mel jacobson on sun 6 apr 08
as some of you know, i had a part time
friendship with ken ferguson. he was hired
by my best friend dale eldred at kansas city art inst.
i talked to dale once or twice a week, every week for years.
he was my best man, i was his. college buddies, and played
football together. dale bounced a million ideas off me.
dale was the first potter to have a one man show
at the walker art center in minneapolis...he did his mfa at minnesota/clay/...and his senior show was at the walker. rather big start one would say.
he never did clay again in his life...he was a monster
builder. he was chair of the 3d department at kc for years.
died in a tragic fall. his pieces/installations are all over the world.
a piece of me, died with him. i miss him fiercly.
anyway...we would go to kc almost every year...he would
come to see his mom in minneapolis. we would always spend
time with ken. just the three of us. talk art, ideas, stuff.
always a good time.
late in his life ken confided in me on several occasions.
he was always a bit stressed about money, retirement.
leaving teaching. he had some health issues.
he was torn apart when dale died. in many ways, i think
it started a down slope in ken's life.
now that he is dead, i think it ok to tell some tales.
he did not like big time selling. garth and the boys.
he felt trapped by them. he enjoyed the lime light, but
he felt he lost money. travel to ny, taxes, and big commissions
made him crazy. you know, do the math on a ten grand pot.
60 to garth, 40 to ken, travel, taxes, at the end he made
50 bucks. he could not sell his own work. he was trapped.
owned by the galleries...like a rock star. the agents run your
life.
we did some comparing one day. my high school teaching
salary, his at kc, his retirement, my retirement. i won.
we compared actual sales..me backyard, him new york.
i won.
now, this is a quote. KF `shit, i just wish i could go back
and take charge of my own sales. i would love to do backyard
sales like when i first got here...50 dollar pots, and i keep the
50 bucks. sell to friends and students. no new york big shots.
i hate my nose up those buggers butts. warren got it right.
sell out the back door.`
that is a real business story. in many ways, ken was obsessed
with sales and agents. he saw the double standard. they did
not give a crap about him...they wanted the money.
ken was a big bluff, dirty mouthed, almost country boy. he
could laugh, make fun of people, tell the most awful sexual
jokes anyone could tell. he was a dirt potter. loved clay,
loved to work...made big stuff...fired the pee out of his kiln.
cone 11/12. he was one hell of a potter, and one hell of
a great guy. if you were in his site pattern however...get
out of town. he said it the way it was.
he was loyal to his students and did the best for them. he was
a great, tough teacher...made kids think with clay. no baby
stuff with ken. no counseling. kick ass work. i sent
6 kids to him, they all did well. and it was always a pleasure
to have ken say...`shit, where do you find those great kids,
you never send a bad one..and they know clay god damn it.`
i left out all the F bombs in the quotes..but you all can
insert them five or six times.
one day when dale and i where in his studio he had us
help him load an entire van with big pots that had been
returned from new york...we figured 50,000 bucks worth.
all going to the dump. he had to break them. he could
not sell them, or back sell them. to the dump they went.
one found its way into the trunk of my car. i found it
when we were packing to leave kc. it still had the price
tag...4,000. a nice present from ken.
now, this is not a third hand, someone told me story.
this is a real deal. from real people.
people i cared a great deal about...trusted and respected.
i do not tell this to the public to seem important.
i tell the story because these things need to be said.
reality. not quotes from someone...real story about real
artists trying to make it...and be seen.
it is not easy....ever.
my observations led me to keep it simple...be in charge of
my own life. it has paid me. in time, mental health and joy
of living.
mel
i do not like being in someone else's debt. i do not want
to help others succeed. i want to tell the truth about clay.
from minnetonka:
website http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart site:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Terrance Lazaroff on sun 6 apr 08
Mel;
Good to hear about friends gone by. I only met Ken on a few occasions.
The first was when I was on my way to San Antonio for the NCECA. We
stopped at Kansas City to visit the institute and Ken was there. He
stopped everything he was doing and gave us his full attention. I found
his approach to anyone doing clay much like a Sergeant Major in the army.
He appeared tough yet I could see that he only cared about the welfare of
his charges.
I met him many times after that at the various NCECAs and every time our
paths crossed, he knew my name. He would always sit and spend a few
minutes with me talking about anything that came up.
I decided to do clay because I found the people and the clay community to
be special. Ken was one such person. Your picture of him adds a little
more to the one I have.
Terrance Lazaroff
Terrance
Vince Pitelka on sun 6 apr 08
Mel wrote:
"as some of you know, i had a part time
friendship with ken ferguson. he was hired
by my best friend dale eldred at kansas city art inst."
Dear Mel -
Thanks for those great stories about Ken Ferguson. This is a post that I'll
save in my own archives, and I'll share it with my students. And I like
your reference to the "F-bombs," because that is exactly how so many people
use the "F-word."
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
Paul Borian on mon 7 apr 08
why did he have to throw all those pots in the trash? just curious as i
would like to avoid any kind of business deal that ends that way.
Paul
jonathan byler on mon 7 apr 08
if you want to avoid that, read the fine print, and submit your
contract to a trusted lawyer, in order to verify what you are signing
off on.
jon byler
3-D Building Coordinator
Art Department
Auburn University, AL 36849
On Apr 7, 2008, at 2:38 PM, Paul Borian wrote:
> why did he have to throw all those pots in the trash? just curious
> as i
> would like to avoid any kind of business deal that ends that way.
>
> Paul
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> ________
> Clayart members may send postings to: clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list, post messages, change your
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Bic Wood on mon 7 apr 08
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, mel jacobson wrote:
>
> as some of you know, i had a part time
> friendship with ken ferguson. he was hired
> by my best friend dale eldred at kansas city art inst.
>
>
I am curious as to why this long post was written entirely lower case.
(Well, almost entirely. There was at least one"KF" in there.) It
seems that it makes it more difficult to read so what does it
accomplish?
Thanks,
Bic
Angela Davis on mon 7 apr 08
You must be new Bic, hi.
The list knows that Mel's keyboard shift key is broken.
We try not to mention it, don't want to make the poor dear
feel bad about his typical potters plight of lack of funds for
anything not directly related to clay.
Besides his stories are wonderful even sans caps.
Angela Davis
In Homosassa
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bic Wood"
To:
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: selling big time(story)
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, mel jacobson wrote:
>
> as some of you know, i had a part time
> friendship with ken ferguson. he was hired
> by my best friend dale eldred at kansas city art inst.
>
>
I am curious as to why this long post was written entirely lower case.
(Well, almost entirely. There was at least one"KF" in there.) It
seems that it makes it more difficult to read so what does it
accomplish?
Thanks,
Bic
______________________________________________________________________________
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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