kelly's lame job

updated thu 1 oct 09

Snail Scott on fri 25 sep 09

Kelly-

Getting the necessary equipment improvements
to sustain a viable midrange stoneware program
seems unlikely in the extreme. So, I think you are
on the right track with ideas like raku. But, why
even continue to accept that 'mid-range stoneware'
description? That can be changed without even an
administrative decree, and with almost no money.

Your training and personal studio practice may be
rooted in stoneware (much like my own and others'),
and too often, without realizing it we can slip into
thinking of earthenware as the second-class citizen
of serious ceramics. In fact, there are people doing
brilliant cutting-edge work (and skilled rooted-in-
tradition work) using earthenware. The stigma of all
those little colorful jars of stuff with hobbyist-friendly
names is hard to shake, but that stuff is there to be
used, in conjunction with myriad low-fire recipes
from scratch. Earthenware can be sophisticated,
smart, subtle, and a world away from kiddie crafts.
It can even be frostproof for outdoors.

Earthenware will reduce your program's power bill,
reduce the frequency of element changes, reduce
wear and tear on the kiln furniture, allow you to work
with the equipment you've already got, and still do
bitchin' cool work. I can probably come up with a
laundry list of people with museum-grade 'real artist'
credibility who use earthenware in their work.
Jun Kaneko's work is all around ^1 or so, and I'll
bet Clayart can name folks I've never even heard
of. Not dissing craft potters - highest respect, etc. -
but if your higher-ups want to see work that seems
relevant to a fine-arts curriculum, well, it's there...

As for that relevance: about a third of my students
in Ceramics I are seniors in 2-D media (we have no
3-D major), and enroll solely because it's required
(a choice among Sculpture I and 3-D Design). They
tend to assume that it's a throwaway course, and their
resentful and/or apathetic attitude can really poison
the ambience of the classroom. So, I try early on to
engage their interest. "So - working on your senior
thesis portfolio and don't want to be sidetracked by
an irrelevant requirement? Make it relevant! Think
how to make clay an integral part of your primary
work." "Graphic design? Apply those principles to
clay - use text and layout on a 3-D surface! Use clay
to create your proposed product mockup!" "Painting
major? So paint your ceramic work - if you had a 3-D
form, how could it interact with your applied surface
treatment?" "Printmaking?" (My higher-up is a print guy,
too.) "Use those woodcut and linocut plates to make
texture. Try screenprinting with engobes on slab, then
use them to build forms!" etc, etc...

Though not all of them figure out a way to integrate
their claywork and major work, many of them do, and
that work gets seen by their major faculty - relevant
artwork with an obvious link to their own disciplines.

De-emphasize the traditions of craft pottery, which can
seem disconnected from the rest of the art department's
concerns. Instead, emphasize the cross-border aspects
of clay, and present work by clay artists who have the
mainstream 'stamp of approval'.

Last week the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum had
a reception for the new exhibition, and as usual, it was
a hit parade of the most conceptual, visually austere or
aesthetically awkward forms of contemporary art. I ran
into one of my students there, and he hadn't actually
noticed that among the work was a ceramic piece by
Rosemarie Trockel. It fit right in among the 'real art';
imagine that!

The history and traditions of clay are worth teaching,
don't get me wrong, but right now, focus on the points
of contact - the aspects of clay that are shared with the
other media in your department. Acceptance will more
likely follow from a perception of connectedness than
from an emphasis on the special distinctions of clay.
Get solid first, THEN kick it out... ;)

-Snail

Marcia Selsor on sat 26 sep 09

Really great post, Snail!
There are lots of things happening at lower temps. I agree with all
you say
about the benefits as well. AND one more, Kelly's time firing
would be reduced as well. So , Kelly, go low!
Marcia

Marcia Selsor
http://marciaselsor.com

Bonnie Staffel on sun 27 sep 09

Kelly, why not explore primitive firing methods. The students could also =
=3D
get
some history lessons out of it. Learn to grind stones for color if there =
=3D
is
a ball mill handy, or by hand in a mortar and pestle. Frank Etewagishick
(sp?) did a lot of exploration and experiments in the history of firing
practices of the northern Midwest Indians (Woodland, Odawa?) and his =3D
work is
in the Smithsonian collection. There are also other publications about =3D
such
firings including smoke and pit. Ed Gray is working with pit firing =3D
using
ground stones for colors. I am exploring smoke firing at this time =3D
getting
colored smoke patterns from certain papers.=3D20

Such lessons are about as basic and need little equipment, although a =3D
bisque
kiln would be helpful or your raku kiln could be adapted to bisque fire.
Seems to me there is a lot to explore and if going for beautiful pots, =3D
these
can be achieved as well. Note the picture of my pit fired pitcher in =3D
Lark's
Book of 500 Pitchers. I think it is the only pit fired piece in the =3D
book.=3D20

Your students may also want to explore my slab and coil method of =3D
throwing
which I use for my work for anything that has irregular or traditional
forms. Using this method I also threw the large pitcher with ease. It =3D
opens
up a lot of ideas for the potter to achieve.=3D20

Good luck. Make lemonade out of your lemons!

Bonnie



http://webpages.charter.net/bstaffel/
http://vasefinder.com/bstaffelgallery1.html
DVD=3DA0 Throwing with Coils and Slabs
DVD=3DA0 Introduction to Wheel Work
Charter Member Potters Council

Katie Ellis on tue 29 sep 09

Just an idea:

This is unconventionable, but it can be fun (those of you that are followin=
g
the 'fun' posts can define that however you'd like!). One assingment I had
in a beginning class for art majors was to 'glaze' a few of our sculptural
objects with something that wasn't glaze. This was interesting...people
wrapped things in rope, car paint (there was a piece at the Archie Bray sho=
w
at NCECA last year with car paint as a surface, if I recall correctly),
popcorn, whatever. Maybe this crosses more into the realm of sculpture if
your faculty are picky and they really want to see 'pottery', but I
definitely think it inspires thinking outside the box. And there is no
firing.

I feel for you, Kelly. I start teaching a class of 3-6th graders this
Friday at an elementary school that has NO art specialist, an of course, NO
materials. Nothing. My budget for the class? $200. Tools won't be bad--=
I
can use our sculpture department to make stick tools and such. As far as
firing, luckily I was able to get a local ceramics store to donate a few
firings, and I'm sure I can get some more kiln space at a 'paint your own
ceramics' store I managed a few years ago. Sometime art ed just has to
depend on the kindess of strangers. Oh, and I'm writing for a few grants.
There are lots of things out there to apply for. That's always an option,
too. I'm not sure how well that might work for a community college vs. a
title one elementary school, but it's worth a shot.

Good luck,

Katie (Ellis) Jahner

KATHI LESUEUR on tue 29 sep 09

On Sep 29, 2009, at 4:08 PM, Katie Ellis wrote:

> <> this
> Friday at an elementary school that has NO art specialist, an of
> course, NO
> materials. Nothing. My budget for the class? $200. >>

There are no lame jobs. Jobs are opportunities. And, in this economy
anyone who gets a job is lucky. Art teachers have to be creative. I
know, I was one. Art is one of the first classes to have budgets cut.
But, there are materials out there just for the taking. Paper - if
they are going to be painting on it, printed newsprint works just as
well as clean. Print shops throw away tons of material every year. If
they give it to you it's a tax deductible donation. Junk yards have
scrap metal cheap, and often they will give it to you free. That tax
deductible thing again. Jewelry can be taught just as well with
copper and brass as with silver and gold. Resale shops have tons of
cheap jewelry. Take it apart and you have chains and all of the other
parts you need. Soldering can be done with a small propane torch just
as well as that expensive "jewelry torch". Local potter's will often
give you clay that they don't want to bother reclaiming. In fact, I
have some myself. They have glazes that they don't use anymore. When
I started teaching at Boysville I had one very small kiln and one
wheel. I had to watch my tools like a hawk or they would go out the
class room door, especially the fettling knives. These were
delinquents, after all. I made a rack with slots for every tool then
assigned a different student every week to see that all tools were in
the rack at the end of class. I got every friend I knew who did some
kind of art to come in and demonstrate what they did. I got donations
for materials, $25 here $50 there. Never very much, just a few bucks
to help out. I put on art shows and had art friends come judge them.
The local paper did stories on the shows, they need to fill their
local section. That got people in the community to come to the shows.
That got more donations. When I left we were in a room three times
the size I started with, I had three large kilns, six wheels, and a
donation of brand new fire brick to build a gas kiln.

If you wait around for things to get better they won't. But, if you
prove that you are resourceful and can show that people will support
you, you can build that program. I did.

Good luck,

KATHI LESUEUR
http://www.lesueurclaywork.com