Bill Merrill on wed 18 jul 12
I have looked at all the pots I own that were made by other potters. =3D
When looking at all my Dave Shaner pots, the signature is always the =3D
same. On the "pillow Pots" of his is a circular 1/4" stamp that has a =3D
bent blade of grass/bamboo. It is very subtle and unpretentious like the =
=3D
pots he made. I think if potters would sign their pots with their =3D
signature the way their hand writing is there would be no confusion by =3D
anyone. A small personal stamp would also be appropriatein combination =3D
with their signature on anyones work.=3D20
=3D20
I found a Shaner teapot on line that showed the foot and his signature. =3D
It also had a lid that had an osage orange firing mak, something he did =3D
on many of his pots. The tea pot was an early Shaner teapot from when he =
=3D
had just graduated from college.
=3D20
A company (Clay Stamps) makes metal stamps of your design. They are very =
=3D
good and will last throughout a persons career.=3D20
=3D20
Check them out at: http://claystamps.com/
=3D20
Bill Merrill
Randall Moody on wed 18 jul 12
On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 2:47 PM, Bill Merrill wrote:
> I have looked at all the pots I own that were made by other potters. When
> looking at all my Dave Shaner pots, the signature is always the same. On
> the "pillow Pots" of his is a circular 1/4" stamp that has a bent blade o=
f
> grass/bamboo. It is very subtle and unpretentious like the pots he made. =
I
> think if potters would sign their pots with their signature the way their
> hand writing is there would be no confusion by anyone. A small personal
> stamp would also be appropriatein combination with their signature on
> anyones work.
>
> I found a Shaner teapot on line that showed the foot and his signature. I=
t
> also had a lid that had an osage orange firing mak, something he did on
> many of his pots. The tea pot was an early Shaner teapot from when he had
> just graduated from college.
>
> A company (Clay Stamps) makes metal stamps of your design. They are very
> good and will last throughout a persons career.
>
> Check them out at: http://claystamps.com/
>
> Bill Merrill
>
I just pulled out my old copy of "Kovels' American Art Pottey" and in the
margins of nearly every page are images of the pottery marks. Some are
incised, some are impressed, some are printed, some are on paper and
attached to the bottom. All lead the buyer to the provenance of the piece
and thus lead to the valuation of the work.
It could easily be argued that Hamada's repeated use of the same design
was, for all intents and purposes, his "chop". The era of "the unknown
craftsman" is long over. In fact, that era was over when the book was
written. We can use that time and way of thinking to add to what we do now
but we don't have to hold strictly to an archaic set of rules from a
culture not our own. It can inform our works but it shouldn't define our
work.
--
Randall in Atlanta
http://wrandallmoody.com
Robert Harris on wed 18 jul 12
My biggest issue with a true "signature" or even a legible scrawl, is that
my fine motor-coordination is such that my penmanship is quite horrid. Let
alone when trying to inscribe a pot - frankly when I have tried it, it
makes the pot quite ugly (to use a word of the week). A stamp is therefore
a necessity.
On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 2:47 PM, Bill Merrill wrote:
> I have looked at all the pots I own that were made by other potters. When
> looking at all my Dave Shaner pots, the signature is always the same. On
> the "pillow Pots" of his is a circular 1/4" stamp that has a bent blade o=
f
> grass/bamboo. It is very subtle and unpretentious like the pots he made. =
I
> think if potters would sign their pots with their signature the way their
> hand writing is there would be no confusion by anyone. A small personal
> stamp would also be appropriatein combination with their signature on
> anyones work.
>
> I found a Shaner teapot on line that showed the foot and his signature. I=
t
> also had a lid that had an osage orange firing mak, something he did on
> many of his pots. The tea pot was an early Shaner teapot from when he had
> just graduated from college.
>
> A company (Clay Stamps) makes metal stamps of your design. They are very
> good and will last throughout a persons career.
>
> Check them out at: http://claystamps.com/
>
> Bill Merrill
>
--
----------------------------------------------------------
James Freeman on wed 18 jul 12
On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 5:02 PM, Robert Harris wro=
te:
My biggest issue with a true "signature" or even a legible scrawl, is that
my fine motor-coordination is such that my penmanship is quite horrid. Let
alone when trying to inscribe a pot - frankly when I have tried it, it
makes the pot quite ugly (to use a word of the week). A stamp is therefore
a necessity.
Robert, others...
David Hendley wrote an article a long time ago about the importance of
signing one's pots. It is probably on his website. I have two of David's
pieces in my collection, and just turned them over. On the bottom is his
signature, scratched neatly and legibly into the clay. Above the signature
is a neatly stamped impression stating the provenance of the piece; "Old
Farmhouse Pottery, Maydelle, Texas, USA". This impression was obviously
made using a commercially produced stamp, as the lettering is much too
crisp to have been handmade. Perhaps this would be a good solution to the
problem some have described; scrawl your signature, such as it is, and
follow up with a neatly lettered stamp. Put your chop on too, if that
makes you happy! Paul Soldner used a stamp made by pouring plaster into
his belly button, feeling that this was the only mark that could not be
copied by a forger!
David's little extruded pots are cute as heck, by the way. They always
make me smile. Not as much as does my Dick Lehman fast fossil pot with the
sock monkey accidentally imprinted on the side, but close! Nothing can
compete with a sock monkey.
Take care.
...James
James Freeman
"Talk sense to a fool, and he calls you foolish."
-Euripides
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesfreemanstudio/
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com/resources
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on thu 19 jul 12
Hi all,
It is very easy to make durable and highly refined small medium or large
'Stamps' in Bisque, and, then, to carve
into them whatever Mark or Sign or Text one wishes...whether to leave a
'positive' or raised condition or a 'negative' or pressed-in condition.
One can also Carve the Text or other entities in flat Plaster, and, then,
press a piece of damp Porcelain
into that, dry and Bisque the Porcelain 'Stamp-to-be', and, refine it's for=
m
however
one wishes, to then be a 'Stamp' for impressing or leaving raised Text(s) o=
r
a Symbol or vignette or whatever, and of course the same kinds of Stamps ma=
y
be used for making Ornamental Designs in wet or damp or early Leather Hard
Clay, depending.
'Signatures' as such, meaning, cursive 'names' scratched on to the Bottoms
of Pots, at
least to me, always looked like the local Continueing Ed class 'craft sale'=
,
or,
looked
like the person just had no forethought, committment or care about
identifying their Work.
There is of course a History of Paintings being ( usually, quite
descretely ) 'signed', whether in cursive
or printed Letters, but, pretty well nothing
else ever was, Artisanship wise, which is to say, pretty well everything
else, either had a
Paper Label glued on to it, or a Brass 'Tag' Riveted on to it, with the
Maker's Name and Location, or, the
Maker's info or some abbreviation of it, was Stamped or Acid-tched or
Engraved in to the item
directly, one way or
another...or, some objects of course had nothing at all to indicate who had
made it, or where.
I have seen many very forthright, beautiful and refined Maker's Stampings o=
n
Pottery,
both
old and made to-day. Some are names, some are names and locations, some are
a Symbol or device only.
I think this is a very important part of the Pot - that how it is identifie=
d
and to whom ( as Maker ), IS an important part of it's ( overall ) integrit=
y
and Design. As well as, in many instances, allowing people to figure out wh=
o
made it, in order to get some for themselves, of course.
Neglect that, and, no matter how nice the Pot is otherwise, at some 'level'=
,
it is glaring, that the Maker had failed to appreciate the object as a
whole, or to take into account, that anyone would have any reason to care,
later, as for who made it. Which is also to say, the Maker did not really
believe in their Work or, so-to-speak, feel comfortable 'owning' their Work=
.
If we were Potters in a Village in Africa or Pakistan where we were 'The
Potter' and or among the very few of an area, and, conditions remain about
as they always were, it would be different, and, there would be either no
point in identifying one's Pots anyway, or, it would be redundant or silly
or perceived as inaccountably vain or presumptuous to do so, since everyone
in the larger area would know who's Pots are who's, or could easily find ou=
t
by asking. And, with but rare or very very rare execption, no one outside
the immediate area would have any reason to ever want one or to wish to
locate who had made it.
It is not that way in the so to speak 'developed' people-world.
If one wants it to be that way, for one's own peculiar reasons, and to have
no indication on one's Work as
for who made it, or where...then, this is best elected knowingly, and
without it being a default or avoided/conflcited/copmpromised issue, or tha=
n
by default of using
'scratched' orders of identification ( scrawling 'signatures' or sloppy
indeciferable signs scratched in ) which at some level, will appear to
suggest or represent either the conflict or contempt or confusion the Maker
has for their
own Work, and, which the Maker also has for those who may later wish to own
or
obtain their Work.
Phil
L v
Sharon Merriam on thu 19 jul 12
I came to clay via watercolour where one excellent Instructor =3D
articulated the view that view that you only sign a piece if it adds to =3D
the painting. That idea appeals to me. So instead to automatically =3D
signing in the right lower corner as per convention the signing of your =3D
work becomes a considered act that does not take away from the painting =3D
but adds to it.=3D20
How to incorporate that idea into clay? I started by making figurative =3D
sculptures and added either my intials or my signature depending on the =3D
size of the piece and considering the placement of the signature on the =3D
pieces worthy of that extra effort.=3D20
When I started doing wheel work they were small pieces with room only =3D
for intials and they went on the bottom. Easy peasy. My 'signature' has =3D
been evolving with my pots over the years to the point where now I =3D
impress a small favoured shell or stamp with a bisqued stamp made from =3D
same, line has been added so looks like a tree. My initials in a Bauhaus =
=3D
font, the cone # at which the clay is vitrified, type of clay used =3D
stoneware or porcelain and the date are included on the bottom of the =3D
pot and is added after the pot is trimmed. A considered signature which =3D
takes less time to do then to describe and is distinctive, aesthetically =
=3D
satisfying and meaningful to me.=3D20
Sharon Merriam
Arnold Howard on thu 19 jul 12
People should be able to find you on the Internet from your signature
stamp. If you have an uncommon name, then your name alone may be enough
to locate you online. If not, include a web address.
During the Phoenix, Arizona NCECA, I found a beautiful stoneware soap
dish in my hotel room. I turned it over to see who made it and found
only the name Lisa. Her soap dish was probably in every room at the
Hyatt. Imagine the exposure she would have received, year after year, if
she had included a small, unobtrusive stamp with a short web address.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
Ric Swenson on thu 19 jul 12
not to be redundant... but
I just sign my work 'RIC' a carved circle with RIC inside the foot rim...=
.always since 1970s....and used a chop in addition for a few years...also R=
IC on the outside edge of the foot.
yeah there is another RIC SWENSON from Alaska...I think he even won the Al=
aska Iditerod dog sled race 5 times....all my high school classmates wonde=
red about that....NO I was not 'THAT' RIC SWENSON...but thanks for calling.
hehe
I have had the name for a year or two longer. than the dog musher...but....=
..I am a potter...he is a dog guy...He lives still in Manley Hot Springs, A=
K ...or close by...I believe. I live now in China...after stints in Oreg=
on, Washington, Alaska, Vermont, New York, Teaxas and Georgia...to name a f=
ew.
Ric Swenson is A good guy...but his name is not on my ceramics...nor is my=
name on the bottom of his huskies.
God forbid.
google Ric Swenson and you wil find me and the musher. and maybe a docto=
r or two? Maybe in 200 years Google will give a different result? Try =
it.
I sign my acrylic paintings SWENSON...always have always will. Distictive =
maybe? maybe would not work with SMITH or JONES?
works for me anyway.
posterity? who knows? and maybe who cares? as much as I would like to be =
a Gaugain, Renoir, Manet, Monet , Pissaro , van Gogh, Cezanne or another l=
andscapist impressionist/post impressionist painter...it's too late...I ju=
st do my own stuff.
my own struggles with shape, form, color, brushwork....
I don't do soap dishes.
I have spent most of my life teaching drawing, painting and ceramics and ar=
t history.....now at 64 years of age I choose to paint and pot....my only t=
eaching now is English to Chinese students who REALLY need foreign influenc=
e. My good.
and it pays the bills.
sign your work...be proud of your work...IMHO.
regards,
Ric
Ric Swenson, B.F.A, M.F.A.
Ceramist, Artist and Teacher.
Jing De Zhen Ceramic Institute
Jing De Zhen City,
Jiang Xi Province
China
Mobile: 86-13767818872
> Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:20:43 -0500
> From: ahoward@PARAGONWEB.COM
> Subject: Re: personal signature
> To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>
> People should be able to find you on the Internet from your signature
> stamp. If you have an uncommon name, then your name alone may be enough
> to locate you online. If not, include a web address.
>
> During the Phoenix, Arizona NCECA, I found a beautiful stoneware soap
> dish in my hotel room. I turned it over to see who made it and found
> only the name Lisa. Her soap dish was probably in every room at the
> Hyatt. Imagine the exposure she would have received, year after year, if
> she had included a small, unobtrusive stamp with a short web address.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Arnold Howard
> Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
> ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
David Hendley on thu 19 jul 12
Yes, James, my little essay about the importance of signing pots is still
on my website, http://www.farmpots.com/pub.htm, down a little way
from the top. I remember, years and years ago, going 'round and 'round
about this on Clayart with Lee and others - some things never change.
I wrote this for my website in response to that debate.
My shop stamps are lead, made with a hot lead type setting machine. I
had a local behind-the-times printer make me several stamps in 1990,
when the technology was already long out of date. He closed his shop
shortly after that and died a few years later.
I'm glad the little extruded dancing vases still bring you pleasure!
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
http://www.thewahooligans.com
----- Original Message -----
> David Hendley wrote an article a long time ago about the importance of
> signing one's pots. It is probably on his website. I have two of David'=
s
> pieces in my collection, and just turned them over. On the bottom is his
> signature, scratched neatly and legibly into the clay. Above the
> signature
> is a neatly stamped impression stating the provenance of the piece; "Old
> Farmhouse Pottery, Maydelle, Texas, USA". This impression was obviously
> made using a commercially produced stamp, as the lettering is much too
> crisp to have been handmade. Perhaps this would be a good solution to th=
e
> problem some have described; scrawl your signature, such as it is, and
> follow up with a neatly lettered stamp. Put your chop on too, if that
> makes you happy! Paul Soldner used a stamp made by pouring plaster into
> his belly button, feeling that this was the only mark that could not be
> copied by a forger!
>
> David's little extruded pots are cute as heck, by the way. They always
> make me smile. Not as much as does my Dick Lehman fast fossil pot with
> the
> sock monkey accidentally imprinted on the side, but close! Nothing can
> compete with a sock monkey.
>
> Take care.
>
> ...James
>
> James Freeman
Des & Jan Howard on fri 20 jul 12
David
I got my original type metal stamps from a now defunct
local newspaper. A visiting retired printer referred me
to a specialist printing works that still used linotype
machines. After they too faded into the distance I
found a local museum had an extensive printing machine
collection & they made & will still make up more stamps
for me.
Des
On 20/07/2012 10:58 AM, David Hendley wrote:
> My shop stamps are lead, made with a hot lead type
> setting machine. I
> had a local behind-the-times printer make me several
> stamps in 1990,
> when the technology was already long out of date. He
> closed his shop
> shortly after that and died a few years later.
--
Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
Lue NSW
Australia
2850
02 6373 6419
www.luepottery.hwy.com.au
-32.656072 149.840624
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