mel jacobson on tue 13 nov 07
a funny side bar story.
that post made me think about it.
i sure do not know if that is a legit post or not...but
it sure reminds me of funny thoughts.
sharlene was teaching a local calligraphy course...she
is a good teacher...very picky about doing things right.
craft, skill, practice til perfect and, never miss a class in the
ten week course....as you will miss out...big time..
a lady waltzed into her opening night class and said..`i can only take
this course just this one night...will you show me how
to do calligraphy quick...i want to come out with a
card line.` she was serious.
she sat there for an hour, said she had it all figured out
and left.
so be it. we never saw the card line.
sharlene has been doing quality calligraphy for 30 years
and would never even think about a `card line`..though she
could, and it would be very nice. far too many competing
for the same venue. it would be a waste of time.
but, many of us that teach craft have seen it, been through it.
`teach me quick...i want to know everything tonight.`
common disaster...then buy 10,000 bucks in tools and materials.
crazy.
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
WJ Seidl on tue 13 nov 07
And now, for the other side of that story...
I love people like Sharlene's "student".
For us, they're realtors. Have to get an apartment or house "ready to
show".
They want it all, just once. They pay up front, never argue about the
price, you see them once and never again.
Chances are, they never go back and check to see what you've done,
either. Too busy.
Secure in the knowledge that they've hired a "professional", they give
you the keys and go.
Keeps us in business, has for 20 years.
It would be so easy to screw people like that, but we never do. It's
called being a good businessperson.
Word gets around.
Best,
Wayne Seidl
mel jacobson wrote:
> a funny side bar story.
> that post made me think about it.
>
> i sure do not know if that is a legit post or not...but
> it sure reminds me of funny thoughts.
>
> sharlene was teaching a local calligraphy course...she
> is a good teacher...very picky about doing things right.
> craft, skill, practice til perfect and, never miss a class in the
> ten week course....as you will miss out...big time..
>
> a lady waltzed into her opening night class and said..`i can only take
> this course just this one night...will you show me how
> to do calligraphy quick...i want to come out with a
> card line.` she was serious.
>
> she sat there for an hour, said she had it all figured out
> and left.
> so be it. we never saw the card line.
>
> sharlene has been doing quality calligraphy for 30 years
> and would never even think about a `card line`..though she
> could, and it would be very nice. far too many competing
> for the same venue. it would be a waste of time.
>
> but, many of us that teach craft have seen it, been through it.
> `teach me quick...i want to know everything tonight.`
> common disaster...then buy 10,000 bucks in tools and materials.
> crazy.
>
>
>
>
> from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
> website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
>
> Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
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>
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>
Jim Willett on wed 14 nov 07
Mel,
Probably everyone out there has a story similar but here's one of ours.
Cindy took a phone call from an arts student who was working on her
portfolio. She said she wanted a few lessons in pottery since she thought
it would look good on her resume. She said she had two weeks before it was
due. Cindy siad that was not really time and then she asked the real
kicker. I want to make some of those great big vases. How long would it
take to make one of those? Cindy's reply was something to the effect
of "thirty years", so then the student had the nerve to ask if Cindy could
just make one, let her participate and sign it and get some pictures!
Umm...can't repeat the rest of the conversation but heedless to say we
never got to meet her in person.
Jim Willett
Out of the Fire Studio
Lee Love on wed 14 nov 07
$B!!!!!!!!!! (BOne of the first vessels I made was about a 3 foot tall vase in
my first handbuilding class. I burnished it with RIOx and then
scraffitoed fish designs on it. I use fish desgins on my pots to
this day. I coil built it using a lazy susan I found at the
Salvation Army (the lazy susan was some kind of mosaic tile project.)
I also hand built a lifesize Hawaiian shirt with fish
designs on it in my first clay class. An aide to Paul Wellstone
saw it at the State Fair and was interested in having it as "Minnesota
Art" in his office they were opening in D.C. Funding never came
through to do it.
Never assume a student is going to be as slow to learn as
the teacher. ;^)
--
Lee in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
"Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by
education." -- Bertrand Russell
Jim Willett on wed 14 nov 07
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:56:09 +0900, Lee Love wrote:
> $B!!!!!!!!!! (BOne of the first vessels I made was about a 3 foot tall
vase in
>my first handbuilding class. ...........(SNIP)
>
> Never assume a student is going to be as slow to learn as
>the teacher. ;^)
>
>--
>Lee in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
>
Lee,
This of course is where we could choose to misinterpret your remarks, take
serious offence, fly off the handle and have a p***ing match for a few
days but we won't. In the interest of brevity much of the detail was left
out of the little story about the arts student. Here are a few of those
details:
The University arts student(who was not OUR student) had never touched
clay (the University does not have a ceramics program) and had no real
interest in it other than to "pad" her portfolio. She wanted to use our
studio to throw a series of two to three foot floor vases,(she was not
interested in hand building)have them glazed and fired and photographed in
two weeks, and then walk away and have nothing more to do with clay.It was
strictly to raise her profile. She had no concept of the process and when
Cindy tried to explain it to her asked "how hard can it be?".
The thirty years comment came about as a reference to another funny story
we had heard. A young blues player who was technically brilliant but
lacking in experience was asking the old blues man for criticism. The old
man said there's nothing wrong with your playing that "thirty years on the
road won't fix".Cindy was trying to convey the lifestyle idea to the
student that in our opinion most people who get involved enough in the
field to learn to throw large pieces and build series of things get there
through a journey which is reflected in their art.Even if the student had
been brilliantly gifted and able to learn throwing in a day and
constructing the day after and all the firing and glazing techniques the
day after that, her work could not reflect the "feel" of pieces made by
someone who had lived and loved the lifestyle for years. (And of course
here we overlap with the discussions that have been going on about art and
we'll stay out of that one.)
Jim Willett and Cindy Clarke
Out of the Fire Studio
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
http://www.outofthefirestudio.com
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