Don Jones on mon 8 mar 99
Hello group,
I have been following the thread on the Rosen show and I have
observations I'd like to share:
Every once in a while, Wendy expresses the opinion ( and rightly so) that it
is up to us to stop what we perceive as the trend towards manufacturing and
mass produced ceramics at these large shows. Her point is that large sales
from large companies propel us toward expansion and mass production. The
catch 22 here is that I agree with her but it is hard to put your foot down
and say "No I won't take your $12,000 order". But if we don't then it is the
big boys who are truly driving this market and not us. These big galleries
and chains demand on time delivery, consistent work and net 60 payments.
I am more guilty than most of you on the list of taking large orders and
whining about not having enough time to develop new work and grow as an
artist. My only beef now is that these large and wonderful shows in Philly
and Baltimore are too far away and expensive for me to take risky and daring
work to. Living in the West limits one to a few small retail shows and
travelling among them is risky, time consuming and expensive too.
A good many of us on the list are not employed by academia or otherwise
subsidized and so we are trapped into throwing a thousand mugs, bowls or
whatnot to make the mortgage and the insurance. I'd like to propose to
Wendy and the group that her show be structured a little differently to
highlight the smaller operations or differentiate them in some way from the
large production studios. This would save time and energy for the buyers
who are looking for unique work and prevent such intense competition for
sales between the large and small studios. They could visit their freinds
at Jiggerworks to get the large orders of low priced items and then go to
the smaller guys for the expensive one of a kind stuff. The "Small Studio
Alliance" is making progress towards this end but not fast enough in my
opinion. By the way, they make no distinction between casting and
handbuilding or throwing. Just that it be done as original work and that
the artist is essentially involved in every stage of the operation and have
no more than two people (I think)
For myself, I'd like to get out of the large order treadmill. My
calender is absolutely full as of this posting. I won't be able to make any
significant artistic progress until next December. While this sounds like a
brag beleive me it isn't. For those of you who envy me, be careful what you
wish for.
Any suggestions from the group would be appreciated.
Don Jones
http://www.highfiber.com/~claysky
lpskeen on tue 9 mar 99
Don Jones wrote:
The "Small Studio> Alliance" is making progress towards this end but not
fast enough in my> opinion. By the way, they make no distinction
between casting and> handbuilding or throwing. Just that it be done as
original work and that> the artist is essentially involved in every
stage of the operation and have> no more than two people (I think)
Don, et al.:
It is my understanding that the Small Studio Alliance won't be making
any more progress towards anything, because it has been disbanded. At
least, that was the message I got when they sent back my membership
fees.....
--
Lisa Skeen ICQ# 15554910
Living Tree Pottery & Soaps http://www.uncg.edu/~lpskeen
FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!!! It comes bundled with the software.
The Bill of Rights - (void where prohibited by law)
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