mel jacobson on tue 1 apr 08
it is an old debate. full of personal choices.
it all depends.
to start your own studio takes a great deal of courage.
to be an apprentice takes more courage.
an mfa means you got in, and will plod your way through it.
at least i have done them all, and have a bit of
in-site.
going to japan and being a full time apprentice was the
most difficult thing i have ever done. it was really hard.
i have told the stories.
i was frustrated, often. but, i learned to throw by the hundreds
a day. could measure clay to the 1/16". i could make a set of
a thousand. it is what i wanted. i did thousands of handles.
the shows and the semi-glory was the bonus.
at least i went to japan after i had built and maintained a studio
for some time. i was really self trained. (six credits of ceramics
at the univeristy...warren.)
did not have to be, but i am very committed to being self sufficient
and did not believe i could crawl on some potters back and find
my way. i just did it. had two books, rhodes and leach.
kurt gave me a glaze note book he had from river falls.
did not use one glaze from that list.
still have it.
built a flat top kiln in my garage. had never seen a soft brick,
or a box kiln. just made it from a plan from jim mckinnell in iowa.
worked like a charm...still does...my flue was 32 sq inches. lucky
or smart? don't know.
i basically used one glaze. rhodes 32.
some of the old leach 1234...and that was it.
added another dozen glazes over the years..but still use one glaze
80 percent of the time.
ken ferguson gave me shaner red, but it did not seem like my glaze.
never used it much. my life is searching...for an aesthetic that
is trapped in my brain.
did all my academic work at the university of minnesota.
did my 90 credit sorta mfa after i was 50. did it in painting.
90 credits. a show...no degree. did not want that, or need it.
just wanted to do the work. and, it counted towards my retirement.
from my perspective, i don't know how anyone can think of being
a potter crafts-person without some sort of home or private studio. does not
make sense to me. a basement room with tools and clay.
a small electric kiln....whatever you need. i do not count a
community center, jr. college as a studio. hard to make a community
kiln your own voice. it is institutional pottery. i also feel that living
on the `grant` parade is a poor way to be a potter. make your
own living. pay your own way. often the most critical people of
american business are first in line to get free money from that
corporation.
you are going to make stuff anyway, so why not do the studio
first. have a space. even if it is small.
i built a lake home in my backyard, but it was used as a studio.
never regretted it for a minute. but, i was serious as hell
about being a potter. some cannot make up their mind.
if you leap....you might as well jump off the grand canyon.
the bigger issue is:
the studio paid for itself in about 5 years.
it has been my part time job for 50 years. pays well.
if i was to go to work for richard aerni, apprentice for him.
i would expect to work long hours, low pay, work my tail off
and learn a great deal. it would define my current life.
(my god, have you seen his new ash pots...they are gorgeous.)
but, i would never assume to dog it. wear a nose ring, talk cool,
and drink coffee....no, one would work your tail off. sleep well,
and do it again tomorrow. my feeling is:
apprenticeships should be about nine to twelve months.
if you cannot figure it out with that intense work over a year,
well, you may not have the right stuff. i was making pots full time
for uchida after about 5 months. of course, those were ten hour
days...6.5 days a week. one learns fast.
if you apprentice for someone over three years, it just means you
have a full time job in a pottery. the first year defines you.
MFA/i always recommend to former students...go where you like the
teachers, hope to get in, do it as fast as you can. get in, get out.
a 14 year ph.d. is really a pain the ass. get after it. get it done.
get out...and then get working.
when i did my 90 credits...my studio was my work space, not the
u of minnesota. paintings everywhere. it was a very joyful experience.
but, i had my own studio. did my own work...paid my own way.
and paid for it later with an increase in my retirement. you may know,
steps of education+years. i got out at 55. again, the smartest
thing i have ever done.
i do believe that ron is correct for our time. a great deal of information
out there. good advice...great glaze formulation, good kilns and wheels,
and gobs of books. it just takes a person that is willing to put it all
to good work. effort and time. that is the key. and of course, the courage
to be yourself.
mel
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Lee on tue 1 apr 08
I am guessing we are spoilt here in Minneapolis (I say this as I look
out at the wonderful snowfall we had yesterday: the trees limbs out
my kitchen window have a lovely white coat on their limbs), but
finding a place to fire is very easy here.
When I started throwing, I bought a Shimpo Gold,
precisely because it was portable. It was cold when I bought it, so
I threw in my kitchen. ( Before I had the wheel, I made my first
vessels on a lazy susan on my kitchen table. It was 18" tall.) When
the snow went away, I threw on my front porch. When my oldest son
moved to a studio/loft in the same building as Peter Lee's old
photography studio was, I took over his bedroom.
Here in my new house, I started on the back patio under
the White Oak tree and moved to the basement as it became cool. I
will turn the garage into a studio in time.
Your own studio is easy, if you really want it. An
electric kiln can be bought for bisque and electric glaze fire, rather
inexpensively. Because learning form is so important, I recommend
starting with electric or raku. Something not too large, so you
have fast turnaround. Then, find a clay center. Take classes.
Learn form. Pretty glazes on bad forms is lipstick on a pig. And at
a center you can get your work fired often and get feedback from your
peers.
Here is the quote I try to post at least once a year. Forget the
numbers and the $$$$. Your life is too short to spend it doing what
you don't love. As a British potter told me in Kasama, "You can
always get more money, but you can never get more time.":
"The quote as you give it in a larger context seems to be from W. H.
Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951. There the text
apparently goes:
"But when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important
matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of
our ruts. We had put down our passage money--booked a sailing to
Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until
one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless
ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits
oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues
from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen
incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have
dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of
Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it!"
--=20
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"Ta tIr na n-=F3g ar chul an tI=97tIr dlainn trina ch=E9ile"=97that is, "T=
he
land of eternal youth is behind the house, a beautiful land fluent
within itself." -- John O'Donohue
Alyssa Ettinger on thu 3 apr 08
i don't mean to be disrespectful in any way, know that in advance.
when you live in a part of the world/country where land is cheap and there's
lots of space, you can have your own studio. that's not the reality for many
of us "urban" ceramists.
i worked in a large share for my first year, then a smaller share for 2.
these were not cheap, $400-500 a month, depending on firing costs. now i
have my own studio in a huge studio building, $650 a month plus firing
electric, for 350 sq ft--this is considered to be affordable, if not
downright cheap.
making a "living" in the city is a whole lot different than making one in
the country. costs of living are higher on everything (and i mean that a
mere can of friskies cat food is $69 cents). and most of us don't have the
space for a studio, because we live in apartments. and because we live in
apartments, kilns are out of the question.
i think that you CAN consider yourself a potter if you don't have your own
studio, and it irks me that so many other artists feel otherwise.
James and Sherron Bowen on thu 3 apr 08
"and i mean that a mere can of friskies cat food is $69 cents"
Our country cats thrive on dry cat food at ten bucks for eighteen pounds.
Jim
Boyero
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alyssa Ettinger"
To:
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 9:00 AM
Subject: Re: apprentice, mfa, studio (story)
Lee on thu 3 apr 08
On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 10:00 AM, Alyssa Ettinger
wrote:
> i think that you CAN consider yourself a potter if you don't have your o=
wn
> studio, and it irks me that so many other artists feel otherwise.
I am a big believer in co-ops and clay centers! These are not so
easy to establish in rural areas and an advantage urban people have to
draw upon.
--=20
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"Ta tIr na n-=F3g ar chul an tI=97tIr dlainn trina ch=E9ile"=97that is, "T=
he
land of eternal youth is behind the house, a beautiful land fluent
within itself." -- John O'Donohue
Alyssa Ettinger on thu 3 apr 08
>Our country cats thrive on dry cat food at ten bucks for eighteen pounds.
>Jim
>Boyero
this is very mature, thanks.
alyssa
www.alyssaettinger.com
June Perry on thu 3 apr 08
Jim,
Your cats are probably healthier for that dry food. My best friends father
is a retired vet and he said that people who fed their dogs and cat canned
food are what gave him a very successful practice!
People tend, I think, to feel better giving their animals canned food
because in their mind it resembles human food; but it is not the healthiest choice.
(http://shambhalapottery.blogspot.com)
Love,
June
_http://www.shambhalapottery.com_ (http://www.shambhalapottery.com/)
_http://shambhalapottery.blogspot.com_ (http://shambhalapottery.blogspot.com)
_http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sodasaltfiring/_
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sodasaltfiring/)
**************Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides.
(http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)
James and Sherron Bowen on thu 3 apr 08
Thank,
When I said thrive I meant it. We have had cats live to over twenty yeas old
without health problems. Lost two ages (23 and 20) because they met up with
a cat someone dumped that was infected with a fatal virus. Now we have four
rescued (from a junk yard, and neutered) feral cats that are doing very well
living outside just like the others. Country living suits them.
Jim
Boyero
----- Original Message -----
From: "June Perry"
To:
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 2:34 PM
Subject: Re: apprentice, mfa, studio (story)
> Jim,
>
> Your cats are probably healthier for that dry food. My best friends
> father
> is a retired vet and he said that people who fed their dogs and cat
> canned
> food are what gave him a very successful practice!
> People tend, I think, to feel better giving their animals canned food
> because in their mind it resembles human food; but it is not the
> healthiest choice.
>
> (http://shambhalapottery.blogspot.com)
>
>
>
> Love,
> June
> _http://www.shambhalapottery.com_ (http://www.shambhalapottery.com/)
> _http://shambhalapottery.blogspot.com_
> (http://shambhalapottery.blogspot.com)
> _http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sodasaltfiring/_
> (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sodasaltfiring/)
>
>
>
>
>
> **************Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides.
>
> (http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
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>
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>
>
Larry Kruzan on thu 3 apr 08
Hi Alyssa,
I'd just point out that out here in the "country", our cats are working
stiffs, not pets - they eat what they catch - a little dry goes a long way.
Our cat would much rather dine on a nice juicy field mouse he caught himself
than any canned food. He won't touch the dry unless he's had a unsuccessful
day of hunting.
Just like I'll take a nice Deer steak from the big buck I shot last fall
over McDonalds any day.
Larry Kruzan
Lost Creek Pottery
www.lostcreekpottery.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Alyssa Ettinger
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 4:05 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: [CLAYART] apprentice, mfa, studio (story)
>Our country cats thrive on dry cat food at ten bucks for eighteen pounds.
>Jim
>Boyero
this is very mature, thanks.
alyssa
www.alyssaettinger.com
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Clayart members may send postings to: clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, change your
subscription settings or unsubscribe/leave the list here:
http://www.acers.org/cic/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots2@visi.com
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