klauzer jessica a on sat 28 nov 98
The last firing of my formal undergraduate education is warming up outside
in the evening air of Thanksgiving. The pieces within constitute the
bulk of my work in clay for the last three months. I should be
nervous, having put all of my eggs in one basket, but the kiln seems
happy and the moon is a cockeyed smile. These next few weeks mark the
end of a time where I have had free reign over materials
and time to work, my mind so far from a nine-to-five job that I can see
the clay spinning in its own time. As the student loans lurk like
black sea ogres in a murky pond, the obvious answer is for me to run as
fast as I can from their grasping tongues. Run to graduate school!! Run
as fast as you can!! There has to be a street somewhere around here
where I can find a good hot dog -- a morsel of sweetness in an otherwise
tart November.
I have just spoken to my great-grandmother over the phone,
enjoying her 96 year-old voice in exuberance for this day of
celebration and family. My Turkey Day was spent sleeping, missing this
day of family togetherness entirely, as I recovered from yet
another all-nighter in the studio. This time I was glazing. Last night I
thought it would only take me a couple of hours to glaze and a couple more
to load the kiln. At 10:00 AM, as I heard the bells chiming the hour in
the painfully sunny morning, I realized I was quite wrong, again. Silly
me -- I think every time I go to glaze that it'll only take me a little
while, and every time it ends up taking me a whole day (or night).
Sometimes I feel like clay people don't get enough respect for
their hard work -- most people don't understand what level of commitment
is involved. The most frequent question that people ask me is "how long
does it take to make a pot?" I try to explain what all is entailed, but
by the first mention of something like "bisk" or "cone 10" the audience is
deaf. Perhaps it is enough to be satisfied with oneself in a good day's
work, one should not try to solicit praise from uninformed sources.
The final outcome of all this work is a two-week show in the
University gallery and a pretty certificate. But of course that is not
all I have gained from these years of working. My obsessive love affair
with clay has gotten only sweeter and more intense. But it may seem a
sick perversion to some -- the necessity to create little objects to
maintain my health and sanity. I am just as sick and sane as any other
person out there, with my outlet of emotion and unique creativity taking
form in a piece of white clay.
I am grateful for these years here -- my faculty in a technical
world has become strong enough to support its own weight, the fire now
seems but an extension of my own arms and fingers, the wheel a regular
kitchen appliance.
My BFA show opens on Friday, December 4 and runs for a couple of weeks --
the suare next Friday from 7 to 9 will be difficult, interesting,
exciting, scary, embarrasing, wonderful, stressful and fun. Drop by if
you're in town!!
At the CU Art Galleries in the Sibell-Wolle Fine Arts Building in
beautiful Boulder Colorado, 75 degrees on Thanksgiving -- who could ask
for more??
jessica
Pat Porter on thu 3 dec 98
Hi Jessica,
Congrats!!!! You have earned it. I went through the same thing in painting
and sculpture 30 years ago this comming May at the University of Denver. I
will remember every "all nighter" that I pulled until my last hours. WOW!
Go For It Girl!!!!!!
Pat Porter
kitties@pcisys.net
Aurora Colorado
-----Original Message-----
From: klauzer jessica a
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Saturday, November 28, 1998 8:25 AM
Subject: BFA Blues (long lamentation)
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
The last firing of my formal undergraduate education is warming up outside
in the evening air of Thanksgiving. The pieces within constitute the
bulk of my work in clay for the last three months. I should be
nervous, having put all of my eggs in one basket, but the kiln seems
happy and the moon is a cockeyed smile. These next few weeks mark the
end of a time where I have had free reign over materials
and time to work, my mind so far from a nine-to-five job that I can see
the clay spinning in its own time. As the student loans lurk like
black sea ogres in a murky pond, the obvious answer is for me to run as
fast as I can from their grasping tongues. Run to graduate school!! Run
as fast as you can!! There has to be a street somewhere around here
where I can find a good hot dog -- a morsel of sweetness in an otherwise
tart November.
I have just spoken to my great-grandmother over the phone,
enjoying her 96 year-old voice in exuberance for this day of
celebration and family. My Turkey Day was spent sleeping, missing this
day of family togetherness entirely, as I recovered from yet
another all-nighter in the studio. This time I was glazing. Last night I
thought it would only take me a couple of hours to glaze and a couple more
to load the kiln. At 10:00 AM, as I heard the bells chiming the hour in
the painfully sunny morning, I realized I was quite wrong, again. Silly
me -- I think every time I go to glaze that it'll only take me a little
while, and every time it ends up taking me a whole day (or night).
Sometimes I feel like clay people don't get enough respect for
their hard work -- most people don't understand what level of commitment
is involved. The most frequent question that people ask me is "how long
does it take to make a pot?" I try to explain what all is entailed, but
by the first mention of something like "bisk" or "cone 10" the audience is
deaf. Perhaps it is enough to be satisfied with oneself in a good day's
work, one should not try to solicit praise from uninformed sources.
The final outcome of all this work is a two-week show in the
University gallery and a pretty certificate. But of course that is not
all I have gained from these years of working. My obsessive love affair
with clay has gotten only sweeter and more intense. But it may seem a
sick perversion to some -- the necessity to create little objects to
maintain my health and sanity. I am just as sick and sane as any other
person out there, with my outlet of emotion and unique creativity taking
form in a piece of white clay.
I am grateful for these years here -- my faculty in a technical
world has become strong enough to support its own weight, the fire now
seems but an extension of my own arms and fingers, the wheel a regular
kitchen appliance.
My BFA show opens on Friday, December 4 and runs for a couple of weeks --
the suare next Friday from 7 to 9 will be difficult, interesting,
exciting, scary, embarrasing, wonderful, stressful and fun. Drop by if
you're in town!!
At the CU Art Galleries in the Sibell-Wolle Fine Arts Building in
beautiful Boulder Colorado, 75 degrees on Thanksgiving -- who could ask
for more??
jessica
Jennifer on fri 4 dec 98
I was in your shoes this past spring -- congratulations!!! Your right
about loans and jobs and a love for clay. I feel like I could have
wrote your message word for word. But things have a way of working out
as I'm sure all clayart members will agree. I don't want to bored
everyone on the list who has paid for their loans or has a great clay
job -- so feel free to e-mail me personally if you need to vent more!!!
Jen
bcsg@wmis.net
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