mudlark on sun 11 mar 01
This all relates to a conversation I had with my friend Jerry one Sunday morning.
I had just moved to Howard, Co and was living a dream on the Arkansas River,
making my birdfeeders and pots, flyfishing every day. We called it "adult summer
camp". The talk got around to the "Perfect Day".
Start with the perfect day and work back. On the perfect day- where do you wake
up? With whom? Do you live in a big house or a metal box. Do you drive a beater or
a Lexus. How much money do you need? What do you want to do to fund this. It's a
business plan for your life. Can you support your perfect day with art? Is
production part of that? You use your art to design the pieces you produce. Can
you do both. I always thought the production supported my art habit. which can be
a very expensive habit. What Jerry's process came down to was if you need 30K to
live you perfect day then how many hummingbird feeders will it take? AND-- is it
possible?
So.....what is your perfect day and how do you do it?
Lee Love wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "artimater"
>
> > I included production work as one of the ways to make
> > a living in clay...
> >... I also noticed the lack of numerals in your post....As I
> >have said before, its takes about $50000 a year net...
>
> I remember Matt Metz talking about making a living at a workshop of
> his I attended. He said that his profs at school promoted the idea that
> selling "art" in galleries was the only way to make a living at clay. He
> tried this for a while, but then realized that his teachers were subsidized by
> their teaching. He moved into more functional work and found that it was a
> better place to make a living.
>
> We all have different "needs." About 17 years ago, I made more
> money than I have in the recent past. I am much more "comfortable" living
> more simply. This can be a very important aspect of the potter's
> lifestyle. We can never "Have all we want", but we can "Want all we have."
>
> >$12 coffee cups, more power to ya!.....Picasso said it was
> > pitiful for an artist to copy himself.....He is one of my
> > heroes....I would sooner dig ditches...
>
> A $12 cup does not have to be a copy, any more than an abstract
> painting is a copy of an abstract painting. "Original" art is often a copy
> of the last work, especially if an artist has had some financial sucess.
>
> > Since this list is for such people I think it might be OK for
> > them to get a taste of what a brick wall they are required to
> > break down with their heads
>
> There are fewer "brick walls" in functional pottery: fewer hoops to
> jump through, fewer butts to kiss, fewer gate keepers to have to please.
> You just have to please the people that buy your work.
>
> There is no war between functional pottery making and making "art."
> Here in Japan, functional pottery IS ART. Do what you have to do because
> you are moved to do it. No need to try and discredit what others are doing
> to justify what you are doing.
>
> --
> One History One Future OneAkita
> Lee Love http://oneakita.com
> Mashiko JAPAN Ikiru@kami.com
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>
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