Cat Jarosz on mon 26 jun 00
Hi I'm having a real bear of a time with clay art here so not sure if
any of my posts are getting posted as I dont get to see them listed since
the change over... not sure whats going on esp. seeing that what I'm
writing about should be concidered clay related where as some of the posts
I've seen and enjoyed btw are things that should be pvtly posted as they
dont have anything to do with clay but with personalities... so here goes
again hope this gets posted LOL....
This is my opinion only and some may or may not agree with it so here
goes :
I really think as a potter doing functional pottery for sale that you
should have some standards as far as FUNCTION goes ... as far as visual
standards go well I'll leave that up to Joe Q Public to discuss that
phenomina ... its not my place to tell anyone what to like or dislike,
akin to perfume ( just cause its expensive and lots of folks love it
doesnt mean you have to love it nor do you have to dislike Old Spice
Cologne for men cause it cheap ) for many it brings back fond memories
of Grandpa and the love trust and secure feelings that scent brings ...
lets get a decent thread going on what functional standards should be
and I also think that even if your work isnt meant to eat or cook on that
function still should be considered and some standards set... such as wall
pieces should be put together with right stuff so it doesnt fall down or
if its a piece to be set out that it shouldnt scratch furniture or cause
injury .... DO NO HARM kind of thing .... I want to be a responsible
artist and would hope anyone selling their work would want to be same as
maybe just maybe if you arent responsible worst case you can turn off
potential buyers from all artists... best case you can make em not buy
from you anylonger and they may tell their friends .... just food for
thought.. respectfully submitted Catski
Cat Jarosz on tue 27 jun 00
yeah asthetics are very important part of the process and yeah I know
the golden rule thingy on proportion and it has helped me grow
tremendously.. glad you brought it up :o) But one must remember that not
everyone is at same skill level in the process of learning and I"ve seen
some real damage to fragile beginners being told things ... when one
critiques a persons work they should take into consideration where this
person is on the learning scale and encourage them along ... Can you not
remember the first lid that fit ??? wooo hoo I thought I was gonna go out
and conquer the world :o) take it by storm ... I laugh at some of my
early pots but dang if it wasnt a biggie for me when I was doing them ...
on a personal level I dont think anyone could have discouraged me from
clay back then as it was a personal trip for me and I celebrated every
achievement along the way ... kinda like bowling I played myself I could
see my progress and thank goodness I had a professor that could see that I
had the persistence and thirst to learn and grow and did not belittle my
attempts... not to say that she didnt do a good critique and point things
out to me .... but she didnt try to destroy me... doubt she could have but
ya never know.... ONe thing I could use besides joe q public buying my
work is getting together with other artists and having critiques on our
work... best way to learn in my opinion ..... I dont have a web site but
do have a pc camera and have tried getting critiques from some of the clay
buds I've met thru clay art and aol.... real hungry to grow and learn
but must say I feel like I'm being a bit ballsy sending and asking for
opinions this way and not sure if its polite??? NOT looking for wows or
compliments at all .. yeah I get excited about some things but still have
a need to learn and grow and know that I get too close to really see my
work at times... and would appreciate a clay artists insite on what i'm
doing ... most of my real life clay buds are toooooo busy to come over
we mainly see each other at the shows 2 times a yr and really too busy for
a critique of any length .... Clay art has been a shot in the arm for an
isolated potter with no life outside of clay but just makes me hungry
for more ... got any ideas anyone ??? CAT
Paul Taylor on tue 27 jun 00
Dear All
I have been thinking more about standards and have desided that there are
two isues here. The function which we all agree on be it decrative or
domestic or monumental. Then the real can of worms esthetic we have scooted
round the isue. we are too inconfident to have an opinion on art. It is like
talking sex infront of granny or money with people who never earnt any for
good or bad it is not done. The subject has been neglaected for so long that
we no longer share the language or the definitions to discuss it. All we
have is oppinions. Huped or modest they are all usless random judjements
that are no help to a beginer to incorperate redefine or rebell against.
I had the misfortune at school of a clasickle education apart from
impessing the imprshnabul with the coomand of a few obscurely long words the
whole expirience was a wast of time. However My art master George Hunter was
a painter graduated from the royal accademy and the clasicle painting I
studied with this tutalige has helped me a great deal especialy with
teaching and looking. when I got to art schoool I found that the only in
formed oppinion that mattered was of the quality of the bere in the Sun pub.
My ceramice tutor was also a man to be respected Peter steel but he was ill
and his replacements could only manage the comment "It just don't look
right". This was the extent of their criticle facility. They poor things
Knew no better and coseted by the perminent tenure system the were never
going to find out otherwise.
There is an oppinion that says that academics is a restriction of the
creative mind. Yet my creativity is not restricted by it. I only wish it was
then I would not be so fikle in my work going off half coked in creative
tangets mixing sickly metephers et all. I enjoy study and I enjoy an
argument. Analises only banishes creativity when it becomes negative and not
part of a search for solutions. One can not blame anybody for a mistrust of
academia it has been wraped up in latin and greek or other symbols that have
excluded the working man from undestanding the some times simple consepts
that academia is explaining, the genral public has the same reactions to
inteligent analisis as it does to spiders.
Now for some practicle examples for us all. There is a thing called the
golden mean or the golden section somr call it the rule of thirds, a
renacence dood worked it out to be the ratio of 1 : 1.46. I may have the
mesurements wrong but it does not matter because it is a naturaly occuring
choice for deviding a line up or a space It is the foundation of
composition. useful!! I find it useful when a lot is going on in a pot and I
am looking to see what is giving me a feeling of not quite right. One of the
things that the gapenese enjoyed doing it is a trich you can all do is not
to make the larger portion the place ware the imaje is They use the space to
give a spiritual sence to the composition. if Th fill the greater space with
the image the negative space is only interfeared with by a poem or signiture
things outside the picture. there are other rules of composition to make or
be broken but that one will do for a start.
Form and line are also devided up this way it is a bit more dificut to
see especialy since the form is on three dimentions and the best sculptures
and pots work compositionaly from all angles
> From: Cat Jarosz
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 04:14:12 EDT
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Standards for functional pots
>
> Hi I'm having a real bear of a time with clay art here so not sure if
> any of my posts are getting posted as I dont get to see them listed since
> the change over... not sure whats going on esp. seeing that what I'm
> writing about should be concidered clay related where as some of the posts
> I've seen and enjoyed btw are things that should be pvtly posted as they
> dont have anything to do with clay but with personalities... so here goes
> again hope this gets posted LOL....
>
> This is my opinion only and some may or may not agree with it so here
> goes :
> I really think as a potter doing functional pottery for sale that you
> should have some standards as far as FUNCTION goes ... as far as visual
> standards go well I'll leave that up to Joe Q Public to discuss that
> phenomina ... its not my place to tell anyone what to like or dislike,
> akin to perfume ( just cause its expensive and lots of folks love it
> doesnt mean you have to love it nor do you have to dislike Old Spice
> Cologne for men cause it cheap ) for many it brings back fond memories
> of Grandpa and the love trust and secure feelings that scent brings ...
> lets get a decent thread going on what functional standards should be
> and I also think that even if your work isnt meant to eat or cook on that
> function still should be considered and some standards set... such as wall
> pieces should be put together with right stuff so it doesnt fall down or
> if its a piece to be set out that it shouldnt scratch furniture or cause
> injury .... DO NO HARM kind of thing .... I want to be a responsible
> artist and would hope anyone selling their work would want to be same as
> maybe just maybe if you arent responsible worst case you can turn off
> potential buyers from all artists... best case you can make em not buy
> from you anylonger and they may tell their friends .... just food for
> thought.. respectfully submitted Catski
>
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