Rimas VisGirda on fri 11 feb 11
Every once in a while Don Pilcher and I meet for lunch. The last time we me=
=3D
t I had been in the process of organizing my studio, which had been a dumpi=
=3D
ng ground for the past 6 months or so -with no place to do any work=3DE2=3D=
80=3D
=3DA6 I was putting away returned work, returned materials from workshops, =
bo=3D
xes that had been salvaged from a small flood in the basement last summer, =
=3D
works in progress, work to photograph, a temporary photo setup, glazes, ove=
=3D
rglazes to test, tools all over the place and not just the ceramic kind=3DE=
2=3D
=3D80=3DA6 you get the idea=3DE2=3D80=3DA6 So during lunch the conversation=
veered to=3D
how much stuff we can accumulate and what to do with it=3DE2=3D80=3DA6 A f=
ew day=3D
s later I got an email from Don that included the following narrative, I=3D=
E2=3D
=3D80=3D99m thinking it could be some food for thought for those of us that=
are=3D
getting on in years=3DE2=3D80=3DA6 Enjoy, -Rimas=3D0A=3D0AFebruary 10, 201=
1=3D0A=3D0A O=3D
n page 86 of A Moveable Feast Ernest Hemingway suggests that we all carry t=
=3D
he seeds of our own demise =3DE2=3D80=3D93 but that the best of us cover th=
em wit=3D
h finer soil and higher yield manure.=3D0A=3D0A Demise has been on my mind=
. I =3D
just got word that my classmate from art school, Elsa Rady, died last week.=
=3D
In that way she joins the list of vital southern California ceramic artist=
=3D
s, recently departed =3DE2=3D80=3D93 Paul Soldner, Otto Heino, Ralph Bacerr=
a. I d=3D
on=3DE2=3D80=3D99t know the details of their estates. But I do know that ma=
ny pot=3D
ters my age and beyond have made some highly detailed provisions for their =
=3D
heirs. I also know that nobody offers workshops on how to orchestrate the v=
=3D
ery last phase of a studio life or how to ensure that one=3DE2=3D80=3D99s b=
ody of=3D
work finds a deserving and appreciative home beyond one=3DE2=3D80=3D99s li=
fetime=3D
.=3D0A=3D0A In my own case, I=3DE2=3D80=3D99m driven by this story of a fe=
w years ag=3D
o. The potter died leaving thousands of finished pieces; he made in the tho=
=3D
usands and sold in the hundreds. I can relate to that. None of his five chi=
=3D
ldren wanted any of it. (That=3DE2=3D80=3D99s a story of its own.) His wife=
was a=3D
ble to gift about a dozen pieces to a local museum=3DE2=3D80=3DA6who, in tr=
uth, c=3D
herry-picked the collection. Friends and distant relatives took another hun=
=3D
dred. But she still had a full basement and a guest bedroom absolutely burs=
=3D
ting with pots of every description.=3D0A=3D0A Now, in my imagination, the=
pot=3D
ter is given a four-hour pass from heaven. He=3DE2=3D80=3D99s back on earth=
, stan=3D
ding next to his wife in the impassable guest bedroom and she says to him, =
=3D
=3DE2=3D80=3D9CWhat do I do with all this pottery?=3DE2=3D80=3D9D Long sile=
nce. And the=3D
pottery is not all. What about the poisons in the studio; the barium and l=
=3D
ead? And the exotics; that five pound bag of rutile, smelted with spar and =
=3D
re-ground into colored grog; the only compound like it in the whole hemisph=
=3D
ere? Who gets that? In this scenario, where is the fine soil and high-yield=
=3D
manure?=3D0A=3D0A Before I answer that, I=3DE2=3D80=3D99m also considerin=
g an e-mai=3D
l I haven=3DE2=3D80=3D99t yet deleted. I received it as a forwarded copy. I=
t was =3D
written by one of America=3DE2=3D80=3D99s premier dealers and concerns the =
retail=3D
potential of a large body of work by a prominent potter who was most activ=
=3D
e in the 70=3DE2=3D80=3D99s and 80=3DE2=3D80=3D99s. He=3DE2=3D80=3D99s stil=
l living. The deal=3D
er was kind but very clear. He wrote that there is a ready market for the w=
=3D
ork of about eight ceramics artists and he named them. After that, there is=
=3D
virtually no interest. (That=3DE2=3D80=3D99s probably a true statement whe=
n disc=3D
ussing established brick and glass galleries. But on-line, places like Rago=
=3D
Arts and E-bay move plenty of work.)=3D0A=3D0A Now, about the fine soil; =
we c=3D
an think of it as extremely careful and realistic planning. There is an end=
=3D
of life document on-line called =3DE2=3D80=3D9CGood to Go.=3DE2=3D80=3D9D =
It contains =3D
medical directives, revocable trusts, financial provisions and so forth. Fo=
=3D
r my directives, especially related to my ceramic life, I=3DE2=3D80=3D99m e=
xpandi=3D
ng those items to include a detailed list of potters, schools, art centers =
=3D
and institutions who might want (and know how to handle) not just my work b=
=3D
ut raw materials and equipment. And I=3DE2=3D80=3D99m having short conversa=
tions =3D
with most of them to gauge their interest.=3D0A=3D0A It=3DE2=3D80=3D99s ne=
ither fair=3D
nor realistic to expect that my heirs will know how to manage toxic chemic=
=3D
als or delicate pyrometer couplings. To this end, I=3DE2=3D80=3D99m establi=
shing =3D
a fund of several thousand dollars to hire a knowledgeable individual to di=
=3D
stribute my studio assets and rehab the space for some other use.=3D0A=3D0A=
As=3D
to my work, I=3DE2=3D80=3D99ve set aside a number of boxes bearing the rec=
ipient=3D
=3DE2=3D80=3D99s name, each containing certain pots and a letter from me. S=
ince m=3D
y name is not on the list of eight, I=3DE2=3D80=3D99ve left the rest of the=
piece=3D
s to my executor to dispose of in any way and at any time he or she sees fi=
=3D
t. One of the saddest conversations I=3DE2=3D80=3D99ve ever had was with a =
husban=3D
d and a dealer concerning the recently deceased wife=3DE2=3D80=3D99s work. =
The gu=3D
y was sure he had been left a fortune. Time has shown that the work was not=
=3D
hing special. The conversation began obliquely =3DE2=3D80=3D93=3DE2=3D80=3D=
9CI don=3DE2=3D
=3D80=3D99t know who might show this=3DE2=3D80=3D9D and ended thirty minute=
s later wi=3D
th =3DE2=3D80=3D9CI doubt it=3DE2=3D80=3D99s worth anywhere near that.=3DE2=
=3D80=3D9D Long si=3D
lence.=3D0A=3D0A Now to the high-yield manure; an alternative ending to th=
e st=3D
ory above. In this narrative we skip two generations; we think conservation=
=3D
, not conversion. Arrange to keep the body of work in tact. The custodial h=
=3D
eirs or other interested parties spend fifty years developing a compelling =
=3D
history of the artist. Once all the contemporaries are dead, the next gener=
=3D
ation ushers that work on to the collectables market. Even splitting the as=
=3D
sets, the great-grandchildren could do alright. Good to go.=3D0A
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