Lili Krakowski on wed 18 jun 08
The story Kim tells is pretty typical.
" I am currently in an art center where anything can go wrong and usually
does. This also means that we have no money to replace expensive items like
shelves unless we beg, pray and wait a year until the next grant ....All
this said, I too go for prevention. "
Kim outlines a number of methods of preventing the ruination of shelves .
The problem is pretty universal in public facilities, where, to be crude, no
one cares because no one foots the actual bill. I have no idea what the
benefit is of teaching people how to pot without ALSO teaching them to take
good care of their ultimate investment in their own equipment!
As a rule the class messes around in clay, "doing art", "being creative",
"expressing themselves" for most of the semester, and then on the last day
it is glazing time, and the buckets of glaze come out, and a general glazing
frenzy ensues. Glaze is sloshed around, the dilution is haphazard, and on
and on till finally a kiln is ready to have its shelves ruined. Perhaps
students who have taken the class five times, finally get to where they
bother glazing well.
I wish I wish that all ClayArters who teach would get together on ClayArt
and design a simple protocol,, so that those who teach recreational classes
would have something to go by that is pretty uniform and useful.
At the least there should be a handout with some basic info. At some point
the teacher should give a 1/2 hour demo. Glazes should be clearly marked
and TINTED to prevent contamination. The demo should be repeated, and
students urged to try glazing, using some old glazes, or a mix of clay and
silica, and old abandoned bisque.
I also think there should be a shelf deposit....You ruin it you bought
it.....
In the past decades far more individuals have bought equipment and set up
their own studios. Why not teach them how to take care of it?
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
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