Carolyn Nygren Curran on sun 25 feb 01
Thank you for that posting, Lee, which started me thinking about my own
roots. Although my ethnic roots may be anglo and swedish, my esthetic roots
seem to lie with a number of cultures other than my own, mostly the early
periods of the cultures in question. Or perhaps my roots are not bound by
geographic barriers but by something else. When I first opened a great book
on early Chinese pottery, I almost cried "YES!" When I saw archaic greek
sculptures, I felt a kinship I never did with classical greek figures. I
could go on and on with my personal artistic "phares" ( translated "beacon"
from a poem by Baudelaire about artistic beacons)...geometric Greek,
mycenean, early redware and early , American dec. stoneware, minoan,
quattrocento rather than cinquecento, romanesque rather than gothic,
Japanese vessels for tea ceremony, etc., etc. But that's enough "I"...for
we each have our own artistic roots which speak to us. There's something
about a tea bowl which speaks to me---a timeless form transcending country
of origin. It may be something entirely different which speaks to you.
But why not? Thanks for letting me up on the soapbox. CNC
Andie Carpenter on sun 25 feb 01
I, too, follow roots in my pottery that are not the same as my ethnic roots. I
don't think there's anything wrong with that, nor do I think (and I'm not quoting
verbatim) that 'all American potters want to be Japanese'. There are many American
potters who create work that I look at and identify as American - Lester Breininger
comes to mind, as does Allegheny Meadows. In my work, I feel very connected to the
pots of the past, and am drawn to the esthetic of certain periods of work in Japan.
Doesn't mean I want to be Japanese, doesn't mean I feel other types of pottery are
invalid, just my personal taste.
PS: Do I make teabowls? Yep. Glaze them with tenmoku glazes, carve a nice deep foot
ring, and can't keep them clean - my husband and son always choose them first. Do I
put handles on my coffee mugs? Of course.
: ) Andie Carpenter
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