Helen Bates on sun 1 jul 01
Dear Marcella,
Er, yes, some painters, such as my husband's and my teacher of several
years, Gilles Miramontes, has sometimes left his work unsigned; he
feels that the signature can detract from the painting.
I don't paint now, and did only a few pastels a number of years ago,
but my husband paints. He likes to sign his work, but uses his first
and second name only, no surname.
I signed the one of mine I let him have framed, but with very small
lettering that might just be a shadow in the edge of the blanket the
model is reclining on.
Likewise Peter makes his signatures rather inconspicuous.
On my pots, when I make them, I must sign them so they can be
recognized amongst the other student work coming out of the school
kiln. That seems somewhat less necessary recently, as I have
developed a style of working in spite of myself, just from having made
a couple of hundred pots on the wheel.
Buying pots, I look for signatures because I want to know what
people's work is like, whose names I've heard, or if I later meet
them, have a picture of what they have made in my mind. (Though I
have a sieve for a memory and this means often I don't remember after
all.)
I have bought pots by "famous" or "well-known" potters here, and oddly
enough, some of those pots are far from being amongst my favourites,
though they were often costly.
I'd like to think I've learned my lesson.
I guess this wish to "identify" is only human. Nevertheless, to buy
what is good, signature or no, is an aspiration I can understand.
My conclusion? Buy what you love, Mackenzie or not, signed or not.
Helen
>
> Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 06:04:53 -0400
> From: Marcella Smith
> Subject: Warrn MacKenzie
>
> er-eg-er, the sound of the paddle stirring the soup up some...
>
> To sign, or not to sign, how strange, I never thought I would hear fine =
> art artists discuss such a thing, but perhaps that is the difference. =
> Some pottery is just something to pour my Raison Bran into and some is =
> 'fine-art'. What do you make? What do you want the world to think =
> about this art medium? Is pottery up there with all the other fine-arts =
> or not?
> I have never heard painters have this discussion, but of course there is =
> no doubt what they make, fine-art.
--
===========================
Helen Bates
mailto:nell@quintenet.com
===========================
pammyam on mon 2 jul 01
Yes. It's a really big deal to some of us. I
prefer to sign unobtrusively or on the back of
paintings and drawings and prints, if I can. Some
people find it totally incorrect to not sign
prints on the front. Since I do monotypes and
monoprints mostly, it doesn't bother me one bit to
not sign them on the front, but it is often
requested by people who buy them that they be
signed fully frontal. If it's a bleed print, it's
easier to make the signature unobtrusive. When I
was showing photographs, I generally signed on the
back. I tried signing on the mats as many people
do, but I find that very distracting, personally.
----- Original Message -----
From: Helen Bates
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2001 7:16 PM
Subject: Do painters talk about whether to sign
their work?
Dear Marcella,
Er, yes, some painters, such as my husband's and
my teacher of several
years, Gilles Miramontes, has sometimes left his
work unsigned; he
feels that the signature can detract from the
painting.
I don't paint now, and did only a few pastels a
number of years ago,
but my husband paints. He likes to sign his
work, but uses his first
and second name only, no surname.
I signed the one of mine I let him have framed,
but with very small
lettering that might just be a shadow in the
edge of the blanket the
model is reclining on.
Likewise Peter makes his signatures rather
inconspicuous.
On my pots, when I make them, I must sign them
so they can be
recognized amongst the other student work coming
out of the school
kiln. That seems somewhat less necessary
recently, as I have
developed a style of working in spite of myself,
just from having made
a couple of hundred pots on the wheel.
Buying pots, I look for signatures because I
want to know what
people's work is like, whose names I've heard,
or if I later meet
them, have a picture of what they have made in
my mind. (Though I
have a sieve for a memory and this means often I
don't remember after
all.)
I have bought pots by "famous" or "well-known"
potters here, and oddly
enough, some of those pots are far from being
amongst my favourites,
though they were often costly.
I'd like to think I've learned my lesson.
I guess this wish to "identify" is only human.
Nevertheless, to buy
what is good, signature or no, is an aspiration
I can understand.
My conclusion? Buy what you love, Mackenzie or
not, signed or not.
Helen
>
> Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 06:04:53 -0400
> From: Marcella Smith
> Subject: Warrn MacKenzie
>
> er-eg-er, the sound of the paddle stirring the
soup up some...
>
> To sign, or not to sign, how strange, I never
thought I would hear fine =
> art artists discuss such a thing, but perhaps
that is the difference. =
> Some pottery is just something to pour my
Raison Bran into and some is =
> 'fine-art'. What do you make? What do you
want the world to think =
> about this art medium? Is pottery up there
with all the other fine-arts =
> or not?
> I have never heard painters have this
discussion, but of course there is =
> no doubt what they make, fine-art.
--
===========================
Helen Bates
mailto:nell@quintenet.com
===========================
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