Tommy Humphries on sun 3 feb 02
Those convoluted folds in the pots were not "carefully manipulated" as you
might think, instead they were created on the fly letting the clay surface
dry and stick to the fingers as it spins. kinda like yours did when you
were first learning.
When he was alive, people thought him insane...or at least a bit daft. He
would work creating hundreds of pots a week (possibly thousands) keeping
only the ones he liked. He often boasted at being the fastest potter alive.
Being so prolific, his work had no value in the eyes of the collector, or
connoisseur. He was a serious production potter, with the gall to place his
work before the people and call it art, when an art potter might create
three or four pieces of work a year GEO would do twenty or thirty an hour.
It's funny, this mad man' surviving garbage is now viewed as treasure by
many of the same families who snubbed him when he was alive.
There was an old man who lived here back in the 70's who knew him back in
Mississippi; told many stories about how he worked...if he made a pot he
hated, he would throw it up against the wall where it would stick, then
hours later he would go and peel it off and straighten it up and call it
good. Stories about how he would break the pots that the people wanted to
buy if they wouldn't look at the ones HE wanted to sell them. The ones that
wouldn't sell, are the ones that are still around today that people are
fighting over.
Crazy? You bet, like a fox
Tommy
"The potter said unto the clay "BEWARE" and so it was" GEO
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joyce Lee"
To:
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2002 8:15 PM
Subject: George Ohr/long
But it's the folds in his pots, particularly in his vases, that drive me
nuts trying to
make mine look even a little like his. All of his pots don't have the
folds, of course; some are sleek and sharp of line, though thrown during the
same period. Some are sleek and also have folds ... delightful! My personal
favorite today...
which many of you I believe would find tacky ... is on page 157, a small
bowl with folds and bends and a variegated
(I hope that's what it is) glaze that suits its dips exactly. Incredible.
Joyce
In the Mojave
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Joyce Lee on sun 3 feb 02
The discussion has been at least interesting. I've learned, as usual, =
more than I anticipated learning when I mentioned that I really very =
much like and admire Ohr's work. The rewarding part for me is =
remembering that I had never heard of Ohr when I stumbled on
a website with some of his pots ... definitely knew nothing about The =
Mad Potter. It was a while before I realized that these pots were not =
contemporary ceramics. So I absolutely was NOT influenced by his =
marketing/pr skills nor a biographer's bias. =20
At the time I was rather new to pottery
and my only other influences were Warren MacKenzie's body of work, which =
I was doing my darnedest to
copy, and the pots I'd seen in workshops of Vince's, Jack Troy's
and Robin Hopper's. Not a bad group of
mentors, eh? I'm sure it's presumptious of me, even now six years =
later, to say
that I saw aspects of Ohr's work that
reminded me of some of my favorites
among Troy's work. (Agree or not....
doesn't matter. It's how I felt. Valid statement.) It was following my =
first mention of Ohr way back on Clayart, and after receiving dozens of =
private posts about Ohr, that I discovered most every other soul in the =
world knew about him and had strong opinions for and against his work. =
So I began searching the web, discovered his biography with its glorious =
pictures, and have tried to emulate him to a degree ever since.=20
Lucky me! He definitely would have been in CM! The teapot on page
164 c. 1895 - 1900 in every way could=20
be on the cutting edge of today ...=20
I marvel at his glazes, of course, never having seen any like them.... =
still haven't.
But it's the folds in his pots, particularly in his vases, that drive me =
nuts trying to
make mine look even a little like his. All of his pots don't have the =
folds, of course; some are sleek and sharp of line, though thrown during =
the same period. Some are sleek and also have folds ... delightful! My =
personal favorite today...
which many of you I believe would find tacky ... is on page 157, a small =
bowl with folds and bends and a variegated
(I hope that's what it is) glaze that suits its dips exactly. =
Incredible.
I am not thrilled with his pots of many
convoluted handles. For my personal taste (which I hope is still =
evolving) they
ham up what is in most cases a rather
exquisite work. Still the craftsmanship and artistry are evident ... I =
do like his
Cadogan teapot (page 170) with double
spouts ... which resembles the many handled work ... but somehow does =
appeal to me ... maybe because I simply
like teapots. =20
I didn't realize at the time when I tripped over this delightful work, =
feeling that I personally had discovered it, how innovative Ohr was. =
Can't help but wonder what he'd be doing today ....
The Ohr legend is interesting ...... to me.....
and supports the kinds of work he did. I
like that he was a bit "crazy" ..... and that
he managed to support a large family on
his earnings from pottery. I enjoy studying the photos of George at his =
weirder moments.... all posed for the photographer, of course, to help =
sell pots...... worked, too. Ohr, as his biographer, states was a =
potter who saw himself as an artist"... was consumed by his love for =
clay ... AND was determined to live the life that he=20
had chosen, and ....... unlike most of us.... managed to pull off both =
.... the working potter's life..... and the life of an
artist, not giving in to the lure of crafting only functional work for =
the money alone ....
and hoping to fit in some "art" on days off.....=20
So if my comment in an earlier post ....
"I think maybe I'm most attracted to those of us who are at least a =
little .... hmmm..... well, crazy .... those who are willing to take a =
risk and to suffer the pains (and joys) of those who dare to be =
different" ... if this comment offends anybody's sense of worth .... =
take heart. I may well have been talking about you.....
Joyce
In the Mojave
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