clennell on thu 22 mar 01
i just got an invite to be a part of a group of potters to make 1000 bowls
in a day as a fund raiser. Tuckers ( Mini Mudd and Mr. Mudd are donating the
clay). these guys are so generous to the pot community.
I will however not be participating. sit for a day, do demos, rush the
throwing, rush the drying, rush the trimming and them have someone else
glaze them in some god forsaken glaze and fire them in kiln I am not
familiar with. I can only visualize 1000 ugly bowls. Sell them for a couple
of bucks. Does harm to the reputation of the clay community. i'd rather
donate one that I made at home, carefully, thoughtfully and skillfully.I
don't care for these circus shows. I've done them before and i then later I
get to see the pots I made- make a grown man heave his cookies.
Sometimes the ones that think they are pumping up the reputation of craft
are bringing it down.
that's what I'm thinking - today anyway!
cheers,
Tony
P.S thanks for the compliment on the vase- mayor.
Joyce Lee on fri 23 mar 01
Tony C. said:
> I can only visualize 1000 ugly bowls. Sell them for a couple
> of bucks. Does harm to the reputation of the clay community. i'd rather
> donate one that I made at home, carefully, thoughtfully and skillfully.I
> don't care for these circus shows.
You know, Tony, as often is the case I absolutely agree with you but I
do have another take on such events also. Five years ago when I'd thrown
maybe a total of a couple dozen pots ever I was asked to participate in
such a massive bowl project. I did. I've been forever shamed when I
think of "my" bowls being out there, even though they didn't have my
identity on the bottom and had been trimmed, glazed and fired by someone
else. I know they're mine and hate that they exist. But I become even
sadder when I recall the lumpy messes that we were ALL producing,
including some pretty good potters. Yes, fewer, better examples created
with care and forethought would have left a warmer feeling in the heart
of this budding potter ... I fear too that the concept that in pottery
faster is always better remained with some of my fellow newbies and
hampered their growth. I haven't volunteered my services since, although
I do give pots to such causes ... easy for me; mine are NOT works of
art. I would not like seeing your pots, or the mayor's, or Dannon's, or
John's, Richard's, Bacia's or any of the other artists on this list
in such a setting .. cheapens them. Better to give money.
My other take, though, is that most of our purchasers knew no better and
were thrilled to receive these awkward... and ugly ... bowls ... I
should have been aware, but wasn't, that many folk have NO handmade
objects in their homes, which may be furnished with little in which they
can take pride. I carry a memory that I never want to lose of a 19 year
old mother of four who brought me a snapshot once of six of my pots tht
I'd given to the local thrift shop ... a couple of bowls, a small
pitcher, a mug, two small vases ... probably sold for $1.00 each and
about what they were worth ... she'd placed them on some sort of tiered
arrangement which was covered with a satin cloth, on a living room table
.... obviously a point of pride in her household.... my crummy, lumpy,
dumpy pots... I wasn't ashamed of those pieces .... only touched.
Joyce
In the Mojave trying to get everything done before leaving for
Charlotte... and happy to be part of such a group......
Elca Branman on fri 23 mar 01
When I first started to read, I read anything, including cereal boxes and
Big Little books(those of you under 70 will not know what those
were..sold in the 5 &10 and were Dick Tracy et al. ) As i got older my
taste developed., and I moved on to Moby Dick .
I think the same thing can and does happen in art..therefore,some people
may treasure "ugly" pots now, but will,in time, move on to better pots.
I believe that in giving to charity , we give what we can, and if our
pots are only so-so now, thats all we can give...
Elca in Sarasota, Flelcab1@juno.com
On Fri, 23 Mar 2001 07:32:13 -0800 Joyce Lee
writes:
> Tony C. said:
>
> > I can only visualize 1000 ugly bowls. Sell them for a couple
> > of bucks. Does harm to the reputation of the clay community. i'd
> think of "my" bowls being out there, even though they didn't have my
> identity on the bottom and had been trimmed, glazed and fired by
> someone
> else. I know they're mine and hate that they exist. But I become
> even
> sadder when I recall the lumpy messes that we were ALL producing,
> including some pretty good potters. Yes, fewer, better examples
> created
> John's, Richard's, Bacia's or any of the other artists on this list
> in such a setting .. cheapens them. Better to give money.
>
> My other take, though, is that most of our purchasers knew no better
>
>
elcab1@juno.com
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Jane Powers on fri 23 mar 01
Joyce's thoughtful reply made me cry! One person's trash is another person's
treasure....
This also speaks to the recent thread about our worth and value of our
creations.
Thanks Joyce, for putting that out there.
Jane Powers
vince pitelka on fri 23 mar 01
> I can only visualize 1000 ugly bowls. Sell them for a couple
> of bucks. Does harm to the reputation of the clay community. i'd rather
> donate one that I made at home, carefully, thoughtfully and skillfully.I
> don't care for these circus shows.
Tony -
I suppose much of it depends on the market. If one harvests 1000 crappy
bowls and foists them off on a sophisticated buying public, it could
conceivably do some damage to the reputation of the clay community, but I
doubt it. In most cases, the bowls that are gathered for "empty bowls"
events encompass a broad spectrum of skill level and quality, and the buying
public tends to be quite enthusiastic about these events regardless. We
would hope to educate the public through our wares, but perhaps this is one
venue where that is less of a concern.
Once a year we have a "bowlathon" to make bowls for a Habitat for Humanity
chili/gumbo cook-off. We gather a big group of potters, and make and trim
about a thousand bowls in a day. Each potter is responsible for glazing
their own bowls. Maybe that is the difference. These bowls are not
masterpieces, but they are nicely thrown and nicely glazed. The organizers
of the fundraiser gather bowls from many hobby and professional potters in
addition to our substantial contribution, and there are a lot of doorstops
in the lot. This event has become a big deal, and people get there early to
have their pick of the better bowls. But somehow, every single damn bowl
sells, and they usually end up selling more chili or gumbo at a reduced rate
in styrofoam bowls. They normally charge $10 for a bottomless bowl of chili
or gumbo, and the buyer keeps the bowl. Keep in mind that the cost of
living in Cookeville is very low.
We recently had a mug sale to raise money for my students to attend NCECA.
We sold handmade mugs for five bucks. That's a steal, but we made close to
a thousand bucks in two days, and that will allow quite a few students to
attend the conference. I encourage my students to price their work
realistically, but there are exceptions.
There are always tradeoffs and compromises. While I fully appreciate your
comments on this subject, I do see the "empty bowls" events as very
worthwhile, and I encourage potters everywhere to participate.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Louis Katz on fri 23 mar 01
Eating from Ugly pots is better than eating from boring pots. At least ugly pots
stimulate one to think of why they are Ugly. I know this is really a war of words,
but..
Louis
clennell on sat 24 mar 01
>
> Once a year we have a "bowlathon" to make bowls for a Habitat for Humanity
> chili/gumbo cook-off. We gather a big group of potters, and make and trim
> about a thousand bowls in a day. Each potter is responsible for glazing
> their own bowls. Maybe that is the difference. These bowls are not
> masterpieces, but they are nicely thrown and nicely glazed. The organizers
> of the fundraiser gather bowls from many hobby and professional potters in
> addition to our substantial contribution, and there are a lot of doorstops
> in the lot. This event has become a big deal, and people get there early to
> have their pick of the better bowls. But somehow, every single damn bowl
> sells, and they usually end up selling more chili or gumbo at a reduced rate
> in styrofoam bowls. They normally charge $10 for a bottomless bowl of chili
> or gumbo, and the buyer keeps the bowl. Keep in mind that the cost of
> living in Cookeville is very low.
vince, Bacia and all : I have really liked the answers to 1000 ugly bowls
and I expecially like the concept that ugly is a whole lot better than
boring. sooner eat from something ugly that gives us something to talk about
than to eat from something-syrofoam/cardboard that does nothing to stimulate
our eyes or our conversation.
the empty bowl or the gumbo cookoff are good things. We always give bowls.
Last year according to our bookeeper we gave $2000 in pots to charities.
Many more dollars if we counted the ones that don't give tax receipts. We
don't have money but we always have pots.
Vinces students should always be encouraged to make and sell pots. The
conference is a good incentive. I think it helps them get used to the idea
that perhaps the reason for schooling is to one day become gainfully
employed. A concept that doesn't seem to exist in many art schools. How
many schools have a student retail shop????? yes, you have to dress up and
work in the retail store. It's part of the training. See what sells, what
doesn't, learn about pricing etc, etc. god, I starting to sound like the
Mayor.
time for me to give my septic system a rest and go pollute North Carolina.
cheers,
Tony
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