Nina Jones on fri 28 apr 00
Hello the group!
Re jurying: all processes should be revealed to the jury/show
promotors and customers. Categories should be complied with as listed
and as decribed by the individual promoters. If an individual's work
is not in compliance with the show's categories, they should be honest
enough to NOT misrepresent their work so that they *appear* to be in
compliance. You don't have to give a detailed report, maybe, but
don't say it is what it ain't. Find a show or contest that is
applicable to the work you do and apply for it.
Okay, the next part is addressing the "slipcast v. handbuilt. . . ."
and is longish . . . and personal. Delete or skip past if you don't
care to continue.
My husband slip-casts and I throw on the wheel. We became entangled
in this conflict when I turned to "pottery" and the wheel 2 years ago
after 10-11 years of slip-casting and "hobby" ceramics. As I became
consumed by the wheel and totally ignored the beautiful figurines he
was pouring for me, he felt that I was abandoning him. When I first
joined Clayart, after reading to him, with blind, glowing enthusiasm,
some of the posts I'd printed from the list, he felt that I had become
an elitist snob. He thought that I felt his work was inferior to mine
and that it was not a real craft/art form. I woke up one day to a
hurting man and a hurting relationship. He had completely stopped
working for almost a year before I ever even noticed.
He never said a word to discourage me. Patiently drove me out to
Great Lakes Clay two and three times a month, hauled hundreds of
pounds of clay and raw materials up a flight of stairs to my attic
studio and helped me fire each and every load. Built shelving units,
a wedging table and a platform for my wheel. I have spent, literally,
thousands of dollars, for equipment, tools, raw materials, clays, and
book/magazine and video resources, to create the studio I have today.
And he never said a word. The damage has been repaired, but whoa, for
a minute there . . . [insert panicy shudder here].
Every human being on the face of the earth is entitled to his/her
opinion. But I wonder. Those who hate slip-casting so, have you ever
been involved with the process? Have you ever made or maintained the
molds? Poured pieces from them, assembled and cleaned the pieces? It
is a very time-consuming process and sometimes very difficult,
depending on the complexity of the piece.
I, myself, prefer throwing to pouring because it's faster and, now
that I know what the hell I'm doing, much, much easier. I love
throwing. I hate pouring. I don't mind cleaning, but I would prefer
trimming a piece on the wheel any day of the week. It's faster and it
feels better and safer, considering the dust created by cleaning
bone-dry greenware. BUT I still prefer painting a beautiful figurine
to glazing a pot. I'm working hard to get to a place with my glazes
and glazing techniques where I'm just as comfortable with working with
them as I am with working with acrylic stains, but right at the moment
I'm struggling with this.
Of COURSE there is a huge difference between slip-casting and
hand-building. But then there are big differences between coiling,
pinching, slabbing and throwing too. Factory or "ceramic shop"
manufactured ware is something different again. Distinctions should
be clearly stated. Mass produced factory ware which is produced by
machines and only incidentally touched by human hands is something
that I don't even think anybody is talking about here; it's understood
what category that falls into. You SHOULD feel that your process is
the best . . . for you . . . because this passion and pride will be
reflected in your work and will help you to develop. But be careful
of those who may become road kill in your drive to where you are
going.
Okay, that's way long enough I think.
Nina D. Jones
Southside Chicago
@ njones@winston.com
Ray Aldridge on mon 1 may 00
At 06:03 PM 4/28/00 EDT, Nina wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Every human being on the face of the earth is entitled to his/her
>opinion. But I wonder. Those who hate slip-casting so, have you ever
>been involved with the process? Have you ever made or maintained the
>molds? Poured pieces from them, assembled and cleaned the pieces? It
>is a very time-consuming process and sometimes very difficult,
>depending on the complexity of the piece.
>
Nina, I haven't heard anyone say they hated slipcasting. What upsets them,
I think, is the idea that slipcast work is sometimes called "handmade."
Some work assembled from slipcast components can honestly be called
handmade, but a figurine cast from a commercial mold, no matter how
brilliantly decorated, does not warrant the adjective "handmade." This
isn't a debate about which is the more virtuous technique, it's about
definitions. I've seen china painting that I liked better than many
handmade pieces I've seen, but the object on which the china painter
developed her imagery was not handmade.
Ray
Aldridge Porcelain and Stoneware
http://www.goodpots.com
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