Dayton Grant on mon 11 feb 08
Yeah , so, I could have probably been 'cooler' about my assertions but I =
didnt say anything that wasnt true, I dont mean to bark and snarl at the ev=
eryday ordinary 'studio-potter', as a matter of fact thats who Im most conc=
erned about, remember how I first introduced myself (about ten years ago) t=
o this list?, I was like "Hi, my name is Dayton, I wanna be in the clayart =
club",or something like that, not an angry bone in my body, that was becaus=
e I accidentally came across the archives of clayart while looking for othe=
r peoples ceramic work to view, and I found a lively and reasonably well in=
formed discussion taking place, and I wanted to be a part of it, I was alre=
ady a student of Michael Frimkess and I was just beginning to interact with=
other potters,up until that time I only knew the potters in Venice Beach C=
alifornia, about five at the most, Mike was trying to get me ready to meet =
'all' the other potters, and telling me about the 'social politics' of the =
studio pottery world. He actually told me (when it became clear that my thr=
owing skill was on a level near his own) that alot of pro potters would 'ha=
te on me', he said I was like the 'Mike Tyson' of pottery, no style, no cla=
ss, kickin' everybody's ass, he said no matter how impressive my skill was,=
they would never consider me 'legitimate', until I could recite the Histor=
y of world ceramics and offer articulate opinions about the work of my cont=
emporaries, well, its an ongoing process, because history moves on, even as=
you become part of it, and my opinions of our contemporaries, change all t=
he time as I am made aware of their movements, and he 'also' told me that I=
may encounter an element of the ceramic community that is fiercely competi=
tive while being hopelessly unskilled like a 'Cain and Abel' type thing, w=
ell at first I didnt even believe him. Would my 'reasonable adult' brothers=
and sisters deliberately 'subvert ' the work of our ('supposed') common go=
al out of 'financial competition' or 'professional jealousy'?.....Yep, they=
sure would, welcome to the 'machine'. I just got an apartment, just now in=
2008 for the first time since I got out of the Navy, Ive been basically ho=
meless, living with my mother ,girlfriends, my ex wife, cars and vans, but =
Ive been practicing my skills and studying the ceramic arts the whole time,=
I started in 1991 when I was honorably discharged from the Navy early due =
to leg injuries sustained on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier and two=
minor surgeries that failed to restore the full 'sexiness' of my 'powerful=
shapely' legs( Im mostly allright I just cant stand or walk for long perio=
ds of time or run, but I just take my 'bike' everywhere like a wheelchair s=
o you would never even know unless I told you) . Boo Hoo,right, well, Im no=
t bitchin, Im just tellin you, so you can know where I'm comin from, so the=
more established guys in my neighborhood were trying to find something for=
me to 'do',after my tough luck, so after a few odd jobs and adventures, I =
ended up assisting Bill Attaway, (an established ceramic artist in Venice),=
they said I was a 'natural' with the clay, and so they called the Main Man=
(Mike), to check me out and after a short talk we established that he knew=
my parents from the neighborhood and that we were both cerebral jazz music=
ians with grass roots humanitarian inclinations and that was it, I was acce=
pted as his apprentice.I joined the Clayhouse communal pottery in Santa Mon=
ica, I was notified after a short time that my membership would not be rene=
wed , when I asked why, I was told that I was obviously at a 'professional'=
level and that I didnt really 'fit in' with their idea of a 'student' (I h=
ad only been throwing for a couple of months but they didnt 'believe' me th=
ey thought I was lying just so I could use their kilns) ,so I went to 'anot=
her' public studio and I ran into various characters like this Korean guy w=
ho had a 'major' chip on his shoulder, he was 'so' full of himself, bossing=
the other students around and needlessly correcting their every move, he t=
ried to tell me 'matter of factly' that I was doing it 'wrong' (and he hadn=
t even seen me throw yet), that my clay was way too hard and whoever taught=
me must not be too good, the girl that was with him said candidly "Why don=
t you guys have a contest?"so we each weighed out 5lbs. of clay and I threw=
mine almost 'twice' as high as his, and he was pissed, his friend was laug=
hing her ass of (everyone was) and so he changes the subject and says that =
the very first pottery was found in Korea and I just 'happened' to have 'th=
e' book with me (Mike's book) and I opened it to the page that says that Ko=
rea had the first 'porcelain', but the very first glazed 'pottery' was foun=
d on the 'African' continent, he became enraged and walked over to me seeth=
ing and said "Oh yeah, Im a Fkn Black Belt, what do you know about that,huh=
?,stand up!", the whole room stopped laughing and became silent, and I did =
too, I looked down at my wheel and I did not stand up, after a few seconds =
he 'unpuffed' and walked back over to his wheel and the rest of the day was=
somber for everyone, several months later (the place eventually closed), I=
signed up for a pottery class at Santa Monica College with Bruce Tomkinson=
, and 'guess who' was the Teacher's Assistant, yup, the Korean dude, but my=
younger brother Freemont was with me on the first day (he was just hangin =
around, he was'nt enrolled) and he's incidentally 'also' a Black Belt, so =
I told my little brother that the dude had threatened me a couple of months=
ago, and he went a little overboard in protecting me, he says real loud to=
the whole room, "My brother is going to do a demonstration for you guys, i=
s that ok with everyone?"(while staring right at the Korean dude), so the T=
eacher said "Sure, go ahead,were all here to share", so I pulled out my 'ig=
ote' (Japanese throwing sticks) and threw a small ginger jar lid off the hu=
mp with no water, and then I used the rest of the clay to throw the jar its=
elf, and then I put the lid on the jar before cutting the complete unit off=
the wheel all at once, they all crowded around me chatting and I felt 'so'=
cool, it was great, then I look over at the Korean dude and hes talking in=
the teachers ear and they're staring at me and he just leaves the room. Th=
e next day, I go to get my throwing sticks out of my locker, and someone ha=
s put a 'second' lock on my locker, the teacher says that there must be som=
e mistake and that I should wait for a day or two to see if the thing gets =
taken off by the person who put it there, so I come back in a couple of day=
s and I have school security cut the lock off , my tools were gone and the =
locker was full of 'seaweed', and guess who was standing right next to the =
teacher laughing out loud,... yup,and the teacher seemed to know it was him=
, 'everyone' did, he was the only one that thought it was funny. and its pr=
etty much been like that off and on for fifteen years, I was told (by MIke)=
that I should 'warn' people that they are going to see something they may =
not have seen before, so they dont 'freak' when they see it. Just a couple =
years ago here in Berkeley, I was a member of the Potters Studio, and I alr=
eady 'know' how potters can 'be', so I would only work at night so as not t=
o threaten anyones 'status',or whatever, so anyway this 'member' comes in a=
t midnight while I'm China Painting a 'nude' on the side of a big Ginger Ja=
r,and she says ,"Hey, nice painting, those tits look almost like mine", and=
she lifts up her shirt to show me, well Im not made out of stone and I was=
too tired to fight about it , so anyway I (willingly and,enthusiastically)=
played my 'part' for a while, well, it did'nt last long, we did'nt see eac=
h other for awhile and one day I was giving a lesson to a student and this =
'bat-shit-crazy' chick screams really loud "Stop 'looking' at me", Neither =
I nor the people I was sitting with even knew she was talking to me until w=
e looked up, until then, we did'nt even know she was in the room, so she st=
orms off, and my friend says "Do you 'know' her?", I said "Yeah , kinda.", =
my friend says, "Wow, she looks 'totally' dangerous, you should avoid her",=
I was like,"Yep, I think you're right ", Another episode (the reason I sta=
rted working nights), same place, I was throwing small things off the hump=
with sticks, harmless, right? The 'main' teacher was giving a class and th=
e students were kinda checking me out and then one of them says,"Hey, teach=
us how to do what 'he's' doing", the teacher goes into this speech about h=
ow I'm not using the same kind of clay and how its not really worth learnin=
g,blah blah blah ,and basically 'lies' to the whole room for five minutes, =
and then after the students leave, he tells me I cant throw in front of 'an=
y' of the students anymore ever, because its threatening his 'income',and I=
realized that he would rather keep all of his students in the 'dark' (like=
some broke ass pottery pimp) about the methods available to them, than to =
risk losing them to a more skilled teacher, he does'nt 'care' about their e=
ducation he cares about his little 'money', and Ive run into several 'other=
' teachers like that, for instance, I was at a place and I asked them if I =
could maybe teach a class in exchange for my membership fee and they said "=
Well, we have to see if you're any good", but I already know people 'freak'=
when they see me work, so I played 'possum' and I threw some very modest p=
ots with water and wet clay and everything and they said "Sure, when we do =
the next schedule, you can teach a class, so I was jazzed , I 'finally' get=
to teach a 'class' after all these years , so the time was coming and I ha=
d taken one of the other teachers into my confidence, a young Chinese guy w=
ho was 'trained by Masters in Japan', or whatever, so I told him that I pos=
sessed an ancient method that surpasses anything in the public knowledge, a=
nd he asked me why I would not show him if it was so great, and I explained=
that whenever I show the method, people freak and exclude me from the grou=
p because they think I'm going to 'steal' their students.He assured me tha=
t he would probably not even be impressed, because he had already seen the =
'Masters' in Japan, and he seriously doubts that I could show him anything =
he has'nt already seen in his 'worldly' travels....so I showed him, and I c=
ould 'tell' by his facial expression when I looked up from the wheel, I sho=
uld'nt have showed him, he asked for some of my hard clay and tried to wedg=
e it, he wrestled around with it for a few minutes, and it just didnt happe=
n for him, he was 'visibly' annoyed, 'he' was the 'advanced' teacher and 'I=
' was to be the 'beginning' teacher, it did'nt bother 'me' at all, I just w=
anted to work off my membership fees, but just like clockwork, he 'forgot' =
to include me as a teacher in the next round of classes, "Maybe next year",=
he said.=20
> I've really been just kind of doing the work I 'agreed' to do as part of =
my apprenticeship, I agreed to make the highest level skill available to th=
e people who really need it and appreciate it, I was told very clearly at t=
he beginning that most ceramic artists 'don't' need or appreciate it, I jus=
t had to go out into the field and find out for myself 'who' was 'who' and =
now I think I have a pretty good idea, so now I consider that Ive fulfilled=
my obligation in that respect, anybody who wants to, knows where to get in=
touch with me, so other than that 'good luck'. =20
> And with respect to firing technology, I hate to say, but you guys aint r=
eady, the whole field seems to be dominated by a financial pecking order, p=
rogressive innovation is discouraged or hoarded, its like trying to sell an=
electric car to the oil company, they held it up as long as possible, the =
ecology be damned.=20
> We have thermodynamic technology that would 'burn' your little minds, but=
most of you don't even want to know how to 'throw' properly so....maybe ne=
xt year. =20
> You see my fellow Clayarters, I 'have' paid some dues, I 'know' the hist=
ory of pottery, I 'pay attention' to what my contemporaries are doing. And =
the most difficult obstacles I have ever run into so far have been my own s=
o called 'colleagues'. So in closing this chapter of my difficult pottery p=
ast I would like to say some 'positive' things now that I feel more optimis=
tic, Laney College in Oakland (and community college in general) is the bes=
t ceramic school that I know of, the Facility, the Faculty and the Friends,=
you don't have to be 'rich' or 'pretty' to get in, and there seems to be m=
ore of a spirit of 'community' than any 'private' program, by far my favori=
te ceramic scene in California.I have my own place now, so I don't really '=
need' a school but like to visit community colleges just because I like the=
vibe.
> So the only reason I wrote 'this' was because the last thing I wrote was=
so damn 'bitter' and now that Ive tried to smooth it over (so I don't seem=
permanently pissed off) Im going to climb back up into my tree and I proba=
bly wont bother you guys anymore...............for awhile,
> I am Rumplestiltskin hahahahahaa =20
> =20
> _________________________________________________________________
> Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we g=
ive.
> http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=3Dtext_hotmail_join
_________________________________________________________________
Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser!
http://biggestloser.msn.com/=
Tim See on tue 12 feb 08
I have just went through some of your other posts and attempted to find any other information so
I can gain a better understanding of your situation. After going over what I could find I am not
sure what to say but something has to come out so I don't explode and make a big mess. Dayton I
can be pretty pompous as a teacher and was as a student. I thought I knew as much as the people
teaching me well some of them, but as I learned I found I did not know more. I just didn't know
what I didn't know. I have found proclaiming oneself to be a master or expert or any name or title
can leave a sour taste to the people listening. To Proclaim such things in an open forum such as
Clayart could be seen by some as career suicide. Who would hire someone with such an attitude. I
think you could take some time and evaluate how people perceive you and adjust what and how
you post in open forums. I would also suggest that if you are to claim this in the future that you
have something to watch or see to make us believe other than saying so. I know you could
imagine that many of us would be hard to impress much like the others in your writing.
You also need to consider what throwing is. It is only a skill like painting or singing. How you are
judged has nothing to do with how fast you paint or how loud you sing but more on how great the
paint and how wonderful the sound. Pottery is not a performance art, though some are wonderful
to watch, it is a craft and in the end there needs to be an object. Big or small, crusty or smooth
you are judged on the finished piece.
If you have or when you do post a video on Youtube let me know I would thrilled to see a
throwing style I haven't seen yet. Well I feel less explody, Dayton I say this all in a helpful way in
hopes that you might see how important how and what you say is here. It is here and on yahoo
and I am sure someplace else forever.
Tim See
Tony Ferguson on tue 12 feb 08
Wow, Dayton, you will forever be known as the karate kid of clay in my mind. I'm in the middle of writing scripts and if this is ever the hero's journey in play I don't know what is. It also reminds me that we all have a story to tell and yours is quite a story. I can tell you are angry and welcome to the world of the insider and the outsider, and what apparently is unfair.
You hit every nail on the head that I can think of mostly. You say it like it is and it may come off abrasive but your angry and frustrated about the big picture that you are recognizing and I get that. In the East they tell us that we are responsible for everything that happens to us mostly. It's easy to get lost in the whole past lives who did what to who and now being repaid--but it makes sense to me at least. I try to think that way when I feel down-whether or not its true-it help me think more about the cause and effect relationships I have and remind myself I am responsible for my situation-now how am I going to change it.
Understand, and I read that you do, that not all potters, academics, etc. are like what you've been dealing with. There are groups within groups like any medium, corporate, non-profit, pick your sector, there are unkind people and there are kind people the whole world over.
My last email to you was to keep moving forward and moving on-you don't want to be working with people who treat you that way and you don't want to be where you're not wanted-its a terrible feeling but I've come to realize the peter principal is more powerful than you and me and if people can not recognize what you have to offer, then move on--the best way to make change is to change one's self. I have plenty of my own stories to tell so I can relate to you. Sure there is some arrogance in your words but I was as many are arrogant too and have had life to humble me-repeatedly, so what I hope to pass on to you is not meant to be condescending in anyway.
1. you catch more flies with honey.
2. let the anger motivate and then disintegrate.
3. break your letters into paragraphs 8-)
If I was in an MFA program, I would be recruiting you. If I was in a position to offer you an apprenticeship, I would. You would add a dynamic and flavor to the studio that I would welcome and would be a benefit to all because you are real person not afraid to express himself and not afraid to work. You are motivated by personal hardship-and from this you can become a greater human being. It sounds like you just need to find the right place for yourself (aren't many of us still looking for that?). Drop me a line. When I wood fire again (don't know when) you are welcome to join. I am in a bit of a mid-life crisis at 38 about what I want to do with my life.
That said, I need to take you to task on a few things:
"And with respect to firing technology, I hate to say, but you guys aint ready, the whole field seems to be dominated by a financial pecking order, progressive innovation is discouraged or hoarded, its like trying to sell an electric car to the oil company, they held it up as long as possible, the ecology be damned."
I would have to disagree with you on this one. You got to watch your generalizing. The use of technology has nothing to do with financial pecking order in our very very small pottery world-it has to do with what we have access to, personal aesthetics, and costs-and there are many people who are pushing the limits of firing technology. If you want to talk ecology, there are better trees to bark at then the pottery community in terms of our very minor contribution to affecting the environment-vehicles, industry, the food industry. Personally the place to start is what people put in their mouths and how that affects the environment.
"We have thermodynamic technology that would 'burn' your little minds, but most of you don't even want to know how to 'throw' properly so....maybe next year. "
There are little minds everywhere but I would say there are some pretty big minds contributing to clay art and the whole spectrum of know-how, experience and everything in between-and everyone's valuable and there's plenty to go around. Demeaning any of us by entirely generalizing is, well, not so smart and I'm going to chalk it up as you're young and idealistic like I was, and in some ways, still am.
Anyway, to be able to apply thermodynamics in pottery, I would love to hear your cost effective methodology and implementation plan? This is me being a smart ass. I mean we can split atoms Dayton to generate heat to heat our kiln, right? But is it practical at least right now? Really, I am all ears on that cuz its got to be up there with my personal thinking that if everyone was vegetarian in the world we could end starvation, reduce immensely the enhanced greenhouse effect on the earth (cow methane, graze land, burning, the whole machine), the world would be a kinder gentler "ahisma" place. (do no harm).
"You see my fellow Clayarters, I 'have' paid some dues, I 'know' the history of pottery, I 'pay attention' to what my contemporaries are doing. And the most difficult obstacles I have ever run into so far have been my own so called 'colleagues'."
Hey Dayton, I am still paying my dues and so is every other hard working artist in any medium I know, not just pottery. If you wanted to find one of the hardest fields to make a living, find your own path, and receive little if any appreciation or understanding for what you do except by other potters or collectors, you've found it. You will never be at the podium for the academy awards of pottery. There just isn't a social understanding of where things come from, how they are made and most people could give a rats ass about it other than if its brand name (laughable in our world) or matches the carpet sample-but as artists we know the value of it-personal growth. It's got to be about you-that is the best work that stands out-its not about history (even though it may have a place in it depending on who writes it) its not about acclaim (there is not much support for what we do on every level) and its certainly not about profit-you are essentially on your own but you
don't have to be if you don't want to be as there are many friendly hands out there. It is about a lifestyle commitment to an understanding most of us develop-its about the process, our individual and collective stories.
We may want something to look a certain way, but it is usually the journey to get there where any of us in clay can appreciate and value because we all are paying those dues together. Sure some are silver surfers-they are easy to spot-but so what, they make their contribution to as do those climbing out of hell who share and breath a new life into work that inspires and motivates people. We are all valuable with our idiosyncrasies, obtuseness, creativity, intelligence, and idealisms, regardless of race, class, socio-economic status, etc. I don't know of any other medium in the world that has the diversity of people, their situations, background, upbringing, etc. that unite as clay people because of our appreciation for what we all go through to make something from nothing and burn it. It's alchemy my friend. It's magic. It's science and its Art. It's a metaphor for creation. The process inherently regardless of any of our situations offers us a look at ourselves,
what we are made of as we make and its value is the looking glass of self and our cultures.
There is no such thing as easy street brother and when you think you got a good thing going, there is always something to come along and change it. My father said change is given. Nothing else. So you can roll with it, or you can feel sorry for yourself. I do both and as I get older and hopefully wiser, I do more rolling then sorry'ing. My wife would emphasize the "roll" part-so I need to get more exercise but as much as I could complain about life at 38 with 4 kids and a saint of a wife and a neck injury from a car accident that still hurts me weekly, unemployed for the most part, we're ok. Not great, not outstanding, we're ok cuz there's people way worse off then us in the world. We've got food, a place that isn't ours but over our head, our children our happy, top of their class, and we got ideas we are putting into play. I've got a sometimes shared studio if I need to work, a kiln and really professional photo and video equipment and software for the first time
in my life and valuable knowledge. Now, what I do with it will further define me. What you do with your skills will define you. Find the people you feel-and feel you can learn from. There's a huge wide world of opportunity for you. Change is given. Make the best work you can make whatever medium you work in-and if your lucky or earned, it will support you. And if it doesn't, your creativity isn't just reserved to working with clay-it is an approach, it is a methodology of problems solving. You will find your way and always remember: attitude affects latitude.
Tony Ferguson
Dayton Grant wrote:
Yeah , so, I could have probably been 'cooler' about my assertions but I didnt say anything that wasnt true, I dont mean to bark and snarl at the everyday ordinary 'studio-potter', as a matter of fact thats who Im most concerned about, remember how I first introduced myself (about ten years ago) to this list?, I was like "Hi, my name is Dayton, I wanna be in the clayart club",or something like that, not an angry bone in my body, that was because I accidentally came across the archives of clayart while looking for other peoples ceramic work to view, and I found a lively and reasonably well informed discussion taking place, and I wanted to be a part of it, I was already a student of Michael Frimkess and I was just beginning to interact with other potters,up until that time I only knew the potters in Venice Beach California, about five at the most, Mike was trying to get me ready to meet 'all' the other potters, and telling me about the 'social politics' of the studio
pottery world. He actually told me (when it became clear that my throwing skill was on a level near his own) that alot of pro potters would 'hate on me', he said I was like the 'Mike Tyson' of pottery, no style, no class, kickin' everybody's ass, he said no matter how impressive my skill was, they would never consider me 'legitimate', until I could recite the History of world ceramics and offer articulate opinions about the work of my contemporaries, well, its an ongoing process, because history moves on, even as you become part of it, and my opinions of our contemporaries, change all the time as I am made aware of their movements, and he 'also' told me that I may encounter an element of the ceramic community that is fiercely competitive while being hopelessly unskilled like a 'Cain and Abel' type thing, well at first I didnt even believe him. Would my 'reasonable adult' brothers and sisters deliberately 'subvert ' the work of our ('supposed') common goal out of 'financial
competition' or 'professional jealousy'?.....Yep, they sure would, welcome to the 'machine'. I just got an apartment, just now in 2008 for the first time since I got out of the Navy, Ive been basically homeless, living with my mother ,girlfriends, my ex wife, cars and vans, but Ive been practicing my skills and studying the ceramic arts the whole time, I started in 1991 when I was honorably discharged from the Navy early due to leg injuries sustained on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier and two minor surgeries that failed to restore the full 'sexiness' of my 'powerful shapely' legs( Im mostly allright I just cant stand or walk for long periods of time or run, but I just take my 'bike' everywhere like a wheelchair so you would never even know unless I told you) . Boo Hoo,right, well, Im not bitchin, Im just tellin you, so you can know where I'm comin from, so the more established guys in my neighborhood were trying to find something for me to 'do',after my tough luck,
so after a few odd jobs and adventures, I ended up assisting Bill Attaway, (an established ceramic artist in Venice), they said I was a 'natural' with the clay, and so they called the Main Man (Mike), to check me out and after a short talk we established that he knew my parents from the neighborhood and that we were both cerebral jazz musicians with grass roots humanitarian inclinations and that was it, I was accepted as his apprentice.I joined the Clayhouse communal pottery in Santa Monica, I was notified after a short time that my membership would not be renewed , when I asked why, I was told that I was obviously at a 'professional' level and that I didnt really 'fit in' with their idea of a 'student' (I had only been throwing for a couple of months but they didnt 'believe' me they thought I was lying just so I could use their kilns) ,so I went to 'another' public studio and I ran into various characters like this Korean guy who had a 'major' chip on his shoulder, he was
'so' full of himself, bossing the other students around and needlessly correcting their every move, he tried to tell me 'matter of factly' that I was doing it 'wrong' (and he hadnt even seen me throw yet), that my clay was way too hard and whoever taught me must not be too good, the girl that was with him said candidly "Why dont you guys have a contest?"so we each weighed out 5lbs. of clay and I threw mine almost 'twice' as high as his, and he was pissed, his friend was laughing her ass of (everyone was) and so he changes the subject and says that the very first pottery was found in Korea and I just 'happened' to have 'the' book with me (Mike's book) and I opened it to the page that says that Korea had the first 'porcelain', but the very first glazed 'pottery' was found on the 'African' continent, he became enraged and walked over to me seething and said "Oh yeah, Im a Fkn Black Belt, what do you know about that,huh?,stand up!", the whole room stopped laughing and became
silent, and I did too, I looked down at my wheel and I did not stand up, after a few seconds he 'unpuffed' and walked back over to his wheel and the rest of the day was somber for everyone, several months later (the place eventually closed), I signed up for a pottery class at Santa Monica College with Bruce Tomkinson, and 'guess who' was the Teacher's Assistant, yup, the Korean dude, but my younger brother Freemont was with me on the first day (he was just hangin around, he was'nt enrolled) and he's incidentally 'also' a Black Belt, so I told my little brother that the dude had threatened me a couple of months ago, and he went a little overboard in protecting me, he says real loud to the whole room, "My brother is going to do a demonstration for you guys, is that ok with everyone?"(while staring right at the Korean dude), so the Teacher said "Sure, go ahead,were all here to share", so I pulled out my 'igote' (Japanese throwing sticks) and threw a small ginger jar lid off
the hump with no water, and then I used the rest of the clay to throw the jar itself, and then I put the lid on the jar before cutting the complete unit off the wheel all at once, they all crowded around me chatting and I felt 'so' cool, it was great, then I look over at the Korean dude and hes talking in the teachers ear and they're staring at me and he just leaves the room. The next day, I go to get my throwing sticks out of my locker, and someone has put a 'second' lock on my locker, the teacher says that there must be some mistake and that I should wait for a day or two to see if the thing gets taken off by the person who put it there, so I come back in a couple of days and I have school security cut the lock off , my tools were gone and the locker was full of 'seaweed', and guess who was standing right next to the teacher laughing out loud,... yup,and the teacher seemed to know it was him, 'everyone' did, he was the only one that thought it was funny. and its pretty
much been like that off and on for fifteen years, I was told (by MIke) that I should 'warn' people that they are going to see something they may not have seen before, so they dont 'freak' when they see it. Just a couple years ago here in Berkeley, I was a member of the Potters Studio, and I already 'know' how potters can 'be', so I would only work at night so as not to threaten anyones 'status',or whatever, so anyway this 'member' comes in at midnight while I'm China Painting a 'nude' on the side of a big Ginger Jar,and she says ,"Hey, nice painting, those tits look almost like mine", and she lifts up her shirt to show me, well Im not made out of stone and I was too tired to fight about it , so anyway I (willingly and,enthusiastically) played my 'part' for a while, well, it did'nt last long, we did'nt see each other for awhile and one day I was giving a lesson to a student and this 'bat-shit-crazy' chick screams really loud "Stop 'looking' at me", Neither I nor the people
I was sitting with even knew she was talking to me until we looked up, until then, we did'nt even know she was in the room, so she storms off, and my friend says "Do you 'know' her?", I said "Yeah , kinda.", my friend says, "Wow, she looks 'totally' dangerous, you should avoid her", I was like,"Yep, I think you're right ", Another episode (the reason I started working nights), same place, I was throwing small things off the hump with sticks, harmless, right? The 'main' teacher was giving a class and the students were kinda checking me out and then one of them says,"Hey, teach us how to do what 'he's' doing", the teacher goes into this speech about how I'm not using the same kind of clay and how its not really worth learning,blah blah blah ,and basically 'lies' to the whole room for five minutes, and then after the students leave, he tells me I cant throw in front of 'any' of the students anymore ever, because its threatening his 'income',and I realized that he would rather
keep all of his students in the 'dark' (like some broke ass pottery pimp) about the methods available to them, than to risk losing them to a more skilled teacher, he does'nt 'care' about their education he cares about his little 'money', and Ive run into several 'other' teachers like that, for instance, I was at a place and I asked them if I could maybe teach a class in exchange for my membership fee and they said "Well, we have to see if you're any good", but I already know people 'freak' when they see me work, so I played 'possum' and I threw some very modest pots with water and wet clay and everything and they said "Sure, when we do the next schedule, you can teach a class, so I was jazzed , I 'finally' get to teach a 'class' after all these years , so the time was coming and I had taken one of the other teachers into my confidence, a young Chinese guy who was 'trained by Masters in Japan', or whatever, so I told him that I possessed an ancient method that surpasses
anything in the public knowledge, and he asked me why I would not show him if it was so great, and I explained that whenever I show the method, people freak and exclude me from the group because they think I'm going to 'steal' their students.He assured me that he would probably not even be impressed, because he had already seen the 'Masters' in Japan, and he seriously doubts that I could show him anything he has'nt already seen in his 'worldly' travels....so I showed him, and I could 'tell' by his facial expression when I looked up from the wheel, I should'nt have showed him, he asked for some of my hard clay and tried to wedge it, he wrestled around with it for a few minutes, and it just didnt happen for him, he was 'visibly' annoyed, 'he' was the 'advanced' teacher and 'I' was to be the 'beginning' teacher, it did'nt bother 'me' at all, I just wanted to work off my membership fees, but just like clockwork, he 'forgot' to include me as a teacher in the next round of
classes, "Maybe next year", he said.
> I've really been just kind of doing the work I 'agreed' to do as part of my apprenticeship, I agreed to make the highest level skill available to the people who really need it and appreciate it, I was told very clearly at the beginning that most ceramic artists 'don't' need or appreciate it, I just had to go out into the field and find out for myself 'who' was 'who' and now I think I have a pretty good idea, so now I consider that Ive fulfilled my obligation in that respect, anybody who wants to, knows where to get in touch with me, so other than that 'good luck'.
> And with respect to firing technology, I hate to say, but you guys aint ready, the whole field seems to be dominated by a financial pecking order, progressive innovation is discouraged or hoarded, its like trying to sell an electric car to the oil company, they held it up as long as possible, the ecology be damned.
> We have thermodynamic technology that would 'burn' your little minds, but most of you don't even want to know how to 'throw' properly so....maybe next year.
> You see my fellow Clayarters, I 'have' paid some dues, I 'know' the history of pottery, I 'pay attention' to what my contemporaries are doing. And the most difficult obstacles I have ever run into so far have been my own so called 'colleagues'. So in closing this chapter of my difficult pottery past I would like to say some 'positive' things now that I feel more optimistic, Laney College in Oakland (and community college in general) is the best ceramic school that I know of, the Facility, the Faculty and the Friends, you don't have to be 'rich' or 'pretty' to get in, and there seems to be more of a spirit of 'community' than any 'private' program, by far my favorite ceramic scene in California.I have my own place now, so I don't really 'need' a school but like to visit community colleges just because I like the vibe.
> So the only reason I wrote 'this' was because the last thing I wrote was so damn 'bitter' and now that Ive tried to smooth it over (so I don't seem permanently pissed off) Im going to climb back up into my tree and I probably wont bother you guys anymore...............for awhile,
> I am Rumplestiltskin hahahahahaa
>
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