Gail Dapogny on wed 2 jan 02
Dear Alisa,
Like Mel and others, I have admired your resourcefulness and generosity.
Bragging is the last thing I would have thought of you. I hope that you (
and others as well ) keep telling us about the good things that come your
way. That's also a part of what Clayart is about.
I am always especially touched and fascinated by Clayart messages from
abroad. It is somehow humbling; it makes me realize how small our planet
can be. And Clayart does a great deal to make it small. It is such a marvel
of communication and such a support group. I don't fire at cone 6 but I'm
eager to get Ron and John's book. I love the idea that they've been
overwhelmed by orders, many from Clayart,I'm sure.
----Gail Dapogny in Ann Arbor
P.S. By the way, another thing we have in common: David MacDonald was my
ceramics instructor when I first started here at our potters' guild (at the
time he was an MFA student at the U of Michigan). He was great!
Alisa said: > During my entire career at Syracuse, I never got Henry
Gernhardt's
>blue glaze. No one did. David MacDonald freely gave me his Tessha which he
>uses all the time. Two potters in the same department, both great teachers,
>both with different outlooks on sharing. I like the blue, wanted it, but
>survived without it. Used Tessha twice as much.
>Mel, I am reasonably embarrassed that I bragged about myself getting in the
>newspaper. It was because nobody on the list gets the "Aabenraa
>Budstikken" (that I know of) and it was about the Chapel. Shame on
>me.
> How do you know when to
share without boarders and when to be selective?
I do not think one overall policy can be stuck to.
Mary O'Connell on mon 6 jan 03
Dear Clayarters,
Many years ago I had a friend who was a ceramics teacher in the =
children's program at a school where I taught adult ceramics. One of my =
students had a recipe for a glaze that this woman really admired. She =
probably fired more work made by this student than he did. Because she =
was such a giving person she would do a lot of work around the studio =
that had nothing to do with the children's program. One day she asked =
if he would just dip one of her bowls in his precious glaze (he wouldn't =
share recipe). He refused. I found out about this and knowing this =
student as I did I knew he did not formulate this glaze on his own. I =
went into the stacks at the University library nearby and started to =
page through old Ceramics Monthly magazines and low and behold it =
appeared at least six different times under as many different names. =
The next semester and for every semester after that I offered it as =
class glaze as Mary's Surprise since I did not know where it really came =
from but when people asked I told the story without using names and =
attributed it to Ceramics Monthly. If you live a life all closed in the =
world will treat you as such but if you live life openly and abundantly =
your life is so much richer because you include so much more in it.=20
The point to be made is if we are all closely guarded and refuse to =
share basic information we will all have to come up with all of what we =
use all by ourselves so our end product will suffer. No one pot will =
look the same as another because of all the variables involved in =
getting a finished product, and by the way, must attribute any =
information used from a source other than yourself to the original =
source. That is just good manners. =20
Eager to share.
Mary O'Connell
John Britt on mon 6 jan 03
Mary,
Is that glaze, "Mary's Surprise", a copper red recently in one of Pete
Pinnel's articles?
Thanks,
John Britt
Mary O'Connell on tue 7 jan 03
I just can't get enough of this topic, I keep coming across thoughts so =
here is another one. I pass this out to my adult students sometimes to =
reintroduce the basics.
By Robert Fulghum, Published in Kansas City Times, Sept. 17, 1986:
Most of What I really need to know about how to live, and what to =
do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top =
of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery =
school.
These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. =
Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your =
mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you =
hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies =
and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and =
think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every =
day some.
Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch =
for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. =
Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the =
plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like =
that. =20
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the =
plastic cup - they all die, so do we.
And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word =
you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to =
know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic =
sanitation. Ecology and Politics and sane living.
Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world =
had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down =
with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation =
and other nations to always put things back where we got them and =
clean-up our messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, =
when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick =
together.
Keep sharing.
Mary O'Connell
Mary/Adams on thu 12 jan 06
I have had so many kind people share recipes with me. (some worked and some
didn't for whatever reasons). When I share recipes with others or share a
batch I try to warn them that they need to experiment and do their own
'work'. Recipes and batches sometimes don't travel well from one potter to
another. It's what makes this darn thing so hard and fun!
m
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