Joyce Lee on sun 21 apr 02
Tony said:
"Maybe you ought to try doing a single process to death. I tried
years ago to suggest this to you, but soon came to your same =
realization-
why bother?? Joyce is not paying attention. You'll try everything once "
----------------------------------------------------------
I agree with you, Tony, you ol' sweetie, that following a process to =
the death is the way to go if one wants to comprehend what is happening =
with all the intricacies of the clay, the glaze and the firing .... =
which is the reason that I never Leave shino ..... besides loving the =
dozens of looks and the royal challenge .... I just try other things at =
the same time. I don't "return to shino"...... I never leave it. One =
of the reasons that I have two Geil gas kilns...... one ALWAYS has a =
load of shino being prepared or being fired .... my files on shino go =
back to my first impertinent request to Clayart for a "workable, =
reliable shino recipe." June Perry, my first Guru, sent me Many shino =
recipes ..... pages of a printout .... my first inkling that maybe =
there's a little more to this
shino business (and indirectly .... glaze and firing business) than I =
thought... figured that maybe I HAVE found something that will resurrect =
all my senses for the whole of my life... that maybe that Retirement =
Rocking Chair will only be used for reviving my collapsed form when I'm =
totally mentally&physically beat from Thinkin' About Pots ...... I =
don't even know why ... actually, don't care why .....
that's just the way it is ...... what is, is.....
June's offerings were so intensive that I settled on the one shino we =
were using at the community college during my two semesters there ..... =
and layered it over and under every glaze and wash and slip and terra =
sig that we had available ..... some god awful messes ..... but some =
genuinely "interesting" looks, also .... really unusual ...... but, of =
course, when I tried to repeat them ..... especially the one with the =
lemony oval shaped spots of different sizes surrounded by glistening =
halos of black ... all over the pot ..... it never happened. AND THEN I =
discovered that using a different clay would bring about totally =
different results ..... my God! Why doesn't anybody ever allude to this =
phenomenon, I thought! (Of course, my reading, while focused, was still =
extremely limited .... found later that "they" HAD made such =
allusions.... that, by golly, a couple of books, a video, and a few =
months on clayart didn't mean I'd conquered it all! Drat.) Led to =
buying my own kiln ..... mixing my own glazes by the bucketsful .... =
figured that doing my own firing with the help of Clayart, and You, =
Professor King, and a full day of the Mayor's time via e-mail as I =
fired would help me come up with at least one predictable shino, or two =
.... hasn't happened yet .... close, some days even closer, but that's =
all.
AND I love Brown Pots ...... would love to have a woodfire kiln .... =
small one would do ..... and I use "love" advisedly ... rethought =
it..... will use "love".... because it's true. I like raku .... have =
only fired a couple of dozen times ...... my concern is not with what =
the Marcias or Stephens of the clay world will feel ..... my concern is =
with all those among us who have a raku kiln because that's what they =
have the money and space to fire ..... feel fortunate to own one or have =
access to one....... have worked on developing the raku process to their =
own liking..... and then have someone whose opinion they respect =
dismiss them with one unthinking analogy to Black Velvet ...... comment =
goes right up there with "trailer trash," .. which I'll bet you wouldn't =
use ... dismissive of a whole group of folk that you don't even know.... =
THAT torques me bigtime.......
Joyce=20
In the Mojave aspiring to be a craftsperson, not an artist ...... =
notice, please that the Craft is plural ..... not trying to be a =
Craftperson ...... want to have experience with all sorts of clay work =
..... agree that there's not enough time to branch out beyond clay...... =
mind boggles at the thought .... and, you might as well know if you've =
read this far, I Love Tony ..... never miss a word he writes ..... as =
he well knows.....
| |
|
