Janet Kaiser on fri 1 oct 99
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I have just been going through the books (well, flipping through my =
dog-eared
notebook) to back up my claims of a definite trend in the past 5 years... We=
all
know there are trends, fashions, fads and fancies, but what triggered my
check-up was a lot of bowls and teapots =22hanging around=22 now we are at =
the end
of the 1999 tourist season, and which I certainly expected to sell long ago.
After a cursory check I can categorically say that the general public =
wanted:
1995-96 teapots
1996-97 bowls
1998-99 non-functional vessels and fish=21
So anything and everything with a =22seaside=22 motif, feel, inspiration or
whatever. Shells, seaweed, stones, sand, indeed anything maritime, but most
especially FISH is =22IT=22 this year here in Wales. Fish tiles, fish on
pots/vessels you could not keep/cook/stand anything in and =2Athe hit=2A: =
fish
sculptures. Even the functional ware with fish (especially carp/Japanese =
style
brushwork) sold really quickly.
Now, I find this very fishy indeed=21 What has prompted the =22play safe=22 =
British
public to suddenly discover a love of fish? Non-functional too=21 Even =
sculptural=21
Amazing=21 The teapots and bowls all very beautiful, but the alibi always =
being
the functionality of the piece =22allowing=22 the buyer an unplanned =
=22extravagance=22.
So what, I would like to ask all of you Claybuds around the world, is the
current =22trend=22 where you live, work and sell? Not only your own work, =
but what
you see in other potter's workshops, galleries, craft fairs, ceramic =
magazines,
associations and the likes - locally and nationally? Have you noticed a =
really
marked trend away from one type of work or article to another?
I know not one of us can ever hope to forecast a trend correctly or in time,=
it
is just =22academic interest=22 which prompts the question... Or are we =
really
entering the Age of Aquarius with a vengeance?
Thanks for your thoughts
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art: Home of The International Potters' Path NEEDS ANOTHER
4,000-odd TILES=21=21
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales, UK
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
EMAIL: postbox=40the-coa.org.uk
If you experience difficulties accessing our web site, please e-mail me=21 =
Thank
you=21
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