Lee Love on fri 4 jul 08
On Fri, Jul 4, 2008 at 9:41 PM, KATHI LESUEUR wrote:
>
> Years ago I learned that if you are a well-known artist you can have
> all of the help you want. You can have people make pots for you. You
> can have someone else print your prints or cast your sculptures. If
> you are a lowly not so well known artist you are expected to do
> everything for yourself.
There is a third way, a co-operative way. When my wife Jean did
lithography and monotypes, she always worked with at least one other
person, often two or three. The aritsts helped each other and when
they rented press time or hired a master printer, they were able to
make more efficient use of the press and the master.
You don't have to be famous to hire a master printer either. You
just have to live where they are available and pay them. It is all a
matter of priorities.
--
Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is
rounded with a sleep." --PROSPERO Tempest Shakespeare
Mike Gordon on fri 4 jul 08
Lee wrote......
Can you imagine insisting that painters make their own paints and
pigments or weave their own canvas? Sculptors smelting their own
bronze or how about requiring woodblock printers to grow their own
trees?
Did you know in Japan, that Hiroshige and Hokusai did not print their
own prints? Printers printed them. The printers did not cut the
wood blocks. Carvers did.
Point well taken Lee, Here in the San Francisco Bay area there are
several printmaking houses that cater to well known artists, sculptors,
clay artists, & other printmakers that do their prints for them. Art
foundries that mold, cast and finish sculpture for well known artists.
A friend of mine has printed prints for some very famous artists
because he is a master printer. It doesn't make the art any less
important. I worked for a bronze foundry here in Berkeley, Ca. and we
cast and finished a lot of sculpture for well known sculptors, some
world renowned ones at that. No one criticized them for not doing the
labor. All the equipment we use as potters, sculptors, & printmakers is
expensive to buy, space consuming, and in some places illegal to
operate. So the alternative is don't do art? Not an option! Do it any
way you can and do it often! Mike Gordon
KATHI LESUEUR on fri 4 jul 08
On Jul 4, 2008, at 2:15 PM, Mike Gordon wrote:
>
>
> Point well taken Lee, Here in the San Francisco Bay area there are
> several printmaking houses that cater to well known artists,
> sculptors,
> clay artists, & other printmakers that do their prints for them. Art
> foundries that mold, cast and finish sculpture for well known artists.
> A friend of mine has printed prints for some very famous artists
> because he is a master printer. It doesn't make the art any less
> important. I worked for a bronze foundry here in Berkeley, Ca. and we
> cast and finished a lot of sculpture for well known sculptors, some
> world renowned ones at that.>>>
Years ago I learned that if you are a well-known artist you can have
all of the help you want. You can have people make pots for you. You
can have someone else print your prints or cast your sculptures. If
you are a lowly not so well known artist you are expected to do
everything for yourself. Twenty-five years ago I was on a committee
for one of the Ann Arbor art fairs. We were arguing the rules for
participation and what, if any, kind of help the exhibitor could
have. Some people thought that having someone sweep their studio was
"cheating". Definitely they couldn't have any help making pots. I
asked if John Glick would be welcome in our show. "Well of course.
He's famous." I pointed out that I'd just been to a Glick workshop
where he told of having a woman cut out and assemble slabs for his
pitchers. But, it was still ok because, after all, it was John
Glick. The rules are different for the famous.
Kathi
KATHI LESUEUR on sat 5 jul 08
On Jul 5, 2008, at 12:04 AM, Lee Love wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 4, 2008 at 9:41 PM, KATHI LESUEUR
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Years ago I learned that if you are a well-known artist you can have
>> all of the help you want. You can have people make pots for you. You
>> can have someone else print your prints or cast your sculptures. If
>> you are a lowly not so well known artist you are expected to do
>> everything for yourself.
>
> There is a third way, a co-operative way. When my wife Jean did
> lithography and monotypes, she always worked with at least one other
> person, often two or three. The aritsts helped each other and when
> they rented press time or hired a master printer, they were able to
> make more efficient use of the press and the master.>>>
>
>
Yes, but the number of show who say, "those who have employees or
apprentices need not apply" is high. They would consider your co-op
help as "cheating". You are supposed to do everything yourself.
Kathi
Eleanor on sat 5 jul 08
> Steve Mills said:
> So please don't knock the hobbyist, recreational, or part-time
> potter, they=
> are all part of the mix, and their enthusiasm at their level of
> commitment=
> has a beneficial knock-on effect to all those like me to whom
> Pottery is a=
> way of life.
It does my heart good to read Steve's words and those of others who
are supportive of us dabblers.
As an elderly hobbyist, I find the two or three hours a day I spend in
my studio infinitely more rewarding than what many of my
contemporaries are doing: spending time in Doctors' waiting rooms;
going to Physical Therapy for unused joints; undergoing
MRIs.......................
No, I'm not being smug---I imagine I'll get sick with something or
other eventually, but until then, I'm making pots.
As for classes: I learned ceramics back in the '50s; then a long
hiatus raising kids, no room, no time, no money and finally back to
clay in a roomier house where I could make a studio. I figured I
needed a few refresher courses to regain old skills, learn what's new,
etc. So I took a few classes at the local Art League, a long-standing
institution with galleries, and well-equipped studios. I discovered
the Giffen Grip, pot lifters, cone 6 (all my previous experience was
with cone 4) and the electric wheel.
I took four or five 8-week courses. With one exception, the
instructors were awful.
I discovered Clayart.
I bought a kiln.
I subscribe to CT and PMI and I read CM in the Library.
I bought a lot of clay books---and I read them!
I went to NCECA, once.
I have even sold a few pots.
I joined a local Craft Guild, the only game of its sort in town, but
unlike the guilds described on Clayart, they don't give classes or
have sales. The members just seem to be interested in showing their
work. I'm trying to help change that, but it's been uphill.
Now I occasionally take a clay workshop. But before I plunk down $200
or more, I find the presenter's website, look at the work, and if I
like the work (it doesn't have to look like my work), I sign up.
A John Hesselberth workshop was wonderful. A Potter's Council workshop
was great. I watched Steve Branfman and Steven Hill work and shook
hands with mel and discussed pottery stuff with him and others---a
rewarding experience all around. And the lunches were good too.
Maybe the people who take classes endlessly are lonely and they find
good company in classes. Or, as in Kelly's case, they like and admire
the teacher. But I'm not lonely-- in fact, I think many potters LIKE
working alone, I know I do. Different strokes for different folks.
Eleanor Kohler
Centerport, NY
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