barbara arner on fri 25 oct 02
Hi to all-
I'm a young artist/potter, what have you. 25 years. I really do not have much contact with others involved in clay, being that I never continued on to grad school for ceramics but rather went my own way independently working. But I was wondering, if any young artists could answer, what you're doing now with your work? Galleries? Craft shows? Stores? I would be interested to hear...Right now I divide my time between teaching ceramics plus all the studio work/production at a pottery studio, grad school for counseling and art therapy, and I've been selling pottery as of now in two stores and this Saturday I'm doing a craft show plus individual private throwing lessons from my home studio. I guess from anyone it would be interesting for me to hear where you were doing around this age in the field. I'm guess I just wanted to hear feedback from others. Wisdom, guidance, insight, anything! Thanks so much...
-Barbara
Kathy on fri 25 oct 02
Hi Barbra,
I guess I'm in the same boat, same age. I'd love to
chat about pots and all those other little details. If
you'd like, e-mail me off-list.
kathymaves@yahoo.com
Yours,
Kathy
Kira-Umich on sun 27 oct 02
Barbara -
I happen to have taken the grad school route, but being 28, I think I
qualify as young! (I sure hope so, anyway). I would be more than happy to
talk to you about how I ended up where I did, and I am also in need of a
community of clay people (I'm the only clay grad). Feel free to write back!
Kira
kcambell@umich.edu
Just back from Chicago, S.O.F.A., and attempting to process all the amazing
work I saw this weekend.
Bosworth on mon 28 oct 02
I wish I was 25 still, 30 is fast approaching... I am showing in several
galleries, all within a 150 mile radius. I have done a few shows, none of
them that good. I just did a six artist show called Artful Living in
Charleston, SC. That was the most professional gig yet but again, not that
profitable. I teach classes out of my studio (great response and money) and
have a small gallery of my work also at the studio. I am just beginning to
get traffic through the shop. This has been a full time profession for just
two years, part time for 7 years. What I am learning is every show is
different and not predictable. Even if last years was great for a particular
artist, it doesn't mean this year will be good for you. I'm going to do my
first studio sale in the beginning of December. I am also looking into
opening a retail store with the Charleston artist I did the show with
recently, sort of a co-op type thing. I am very excited about this prospect,
we are going to be a roaming art store, going where the rent is free and the
owner either wants security or the appearance of a profitable business
occupying the building, sort of a gorilla gallery. We will see... I love
clay and would not be doing anything else. Oh, I'm also the mom of a crazy
three year old boy who likes play dough more than clay, and that is my
favorite job.
Heather D. Bosworth, on the marsh with the bugs!
Coastal Clay Co
59 Luther Warren Drive
St. Helena Island, SC 29920
tel. 843-838-7040
fax. 843-838-1187
bosworth@hargray.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "barbara arner"
To:
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 11:03 PM
Subject: young artists/potters
> Hi to all-
> I'm a young artist/potter, what have you. 25 years. I really do not have
much contact with others involved in clay, being that I never continued on
to grad school for ceramics but rather went my own way independently
working. But I was wondering, if any young artists could answer, what you're
doing now with your work? Galleries? Craft shows? Stores? I would be
interested to hear...Right now I divide my time between teaching ceramics
plus all the studio work/production at a pottery studio, grad school for
counseling and art therapy, and I've been selling pottery as of now in two
stores and this Saturday I'm doing a craft show plus individual private
throwing lessons from my home studio. I guess from anyone it would be
interesting for me to hear where you were doing around this age in the
field. I'm guess I just wanted to hear feedback from others. Wisdom,
guidance, insight, anything! Thanks so much...
> -Barbara
>
>
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Janet Kaiser on mon 28 oct 02
Kira
You are the first person I have seen even mention SOFA, yet it is
advertised world-wide. Would you have time to pen some words on the event?
Give us all an idea on what it is like as a visitor and/or exhibitor?
Thanks!
Janet Kaiser
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 27/10/02 at 18:41 Kira-Umich wrote:
>Just back from Chicago, S.O.F.A., and attempting to process all the
amazing work I saw this weekend.
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art =95 Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent, Criccieth LL52 0EA, Wales, UK
Tel: 01766-523570 URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
Kira-Umich on mon 28 oct 02
Janet et al:
I was wondering if there were clayarters wandering around at SOFA. For
those of you unfamiliar with it, SOFA stands for Sculptural Objects and
Functional Art. It is a huge expo done in New York every summer and Chicago
every fall. Galleries are juried in, I believe, and pay hefty fees not only
to apply, but then to actually have a space. It is all very swanky, done
out at Navy Pier. The work covers anything that is not 2-d, so there was
fiber, paper, wood, glass, metal, and of course, clay art. The people
exhibiting in clay, for the most part, are the people we all know - Reitz,
Autio, Lucero, Nagle, Price, Duckworth, etc., etc. There were some
'up-an-comers,' although Sergei Isupov, who I used to put in that category,
has now up and came - He had a piece priced at $42,000!!!! When I was
looking at it, trying to comprehend that much money at once, even minus the
gallery cut, there was a gentleman seriously considering buying it - but he
couldn't make up his mind between that one and the piece that was $36,000.
So, all of us who never sell anything for more than $100 are out of luck!
There were some fantastic pots and sculpture by people I was unfamiliar
with, but hope to see more of in the future. The quality of the work overall
was fantastic - some duds, but then there are in every show. If you go,
dress fancy, or else you'll stick out like a sore thumb. This is nothing
like NCECA - I was one of the few people wearing jeans!
There are also talks and demonstrations at SOFA. They premiered the new
documentary about Ruth Duckworth in Chicago, and the Corning Glass
Extravaganza was there in their fancy rig doing glass blowing demos. I went
to a talk by Claire Curneen, a fantastic artist from Cardiff by way of
Ireland - all the lectures are relatively intimate, with time to ask
questions afterwards.
I don't know that I would go to SOFA every year - too much stuff, and not
enough of it clay! But it is a fantastic way to see what's being marketed
to the wealthy, to companies, and to interior designers. I really wish I
had made my students go - to see so much diversity in one place would have
forced them to let go of their silly preconceptions! Of course, the extra
benefit is that it was in Chicago, which is a great city with fantastic
food, and amazing shopping -- you can't look at art all the time!
I hope this helps explain what it is all about. There is a catalog of
selected works from each gallery - it was only $10 there, and it may be
available on-line? I'm not sure.
Kira
Getting ready for a clay and printmaking joint exhibition in Ann Arbor
Joy Hought on tue 29 oct 02
Hi Barbara-
You seem to be tackling quite a lot, and gracefully. from what i've
heard from older potters this is just how it goes. you get squeezed on
all sides until art and discipline come out. I have just rounded 30 and
have been feeling old, but the little I really know about clay makes me
feel younger and younger. I was 25 when i finished my bfa and thought
i had it all sorted out. But i had too much self-doubt to pursue it
right away, together with completely unfounded expectations about
making art, especially the high-investment clay kind, out in the real
world.
I have been slowly accumulating equipment and drive over the years, but
finally in the last year am getting serious about making a full-time go
at it. I had also been making work intermittently at a local community
center but found I wanted more control over firing conditions, which
meant focusing on the possibilities available with my low-temp electric
kiln, at least for now. I am still working full time as an editor and
writer (for a psychiatry journal), with a few hours a day left for
claywork in the garage; the kiln is hooked up 20 miles away at a
friend's house.
Right now I'm in a small local gallery that shows good work but gets
little traffic. I will be doing two group clay shows with them in the
next six months - my first since leaving school! I just got into a
high-end craft gallery in LA, and that was a big personal yahoo for me.
It's given me a lot of confidence to keep working.
I'm learning that I have to focus, really focus, in order to make
progress. I have also done surface and textile design, and have a
tendency to run amok with too many art ideas that will each,
realistically, require additional lifetimes. I've had to ask myself: is
it really feasible, in 20 hours a week, to make handbuilt and
handpainted vases, handcarved clocks, tiles, christmas ornaments, and
wall sculpture, all fired at a variety of temperatures and with a
bazillion different glazes, then drive all over southern california to
sell them? uh, no. I finally understand the value of just picking a
few simple methods and surfaces and perfecting them. I am learning to
be smarter about what I choose to make: do I really want to earn
$1.50/hour making ornately carved coasters? If I want to not just be a
hobby potter, I need to take that same skill and effort put it into
something that will sell for more, pure and simple.
I'm also re-discovering how important the company of other potters is,
not just for encouragement, but for honest criticism. I mean, my
mother's "that's so neat, honey!" only gets me so far creatively. I am
gearing up to apply for grad school in January. Feel free to write me!
I'd love to see your work.
Joy
in southern california, where yesterday at a stoplight i looked over
and saw a guy tuning his guitar - while driving.
http://photos.yahoo.com/casualgeorge
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Sarah Chenoweth on tue 29 oct 02
barbara,
we may be the same age, but you are far ahead of me in the pro-ceramics life.
i have just moved back in with my parents (sigh) at the base of mt. hood in
oregon to build a studio. i lived in atlanta for 2 1/2 years and did a few
pottery and art festivals with the callanwolde fine arts clay center clay
guild where i did my work and took classes. i have a BA in biology, but
minored in studio art...for now i'm going the self-taught route. my father
and i are building my first kiln from a 55-gallon barrel, and the sheet rock
is on its way up in the studio which used to be the carport. i may get an
electric kiln, but designing and building a gas fired or maybe even a wood
fired kiln is the dream. the community here around the columbia river gorge
seems quite supportive of its arts community and home businesses. i'm hoping
to get into local shops, the local non-profit gallery, our saturday farmer's
market, and hopefully give a few lessons once the studio is fully
operational. for now i have a growing pile of greenware which i construct in
the kitchen. :)
unfortunately, the oregon economy, well, sucks, to be perfectly frank. it
took me almost 6 weeks to get a job at a ski resort on the mountain. there's
potential for a job with the corps of engineers as a biologist, but congress
left a lot of things undone, like the corps budget. for now, thank god for
my amazing supportive parents. my dad is the biggest fan i could hope for
and loves the challenges of the more mechanical aspects of this adventure. i
think i may end up re-tiling the entire kitchen in appreciation!
good luck with your adventure,
sarah
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