Joyce Lee on mon 15 may 00
As I grew older influences changed ... some were negatives with positive
impacts. AND I hasten to add, I am still being influenced every day now
that I've dared to think "clay" and "art" in connection to myself.
Mark Twain's "Letters From Earth".... very bitter, pessimistic.... I
loved it and heavily influenced some of my views.
Poe's cadences ... I'd never heard poetry read aloud where the sound of
the syllables conformed to the meaning and mood of the words.
Peggy Lee's version of "Is That All There Is?" Dark, but something in my
sunny person responded emphatically.
All the bad teachers in whose classes I checked out mentally and gave in
to daydreams ... learned to take notes without paying attention to what
I was writing. Later when I decided to leave "merchandising" for a job
where I could be home with kids when they were out of school, although I
was unsure of my abilities since I was definitely not "called" to
the classroom, I remembered these teachers and figured I could do a
better job than they'd done. Changed my life.
John Donne ...... ahhh his rascal period, not after he became part of
the London religious life. Intelligent, technical romanticism (my
words... apologies to literature lovers everywhere) ... before his time.
Mrs. Livesay, college typing class where I learned skills that helped me
contribute to family's living and help me now as I type this to Clayart.
All the Clayart gurus who help me constantly ... help all of us; heavily
and actively influenced by them ..... ongoing. I could list them, but
you know who they are. The list is long. The most recent was Mel who
talked (the talk, and walked the walk,) me through a full day of firing
a load of shino!!
Warren McKenzie and Robin Hopper and JackTroy (and just missed Paul
Lewing who did a wondrous workshop here in the desert when I was taking
my first class) because they were the first "real" potters to whom I'd
been exposed ... they were excellent role models and teachers.
All of the museums/galleries I've visited in London, Paris, Versailles,
Amsterdam etc Like many of you, I wander about each one with a
tremendous desire to just set up camp and move in forever ...
JOyce
In the Mojave
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