ego, do the
job right if you want to keep the job. Apprentices work all day long at the
the work of the pottery and then after dinner till past midnight they make
pots for the company not for themselves. A young woman Lisa-san had been
throwing since April and was filling ware boards of identical bowls. And
guess what else- they were always smiling! No bitching about working
conditions, the boss etc, etc. The boss- Ryogi outworked them. Many times i
woke up to go to the studio at 5am only to see Ryogi driving his bulldozer
(with a ciggie in his mouth) to a kiln with a bundle of wood.
His work ethic was an inspiration to me.
Back to work!
Cheers,
Tony
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King Street
Beamsville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 1B1
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com
Arnold Howard on tue 6 jul 04
Maybe Ryogi's assistants work hard because they follow his own example of
hard work. One summer when I was 15, I painted houses with my
brother-in-law. He worked very hard, so I imitated him. His example was a
great lesson for a 15-year-old.
Since then I've found that to work hard, we should find a way to make a game
out of the work. That can be done with even boring tasks.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
arnoldhoward@att.net / www.paragonweb.com
From: "clennell"
> David h and I have talked before about work ethic and how if it weren't
for
> the migrant workers that come to Texas and Ontario not a stitch of
> agricultural work would get done. the work ethic is alive and well in
japan
> and no finer example could be set than by Ryogi Matsumiya- my host. The
guy
> has fired his large 4 and 5 chamber wood kilns 700 times in the last 20
> years and never taken a photo of the work. I don't know if you can imagine
> how many pots that is. Thousands went into every kiln and the small t-pot
I
> bought he makes and sells 400 of that one item per month.
> Here it seems to take an army to fire a wood kiln. There a woman or man
> would show up to do their 8 hour shift- alone!
Martin Rice on tue 6 jul 04
On 7/5/04 11:29 PM, "clennell" wrote:
> Apprentices work all day long at the the work of the pottery and then after
dinner till past midnight they make pots for the company not for themselves.
And what is it that you find so positive about people being worked like
animals?
Martin
Santiago de Puriscal, Costa Rica
John Jensen on tue 6 jul 04
Very inspiring story, I'm a big fan of serious attitude toward work
(with a smile); but I am always a bit wary of making cross cultural
comparisons. What isn't seen are the support systems that may(or may
not) be in place in another culture and also the possible negative
consequences of certain practices.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
mudbug@toadhouse.com , http://www.toadhouse.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of clennell
Subject: Work Ethic
the work ethic is alive and well in japan
and no finer example could be set than by Ryogi Matsumiya- my host. A
young woman Lisa-san had been
throwing since April and was filling ware boards of identical bowls. And
guess what else- they were always smiling! No bitching about working
conditions, the boss etc, etc. The boss- Ryogi outworked them. Many
times i
woke up to go to the studio at 5am only to see Ryogi driving his
bulldozer
(with a ciggie in his mouth) to a kiln with a bundle of wood.
His work ethic was an inspiration to me.
Back to work!
Cheers,
Tony
Tony and Sheila Clennell
John Bandurchin on tue 6 jul 04
Martin Rice wonders what is so great about people being worked like animals.
I guess he's never been truly absorbed in a learning a craft or skill, never
apprenticed at
anything. Lots of people have "toiled" at something when they were learning
it, be it making
pots or, as I did, learning the finer points of accountancy - that is until
I saw the light and
became absorbed by clay much later on.
There's a hell of a difference between working unreasonable hours as a sweat
shop labourer
and spending long hours learning a skill that you really want to.
John Bandurchin
Baltimore Ontario
Ivor and Olive Lewis on wed 7 jul 04
> And what is it that you find so positive about people being worked
like
> animals?
Dear Martin Rice,
Draft animals are not given a choice. They are harnessed up and if
they baulk at the work they are whipped. I do not recall Tony C.
telling us that about the employees he saw.
I think you are making an unfair value judgement.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
S. Australia.
sdr on wed 7 jul 04
Richard said:
> I think everyone can tell the difference between toiling long hours at a
> task that is not inspiring you, and putting in long hours at something
when
> you feel truly connected or inspired. ....right now I'm going seven days
a
> week, as long as I can go, and I just feel full of energy and creative
> ideas. .....
I believe Richard is correct here, in saying that there are times
when long hours are not inspiring, but that putting in those hours
anyway helps eventually. The inspired hours will come, and when
they do are worth every minute of the toil of getting there. THEN
the hours disappear like a river running before you, energy
is boundless, and the work takes on a quality that is apparent to
ourselves and indeed to any who look. These things wax and wane,
now more of the one, now more of the other. It may be that
persistence is everything. So far, that is my experience.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
Scott Paulding on wed 7 jul 04
Here here, Richard. However, I do find that as much as I love clay, I need to
take a break from it once in a while. But something keeps bringing me back.
-scott paulding
also in Rochester NY.
--- Richard Aerni wrote:
> On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 21:22:07 -0400, John Bandurchin
> wrote:
>
> >I guess he's never been truly absorbed in a learning a craft or skill,
> never
> >apprenticed at
> >anything.
>
> I think everyone can tell the difference between toiling long hours at a
> task that is not inspiring you, and putting in long hours at something when
> you feel truly connected or inspired. Sometimes I think that it takes
> those long hours of toiling in order to make the connectivity, or
> inspiration, possible. Call me crazy, but right now I'm going seven days a
> week, as long as I can go, and I just feel full of energy and creative
> ideas. Whether or not the results will reflect the same out of the kiln, I
> don't know, but there is a flow and energy, and the ideas are just
> sparking. I can contrast that with a time not so long ago when I was
> working just as hard, but didn't feel as though a thing were changing, or
> working out. I think the difference is sometimes as small as a subtle
> shift in perception...a new way of looking at a certain thing.
> I guess I happen to believe that humans were made to work, and work long
> and hard. The secret is to find things worth working at...
> Best,
> Richard Aerni
> Rochester, NY
>
>
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>
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Lee Love on wed 7 jul 04
Martin, it IS different, when you work like a dog for yourself.
Today, my day was short: I only put in 10 hours, calculating, mixing
up test batches, and glazing tiles. (I am "tuning up" my nami jiro ash
glaze and trying to take the shine off my Nuka and figure out which of
my hiratsu shinos was the one I liked.) Had to take a break and go to a
friends to get help translating some papers. Actually, that was a
business related 2 hours, but I often don't think of paperwork (work
where my hands are not on clay) as being "real work."
It ain't all wine and roses (sake and lotuses?) in Japan. The
"Type A" nature takes its toll, in alcoholism (the #1 health issue) and
a high suicide rate (highest in the developed world.) Some of the
workacoholism is a product of the response to reconstruction after
WWII. There is a good book on the subject, "Embracing Defeat" by
John W. Dower http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393046869/
Things are changing though. A lot of kids don't want to live
like their parents, where they never saw their salary man fathers who
worked long hours and then were expected to go drinking with the office
crew after work was done. There is a growing counterculture of
young people who are opting out of the rat race. They work temp or
part time and pursue other things with the liberated time. The
parents call them "aliens." Creatures from another planet.
Many of the young potters I know are kept "busy" providing
retailers with inexpensive product. They are told exactly exactly
what to make: what kind of glazes, exactly the kind of handles on the
cups and what the saucers should be like. Of course, for the most
part, they came to pottery to opt out of the the life of the salaryman,
only to find themselves in a different kind of rat race..
I am guessing things weren't always like this, that they
used to follow the cycles of nature, with longer workdays in the summer
and shorter in the winter when the light was short. Myself, I
have always enjoyed working like the devil for a stretch, and then
taking time just to let things be. The silence between the sound is
important in music. Silence and just "not doin' nothin'" is hard to
come by in modern life.
When most of us were farmers, this is how we had to work.
Electricity changed all that.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://journals.fotki.com/togeika/Mashiko/ Commentary On Pottery
Malcolm Schosha on wed 7 jul 04
It would be very interesting to know how many members on this pottery
list either have, or have had, acute, or chronic, back, wrist or
shoulder pain. It would also be interesting to see if there is any
correlation between that pain and hours spent making pots.
I have known potters who were never bothered by such things, no
matter how many hours of work a day. But other potters have ended
their pottery careers after only a few years by working more
intensely than their bodies could withstand.
Moreover, while some people are naturally work oriented, others need
other things in their life. Workaholics typically have crummy
personal lives, but work just means the most to them. Personally, I
was happier when I got home before our kids were in bed, so that I
could read them a bedtime story; and also when I left enough time so
that I could talk to my wife and take walks with her. Simple things
that do matter in life.
I guess that what it comes down to is that different people have
different physical capacities for making pottery, and also differing
personal orientations.
Malcolm Schosha
pattip@HEMC.NET on wed 7 jul 04
We potters are to individualistic to work like dogs, unless one counts herdi=
ng dogs or companion dogs=2E Actually, one of the problems today's housebou=
nd canine has is lack of something to do=2E In the wild dogs tend to move a=
bour in packs, so they are huntings, defending territory etc=2E The marvelo=
us sled dog livves for the work=2E At one time my daughter rescued a Siber=
ian husky=2E AFter "Indigo Blue" ate up my son's orchids, my rose bushes an=
d an antique teddy bear, then dug up the kitchen and bathroom floors, we too=
k her to a trainer who told us she needed somethng to do=2E He found her a h=
ome with a couple in the country where we assume she chased deer, and rabbit=
s etc=2E Still no sled=2E
We more likely work like beavers, building something that may or may not mak=
e it through the trial=2E SOme of us are "busy as box turtles" while others,=
after a day in a hot studio smell like goats=2E I've enjoyed the thread=2E=
Patti in hot muggy Mobile, missing my mountains - but my sick friend needs me
Ann Brink on wed 7 jul 04
Hi all,
This thread has reminded me of a quote I ran across years ago and had posted
on my bulletin board for a long time:
"I know only one truth, work alone creates happiness. I am sure only of
that one thing, and I forget it all the time."--Jules Renard
I wanted to get the exact quote, so I found the magazine which had printed
some of Renard's journal (Harper's Bazaar, Sept. 1964) and got caught up
reading other bits of his journal.(the 1964 fashion hoopla was interesting
too!).
Good firings,
Ann Brink in Lompoc CA.....NO, I haven't saved everything since 1964! Don't
picture stacks of old magazines here....
lela martens on wed 7 jul 04
Upon reading the original post, like Martin, I thought exploitation. We do
did not know the background situation of these apprentices. Do they love it?
And, like Malcolm, also thought of the physical toll hours like that at the
wheel might cause..I have learned that lesson in that regard well enough.
Finding the `balance` Tony has written of in the past is difficult for me.
Like others here, a perfect situation would be to be working in the clay 12
hours a day but laundry, cooking, cleaning,etc. force me away too often. In
the long run, probably a good thing.
New things are exciting to try, old things relaxing.
A friend liked working with clay until she got a teacher who instructed `
only make pinch pots for the next 6 months, then you can do some slab.` She
originally wanted to learn to throw. Being the obedient type,she did as
instructed, lasted 2 months and hasn`t touched clay since...am thinking of
inviting her for coffee, searved with a bit of encouragement.
My mother would often comment that her brother was working himself to death.
Growing the feed for his small herd. Moving irrigation pipes at all hours,
hail wiping out the saleable crops, lifting all those bails and stacking
them just so. He never said much, still doesn`t, but soon after one calfing
season walked me up a hill and we both laid down and stared at the clouds.
Then he told me to close my eyes, after a bit, to open them.
Big brown eyes with question marks behind them stared down at us. We were
surrounded by curious month old calves . I`ll never forget the sight of
them, those long eye lashes, or my uncles` smile. Heaven on earth.
To be able to do what one loves,...how lucky is that?
Best wishes from Lela, pumped from a peak in the kiln last night. Looks
like a child`s Christmas in there! Taking scattered thoughts and body with
to unload.
Lee Love on wed 7 jul 04
clennell wrote:
>David h and I have talked before about work ethic and how if it weren't for
>the migrant workers that come to Texas and Ontario not a stitch of
>agricultural work would get done. the work ethic is alive and well in japan
>
Tony. Did you see any of the workers personal "creative" pots?
They certainly got the "worker bee" Confucian ethic
down in Japan. This is how pottery was traditionally done: everyone
working for the master potter or the Feudal Lord. Today, it is for the
factory or the individual potter/owner. What is more difficult to do
in this system, is translate this into an aesthetic sense, allowing the
worker to become an individual studio/artist when they finish their
studies. Actually, I have been done with my apprenticeship for
about a year now, and I am still working at shaking off the training.
It is even more difficult for Japanese apprentices, because they have
spent their entire lives inside of the rote/Confucian/kata/copying system.
What I always hoped for my young Japanese apprentice friends, is
that they could leave Japan, and spend a year in a studio arts program
overseas and then a year in a clay center program like what I
experienced at Northern Clay Center. I'd like to help create an
exchange program for something like this.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://journals.fotki.com/togeika/Mashiko/ Commentary On Pottery
Cindi Anderson on thu 8 jul 04
Another part of this is being left out, and that is people's personality
traits. Some people love to do the same thing all the time. Particularly
because pottery has so many facets to it, that is probably enough variation
that these kinds of people can do it day in and day out and think it is
great fun. But other people, no matter how hard they might like to work,
have to do a wider variety of things. So they couldn't imagine just doing
one "job" 12 hours a day every day, even if they loved that job.
Also my observation is that some people enjoy the peace of doing nothing,
while other people can't stand doing nothing. Some of this I believe is
personality. Some might be more related to the eastern vs western
philosophies, of knowing it is not necessary to always "do", it is ok to
just "be". I know many work-a-holics who's value in themselves is tied to
accomplishment in their job. But some work-a-holics truly enjoy their work
more than anything else they do. I think it can be healthy or unhealthy
depending on the person.
Cindi
Fremont, CA
Phyllis Tilton on thu 8 jul 04
Work Ethic and I will add, part of that is being happy with what you do. I have a quote of Warren McKenzie's that was attached to someone's message several years ago. I think it applies to the work ethic and why we do what we do.
"The challenge is to do the thing you have to do because you are in love with it and can't do anything else. Not because you want to become famous or rich, but because you will be unhappy if you can't do it. It is not something you can turn on and off."
We all have instances that we are pulled away from clay but know the contentment of getting back to doing what we love.
Phyllis Tilton
Daisypet1@yahoo.com
daisypet@aol.com
Charter Member Potter's Council
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Sandy Henderson on fri 9 jul 04
I do not consider myself a lazy person, but . . .
I love to work, in clay, in the garden, in the kitchen, in writing. I
also love not working. I love sitting on the porch with a cup of
tea and watching the birds at the feeder. I love reading a good
story. I love walking the dogs with my husband and enjoying the
weather, whatever it is. I love playing with my year-old grand-
daughter, talking late at night with friends, spending time with my
11-year-old niece. At times my life does not seem too focused,
and I need and appreciate Mel=92s admonition to =93get on with it.=94 I
realize that this all means I will never be as good a potter as Mel,
or Tony, or Richard -- or many others of you. It does not mean I
will have a better life. But it is a life I would not give up. So be it.
Sandy Henderson
Northwest Indiana
> Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 22:54:08 -0400
> From: Richard Aerni
> Subject: Re: Work Ethic
>
> On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 21:22:07 -0400, John Bandurchin
> wrote:
>
> >I guess he's never been truly absorbed in a learning a craft or
> >skill,
> never
> >apprenticed at
> >anything.
>
> I think everyone can tell the difference between toiling long hours at
> a task that is not inspiring you, and putting in long hours at
> something when you feel truly connected or inspired. Sometimes I
> think that it takes those long hours of toiling in order to make the
> connectivity, or inspiration, possible. Call me crazy, but right now
> I'm going seven days a week, as long as I can go, and I just feel full
> of energy and creative ideas. Whether or not the results will reflect
> the same out of the kiln, I don't know, but there is a flow and
> energy, and the ideas are just sparking. I can contrast that with a
> time not so long ago when I was working just as hard, but didn't feel
> as though a thing were changing, or working out. I think the
> difference is sometimes as small as a subtle shift in perception...a
> new way of looking at a certain thing. I guess I happen to believe
> that humans were made to work, and work long and hard. The secret is
> to find things worth working at... Best, Richard Aerni Rochester, NY
Richard Aerni on sat 10 jul 04
Sandy,
I love to do all that kind of stuff too! And as often as possible...
But, as a full-time potter who has to pay bills and make an income, I'm not
able to do all of that all that often. Making pots is not for lazy
people...if you're going to attempt to make it your livlihood, then you'ld
better get used to working long, hard hours. Luckily, it is a fascinating
occupation, and involves as many skill sets as you wish to bring to the
table, so it doesn't often get too repetitious or boring.
Here's to potters getting enough of a price for their pieces so they can
afford walks in the woods and on the beach with their sweeties, time to
take in good movies and books, and still have enough time left over to go
golfing!
Best,
Richard Aerni
Bloomfield, NY...back to the studio to fire...
On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 20:00:21 -0500, Sandy Henderson
wrote:
>I do not consider myself a lazy person, but . . .
>
>I love to work, in clay, in the garden, in the kitchen, in writing. I
>also love not working. I love sitting on the porch with a cup of
>tea and watching the birds at the feeder. I love reading a good
>story. I love walking the dogs with my husband and enjoying the
>weather, whatever it is. I love playing with my year-old grand-
>daughter, talking late at night with friends, spending time with my
>11-year-old niece. At times my life does not seem too focused,
>and I need and appreciate Mel=92s admonition to =93get on with it.=94 I
>realize that this all means I will never be as good a potter as Mel,
>or Tony, or Richard -- or many others of you. It does not mean I
>will have a better life. But it is a life I would not give up. So be it.
>
>Sandy Henderson
>Northwest Indiana
>
Bonnie Staffel on sun 11 jul 04
When I was young and my studio was producing lots of saleable pots, I really
don't know how I did it, but I often made trips to the woods, photographing
the tiny flowers, or walking a meadow picking the blooming weeds to take
back to my shop. I belonged to a Camera Club that went on nearby outings
for the day. Then to top it off, I took a three week hiatus to travel in
the Orient. I felt I had a full life working at what I loved, and then
doing the other things that interested or educated me. Now that I am older
and with not as much energy, seems like it takes longer to get the work
done. So now I have become an "old timer" telling stories of my past to
those I can snag to listen. I do believe in taking time to "smell the
roses."
Warm regards,
Bonnie Staffel
http://pws.chartermi.net/~bstaffel/default.html
http://www.vasefinder.com/
Potters Council member
Kathy Forer on sun 11 jul 04
Many of us do too many things that aren't priorities yet have to work
like machines at these seemingly unchosen endeavors.
I'm not sure if it's a rationalization but I realized this year that
the best way to survive this "other stuff" is to make the most of it --
do whatever it is 'well and wholeheartedly'. It's far better than
struggling and the negative energy saved can better channel positively
into what I love to do, whatever that is.
Kathy Forer
Locust, NJ
www.kforer.com
Eleanora Eden on fri 16 jul 04
I had the great good fortune to work in a clay studio at UC Berkeley where,
although Pete Voulkos was never there, the TA, Patrick Siler, was there
working every waking hour, week in and week out. He was my model for
enthusiasm and dedication to getting in there, staying in there, moving
diligently from one enterprise to the next. It is a privilege to work hard
at something that matters to you.
Sometimes when talking to people in my booth at fairs I will suddenly
notice that I am talking to somebody who "gets it", who understands the
dynamic of being really devoted to a craft and enthusiastic about every
aspect of that. Either people understand giving 110% or they don't.
I took from Tony's story the contentment of a situation where nobody is
demanding something they are not willing to give themselves. Pulling as a
team has its own rewards.
None of us is one-faceted.....we all have other stuff we do when there is
the opportunity. One of the great aspects of doing clay for a living is
that there are so many different tasks, there is always one that fits the
temperament of the moment.
Eleanora......getting ready to leave for Ann Arbor.....just spent the day
working in the vegetable garden........peaceful and great smells......
eleanoraeden.com
clennell on thu 24 feb 05
I am absolutely thrilled to see ole Mel on fire about this iron saturated
glaze project. I hope I am as thrilled at his age. And then I get word that
David is firing his woodie twice in 9 days. Work ethic- something ya just
can't teach.
Neither Mel or David have to keep the banker at bay, so what is it that
makes them work so hard? Love-ight-ess got a hold on me.
Looking forward to seeing both of their goofy faces in Baltimore . I think
I'll sneak up on Joyce and give her a hickee!
Cheers,
Tony
Tony and Sheila Clennell
Sour Cherry Pottery
4545 King Street
Beamsville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 1B1
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com
http://www.sourcherrypottery.com/current_news/news_letter.html
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