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the blue problem...... from the other side

updated fri 20 sep 02

 

claybair on tue 17 sep 02


As abhorrent as it may be, we need to take a look at the MLB from another
viewpoint........that of our customers. Try to hear what they are thinking
as they pass from booth to booth:
" A damn sea of brown.... who wants brown.... Why do all potters use so much
brown & orange... they seem to love it... I just don't get it. Oh, Oh....
here's some blue at last...... where's my checkbook".

Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com

-----Original Message-----
From:Of Ned Ludd

>Ok, I have to ask. I'm relatively new to the whole pottery scene, but I
>don't get the blue problem being alluded to here. Is blue universally
>recognized as evil among potters just because it's popular?? What am I
>missing? Please enlighten me quickly so I'm not sucked into the dark
(blue)
>side here! :-)
>
>- Tim Miller -
>Indianapolis, IN


Welcome to Clayart, Tim! And may I say you put the issue well. ;->

It's not just blue. The vile variant, hackles-raising, MIL Blue glaze
may well be spawned by the Dark Side, whence also emanate mothers in
law - in my none too objective experience, anyway.

Wait, you wanted advice about a glaze, not mothers in law.

I can only say that anyone who likes being screamed at all day long
in their own home - another apt reason for the MIL moniker, haha! -
will love MIL blue. Once in its fatal position, inside your nest, it
howls - Come Here Duckie! Then it gobbles your eyeballs, spits your
neural cortex onto your carpet and sends the rest of you reeling into
your E-Z recliner. At this point you will be desperately tempted to
turn on the TV and slip into merciful unconsciousness. But NO! There
is not a moment to lose - you must destroy the thing immediately!

Why? Because if it gets you where it wants you, you will spend your
entire career as a potter working for customers who can't get enough
of kitsch.

If that is not a dreadful fate then I am not a potter!


best,

Ned

Pat Southwood on wed 18 sep 02


To Claybair and the rest of us,

My pots are high fired terracotta with textured glazes and smooth glazes.My
colours are terracotta, black, grey, cream and when I am feeling really
wild, white.
My husband is a scientist and is "the man on the clapham omnibus" ( not sure
what the usa equivalent is but it means the common opinion)
He hates brown pots and when dragged screaming to a ceramics exhibition will
always admire any pot that is BLUE.
When I teach Adult Ed. Students the glaze that goes first is "Wedgewood
Blue"
I think that it is maybe a programmed response?
The colour of the sky?
Any psychologists out there?
Best Wishes
Pat.
----- Original Message -----
From: "claybair"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 4:12 PM
Subject: Re: The Blue Problem...... from the other side


> As abhorrent as it may be, we need to take a look at the MLB from another
> viewpoint........that of our customers. Try to hear what they are thinking
> as they pass from booth to booth:
> " A damn sea of brown.... who wants brown.... Why do all potters use so
much
> brown & orange... they seem to love it... I just don't get it. Oh, Oh....
> here's some blue at last...... where's my checkbook".
>
> Gayle Bair
> Bainbridge Island, WA
> http://claybair.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:Of Ned Ludd
>
> >Ok, I have to ask. I'm relatively new to the whole pottery scene, but I
> >don't get the blue problem being alluded to here. Is blue universally
> >recognized as evil among potters just because it's popular?? What am I
> >missing? Please enlighten me quickly so I'm not sucked into the dark
> (blue)
> >side here! :-)
> >
> >- Tim Miller -
> >Indianapolis, IN
>
>
> Welcome to Clayart, Tim! And may I say you put the issue well. ;->
>
> It's not just blue. The vile variant, hackles-raising, MIL Blue glaze
> may well be spawned by the Dark Side, whence also emanate mothers in
> law - in my none too objective experience, anyway.
>
> Wait, you wanted advice about a glaze, not mothers in law.
>
> I can only say that anyone who likes being screamed at all day long
> in their own home - another apt reason for the MIL moniker, haha! -
> will love MIL blue. Once in its fatal position, inside your nest, it
> howls - Come Here Duckie! Then it gobbles your eyeballs, spits your
> neural cortex onto your carpet and sends the rest of you reeling into
> your E-Z recliner. At this point you will be desperately tempted to
> turn on the TV and slip into merciful unconsciousness. But NO! There
> is not a moment to lose - you must destroy the thing immediately!
>
> Why? Because if it gets you where it wants you, you will spend your
> entire career as a potter working for customers who can't get enough
> of kitsch.
>
> If that is not a dreadful fate then I am not a potter!
>
>
> best,
>
> Ned
>
>
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Carol Tripp on thu 19 sep 02


Pat wrote, in part:
>When I teach Adult Ed. Students the glaze that goes first is "Wedgewood
>Blue"
> I think that it is maybe a programmed response?
>The colour of the sky?
>Any psychologists out there?

Hi Pat,
I'm not a shrink and I don't have a statistically relevant sample but in my
classes over the past few years at the Dubai International Art Centre, the
pull of blue seems to be a cultural/national thing. The western women (all
my students are women) all go for the royal blue or the baby blue and the
eastern women never go near any blue whatsoever until they've been in the
class for a few years and have exhausted the combinations of everything
else. Then they will use the slate blue in the most lovely fashion.
Best regards,
Carol


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