Lee Love on sat 27 feb 10
On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 7:40 PM, jeanette harris w=
=3D
rote:
>
> File pictures of your inspirations and refer to them often.
If a living artist inspires me, I like to figure out what their
inspirations are and look at those. Instead of copying them, I like
to work from the original inspiration and then compare my
interpretation to theirs.
Here is an example:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3D3D146436&id=3D3D550727056&l=3D3Dd66=
22d5f2=3D
b
--=3D20
--
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
=3D93Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
the artistry moving through and be silent.=3D94 --Rumi
jeanette harris on sat 27 feb 10
I've been reading an article in the London Times about advice for
writers and I began writing my own version of advice for clay artists.
These are rules/advice I wrote for myself; they may not be relevant
to another artist. I'd be curious to read what folks on Clayart would
write.
The first 10 years are the hardest.
Break a lot of bad pots.
Keep a lot of bad pots.
Find other potters to talk to.
Take notes. About everything. You may say, "I'll remember that". You won't.
Follow every impulse.
Learn from your mistakes.; make notes about your mistakes so you will
remember them; mistakes are very easy to forget.
Keep your best work.
Photograph everything you make.
Search out your own truth.
Even though it has not been done before by you or anyone else, make it anyw=
ay.
File pictures of your inspirations and refer to them often.
Avoid looking at ugly.
Listen to everybody. Ignore bad advice. Keep only what feeds you.
Set your standards high. I mean HIGH. So high you will always have to
chase them.
Keep returning to your own themes.
Don't worry or ask yourself, 'Is it good enough?' It's good enough
until you can make better.
Find your market niche.
Build a reference library: Keep the books that are relevant, sell the other=
s.
If you need a tool, figure out how to find it or make it. If you
can't, find a good craftsman to make it for you. Take care of your
tools.
Keep learning. Don't rely on somebody else to teach everything you
need to know. Teach yourself whenever you can, you'll learn better
this way.
Find your own best work environment: Solitude/group, silence/music or
talk, sloppy/neat, etc.
If discipline works, use it.
If it doesn't sell, pack it up and don't look at it for a long time.
Then unpack it and look at it again. Decide then if it should be
kept, sold, or destroyed.
Don't offer anything for sale you would be embarrassed to see again.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
--
Jeanette Harris in Poulsbo WA
http://www.jeanetteharrisblog.blogspot.com
http://www.sa-clayartists.org go to Members, H heading
http://www.washingtonpotters.org/members/jeanette harris/wpa jeanette
harris.htm
Eric Serritella on sun 28 feb 10
Here's one:
"Once in awhile you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if
you look at it right." From Scarlet Begonias, Grateful Dead.
Like many, something inadvertant often leads me to a new technique, a new
texture, a new inspiration, a new direction.
Eric
Eric Serritella
528 Sebring Road
Newfield, NY 14867
607-564-7810
www.ericserritella.com
jeanette harris on sun 28 feb 10
Guess I should add "for inspiration" - I don't copy either. Looking
at good work gets the juices flowing and the tangent highway opens up.
>
> > File pictures of your inspirations and refer to them often.
>
> If a living artist inspires me, I like to figure out what their
>inspirations are and look at those. Instead of copying them, I like
>to work from the original inspiration and then compare my
>interpretation to theirs.
>
> Here is an example:
>
>http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3D146436&id=3D550727056&l=3Dd6622d5f=
2b
>
>
>--
>--
> Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
>http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
>
>"Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
>the artistry moving through and be silent." --Rumi
--
Jeanette Harris in Poulsbo WA
http://www.jeanetteharrisblog.blogspot.com
http://www.sa-clayartists.org go to Members, H heading
http://www.washingtonpotters.org/members/jeanette harris/wpa jeanette
harris.htm
Lee Love on sun 28 feb 10
On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 8:46 AM, jeanette harris w=
=3D
rote:
> Guess I should add "for inspiration" - I don't copy either. Looking
> at good work gets the juices flowing and the tangent highway opens up.
Copying is essential at first, to develop skills. Studio arts
programs often overlook this, focusing on expression and novelty,
before the skill is developed.
--
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
=3D93Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
the artistry moving through and be silent.=3D94 --Rumi
James Freeman on sun 28 feb 10
Eric, et alii...
I think the Dead were restating Nobel Laureate in Medicine Albert
Szent-Gyorgyi:
"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what
nobody has thought."
Take care.
...James
James Freeman
"All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should
not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed."
-Michel de Montaigne
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesfreemanstudio/
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com/clayart/
On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 12:03 AM, Eric Serritella
wrote:
> Here's one:
>
> "Once in awhile you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if
> you look at it right." From Scarlet Begonias, Grateful Dead.
>
> Like many, something inadvertant often leads me to a new technique, a new
> texture, a new inspiration, a new direction.
>
>
> Eric
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Eric Serritella
> 528 Sebring Road
> Newfield, NY 14867
> 607-564-7810
> www.ericserritella.com
>
jeanette harris on sun 28 feb 10
>On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 8:46 AM, jeanette harris
> wrote:
>> Guess I should add "for inspiration" - I don't copy either. Looking
>> at good work gets the juices flowing and the tangent highway opens up.
>
>Copying is essential at first, to develop skills. Studio arts
>programs often overlook this, focusing on expression and novelty,
>before the skill is developed.
>
>--
> Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
You're absolutely right, Lee. Master the skills first. Essential for
just about anything you want to do well.
--
Jeanette Harris in Poulsbo WA
http://www.jeanetteharrisblog.blogspot.com
http://www.sa-clayartists.org go to Members, H heading
http://www.washingtonpotters.org/members/jeanette harris/wpa jeanette
harris.htm
jeanette harris on sun 28 feb 10
One more:
Know where your weaknesses are and work to correct them.
My weakness is getting in a hurry. Wanting to get the piece finished
or to move to the next step before it's time results in pushing.
Attention to detail and completeness needs my attention. I know this
and try to make sure I do it.
--
Jeanette Harris in Poulsbo WA
http://www.jeanetteharrisblog.blogspot.com
http://www.sa-clayartists.org go to Members, H heading
http://www.washingtonpotters.org/members/jeanette harris/wpa jeanette
harris.htm
--
Jeanette Harris in Poulsbo WA
http://www.jeanetteharrisblog.blogspot.com
http://www.sa-clayartists.org go to Members, H heading
http://www.washingtonpotters.org/members/jeanette harris/wpa jeanette
harris.htm
Vicki Hardin on sun 28 feb 10
Taking notes is good. Keeping good records is essential especially when
glaze testing. In terms of ideas that I may want to incorporate into my
work, I have found that if you write it down, that you tend to over the lon=
g
haul forget. But, if you incorporate and use your idea into your work as
soon as possible, you will keep it as it becomes a habit.
Make a LOT of pots. Don't be so hyper focused on perfection. I have seen
people spending 45 minutes fiddling with a pot that could not be saved and
with it ending up being something that should not have been fired. Throwing
it away and starting over, one could make three pots, learn more and enhanc=
e
their skills.
Live with your pots. What looks great today, may not look so great tomorrow
and surprisingly vice verse.
Have fun and touch clay every day.
Vicki Hardin
http://ClayArtWebGuide.com
http://VickiHardin.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of jeanette harri=
s
Sent: Saturday, February 27, 2010 7:41 PM
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Advice for Clay Artists
I've been reading an article in the London Times about advice for
writers and I began writing my own version of advice for clay artists.
These are rules/advice I wrote for myself; they may not be relevant
to another artist. I'd be curious to read what folks on Clayart would
write.
The first 10 years are the hardest.
Break a lot of bad pots.
Keep a lot of bad pots.
Find other potters to talk to.
Take notes. About everything. You may say, "I'll remember that". You won't.
Follow every impulse.
Learn from your mistakes.; make notes about your mistakes so you will
remember them; mistakes are very easy to forget.
Keep your best work.
Photograph everything you make.
Search out your own truth.
Even though it has not been done before by you or anyone else, make it
anyway.
File pictures of your inspirations and refer to them often.
Avoid looking at ugly.
Listen to everybody. Ignore bad advice. Keep only what feeds you.
Set your standards high. I mean HIGH. So high you will always have to
chase them.
Keep returning to your own themes.
Don't worry or ask yourself, 'Is it good enough?' It's good enough
until you can make better.
Find your market niche.
Build a reference library: Keep the books that are relevant, sell the
others.
If you need a tool, figure out how to find it or make it. If you
can't, find a good craftsman to make it for you. Take care of your
tools.
Keep learning. Don't rely on somebody else to teach everything you
need to know. Teach yourself whenever you can, you'll learn better
this way.
Find your own best work environment: Solitude/group, silence/music or
talk, sloppy/neat, etc.
If discipline works, use it.
If it doesn't sell, pack it up and don't look at it for a long time.
Then unpack it and look at it again. Decide then if it should be
kept, sold, or destroyed.
Don't offer anything for sale you would be embarrassed to see again.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
--
Jeanette Harris in Poulsbo WA
http://www.jeanetteharrisblog.blogspot.com
http://www.sa-clayartists.org go to Members, H heading
http://www.washingtonpotters.org/members/jeanette harris/wpa jeanette
harris.htm
Lee Love on sun 28 feb 10
On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 10:37 AM, James Freeman
wrote:
> "Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking >what=
=3D
nobody has thought."
This is only possible if you think small, in a short time and
don't recognize the cyclic nature of things.
--
Lee, a Mashiko potter in Minneapolis
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
=3D93Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel
the artistry moving through and be silent.=3D94 --Rumi
May Luk on sun 28 feb 10
I like "avoid looking at ugly" We call it "garbage in, garbage out" over he=
re.
My personal motto is: don't quit and get on with it.
May
--
http://twitter.com/MayLuk
Nancy Spinella on mon 1 mar 10
Yes, yes, yes. :)
And pictures. If you can't take notes (or if notes won't do it justice),
take pictures. I find ideas while I'm out and about and just whip out the
cameraphone so that I can study the idea more later.
Artist C.F.A. Voysey once said, "Never look at an ugly thing twice." I've
always added, "or for too long."
--Nancy
On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 8:40 PM, jeanette harris wr=
ote:
> I've been reading an article in the London Times about advice for
> writers and I began writing my own version of advice for clay artists.
>
> These are rules/advice I wrote for myself; they may not be relevant
> to another artist. I'd be curious to read what folks on Clayart would
> write.
>
>
>
> The first 10 years are the hardest.
>
> Break a lot of bad pots.
>
> Keep a lot of bad pots.
>
> Find other potters to talk to.
>
> Take notes. About everything. You may say, "I'll remember that". You won'=
t.
>
> Follow every impulse.
>
> Learn from your mistakes.; make notes about your mistakes so you will
> remember them; mistakes are very easy to forget.
>
> Keep your best work.
>
> Photograph everything you make.
>
> Search out your own truth.
>
> Even though it has not been done before by you or anyone else, make it
> anyway.
>
> File pictures of your inspirations and refer to them often.
>
> Avoid looking at ugly.
>
> Listen to everybody. Ignore bad advice. Keep only what feeds you.
>
> Set your standards high. I mean HIGH. So high you will always have to
> chase them.
>
> Keep returning to your own themes.
>
> Don't worry or ask yourself, 'Is it good enough?' It's good enough
> until you can make better.
>
> Find your market niche.
>
> Build a reference library: Keep the books that are relevant, sell the
> others.
>
> If you need a tool, figure out how to find it or make it. If you
> can't, find a good craftsman to make it for you. Take care of your
> tools.
>
> Keep learning. Don't rely on somebody else to teach everything you
> need to know. Teach yourself whenever you can, you'll learn better
> this way.
>
>
> Find your own best work environment: Solitude/group, silence/music or
> talk, sloppy/neat, etc.
>
> If discipline works, use it.
>
> If it doesn't sell, pack it up and don't look at it for a long time.
> Then unpack it and look at it again. Decide then if it should be
> kept, sold, or destroyed.
>
> Don't offer anything for sale you would be embarrassed to see again.
>
> Don't take yourself too seriously.
>
>
> --
> Jeanette Harris in Poulsbo WA
>
> http://www.jeanetteharrisblog.blogspot.com
>
> http://www.sa-clayartists.org go to Members, H heading
>
> http://www.washingtonpotters.org/members/jeanette harris/wpa jeanette
> harris.htm
>
gayle bair on mon 1 mar 10
Early on in my clay experience I was given an exercise to duplicate/copy =
=3D
a mug.
I was very annoyed that I had to look at it let alone duplicate it.
In the time it took me to really study that piece I came to understand =3D
and respect
a piece I would have shunned, criticized and forgotten.=3D20
There I was.... copying and revering what I had considered "ugly".=3D20
It sure taught me a lesson!
Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island WA
Tucson AZ
gayle@claybair.com
www.claybair.com
> On Mar 1, 2010, at 5:58 AM, Nancy Spinella wrote:
>=3D20
>> Yes, yes, yes. :)
>>=3D20
>> And pictures. If you can't take notes (or if notes won't do it =3D
justice),
>> take pictures. I find ideas while I'm out and about and just whip out =
=3D
the
>> cameraphone so that I can study the idea more later.
>>=3D20
>> Artist C.F.A. Voysey once said, "Never look at an ugly thing twice." =
=3D
I've
>> always added, "or for too long."
>>=3D20
>> --Nancy
>>=3D20
>> On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 8:40 PM, jeanette harris =3D
wrote:
>>=3D20
>>> I've been reading an article in the London Times about advice for
>>> writers and I began writing my own version of advice for clay =3D
artists.
>>>=3D20
>>> These are rules/advice I wrote for myself; they may not be relevant
>>> to another artist. I'd be curious to read what folks on Clayart =3D
would
>>> write.
>>>=3D20
>=3D20
Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island WA
Tucson AZ
gayle@claybair.com
www.claybair.com
Russel Fouts on mon 1 mar 10
Jeannette.
>> Know where your weaknesses are and work to correct them.My weakness
is getting in a hurry. Wanting to get the piece finished or to move to
the next step before it's time results in pushing. Attention to detail
and completeness needs my attention. I know this and try to make sure I
do it. <<
Ruthanne Tudball in England has developed a whole unique style based on
her impatience.
Russel
| |
|
