will edwards on sun 26 nov 00
Hello,
Recently I have been really busy with teaching and seldom get to throw li=
ke I
am used to doing. Of course we teach the wheel where I work and on occasi=
on
someone in the group of students will always ask me to do a rather large =
piece
of pottery.
I recently made a boo-boo when throwing a very large platter. The student=
really loved the fact that I messed up since I am supposed to be the mast=
er of
my trade as an artist. =
I never said a word I took the bat and the big platter and moved on to an=
other
piece and accomplished the goal they wanted. (I should have said somethin=
g but
I didn't)
However the ending was a sweet one. That horrible boo-boo I made was save=
d and
when the class was over and everyone took a few days rest prior to return=
ing I
had carved the platter and added a nice cobra with his tail wrapped aroun=
d the
platter on one end and made some fake wood by drawing a ruler over a chun=
k of
clay while squiggleing it and then had the cobra holding his head out fro=
m the
edge of the platter with his vents spread wide as if ready to strike.
When some of the students came back they saw the results and had a fit ov=
er
how it looked. None even mentioned the very fact that is might have been =
that
platter with the boo-boo in it because they had became over-whelmed with =
this
new look!
Perception is what you make of your work. I sometimes (rarely) mess up a =
piece
now days because of the years of training I have had and the need for acc=
uracy
and the very fact of being taunted by my students. But it is always good =
to be
able to show how you can bring out the very best in the worst of your wor=
k by
opening the mind to new ideas.
I believe I have accomplished my goals as a potter/teacher by letting the=
m
know that as humans we make mistakes and sometimes we can bring out the b=
eauty
of our inner selves by being visionaries. Look at raku! Did we not all sa=
ve
those less than perfect pieces for the sake of raku or did we do this to =
have
a way to bury our misfortune of a culled pot we throw on occasion. =
Before the flames start, I am talking about anything that comes to mind o=
ther
than that perfect thrown piece that may have been purposefully altered fo=
r
raku. (I have those as well.)
So... throwing, sculpting, altering and tinkering among other words descr=
ibes
us as what? A potter is what a potter does. They work in clay as Mel said=
and
a ceramist is a person who works in ceramics. However the technical term =
used
in America to describe all the above is Ceramics.
I do find it rather funny to see no ceramists claiming they are potters. =
BTW -
I also am the director as well for ceramics in our Arts Center in Opelika=
Al.
Ceramics are on one side of the lobby and pottery is on the other. Smooth=
operation but both are different in many ways.
When I came on board I took on the department as head cook which included=
the
left over days of ceramics that had almost went out of business there.
One thing for sure, a potter can make use from a bad piece of wet clay an=
d a
ceramist can only re-mold a piece that is considered a loss. It seldom ca=
n be
made to look better than it did when it was first pulled from the mold ot=
her
than to decorate. Its in the perception of the artist not the concept of =
a
standard imposed by others.(The Cobra platter, my reminder)
William Edwards
Opelika Arts Center
Tallapoosa River Pottery
(334) 705-5558
____________________________________________________________________
Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=3D=
1
| |
|
