mel jacobson on tue 18 oct 11
when i had concluded my first phase study, mr. uchida
gave me a standard number of pots per hour for my apprenticeship.
25
so, i would make standard mugs, bowls etc at the rate of about
25 an hour. it was not in stone, but a number to shoot for.
i worked about nine hours a day. all hump throwing.
a couple hundred was not a big deal.
same, same, same...over and over.
but, remember...you threw on monday. trimmed on tuesday.
it took longer to trim than throw. tuesday maybe 10 hours.
wed. throw, thursday trim. friday throw, saturday trim
and finish everything.
sunday..i got to make my own pots/.//alone.
when you work out the hours...it is not a speed issue.
it is a perfection issue. every pot is made the same as
the one before it. exact.
on tuesday, the pots just came out...and you trimmed them
all. three throwers and the work was identical.
i was always nervous about mistakes, so i usually pulled
my own boards out to trim. i sure did not want nagata-san
doing mine. those guys were perfect.
(but 20 years of repeat work ahead of me.)
the other two full time throwers got a bonus for extra pots made
each day. they had a system of counting..i think it was rice grains
as an abacus. but they knew how many each day. they kept a log.
me, not so serious about numbers...just get it right.
uchida was a serious perfectionist. hard for me being a casual guy...but
i managed. my neighbor said one day `uchida/sensei is crazy man, perfect
crazy man..hard to work for, crazy man.` he sure was. but he treated me
very well, had full respect for my attempt. i was very blessed with that
experience.
mel
(remember, i arrived in japan with a `master's degree`, and ten years
of teaching so my credentials were impeccable. it made a great difference.
most American folks have no idea how important degrees and teaching
and being a crafts person are in japan.)
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
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