elizabeth priddy on sat 22 mar 03
The main comment I would have regarding the Chinese
Import Pottery is apolitical. You should make work
that is better than the imports and that has added
value that is easily determined by the consumer. Then
they will buy yours if they can afford it. Those are
the factors, affordability/marketing/value, not
politics and import duties. This one is easy to win.
personal note:
bruce mentioned that he felt bashed to the point of
leaving. And quietly did so without the self-serving
fanfare of a grand exit. I did too. I have been
lurking for about a year and a half.
I sent one post in a while back and received some very
kind emails off line welcoming me back, but something
still kept me away, perhaps just a bad taste in my
mouth, perhaps fear & loathing.
I'm writing now as an object lesson imploring you all
to listen to mel about the politics issue. The
current state of affars is ripe with opportunity for
harm on a personal level.
My crime was regarding 911 and speculation about its
cause at a time too close to the events to comment. I
was bashed for being a bigot. Offline to the extent
that I began to fear for my personal health, the
stress was making me sick, literally.
Politics should remain NOT a part of this list. mel
is right. People are not mature enough in general to
discuss politics dispassionately - my
characterisation, not his. Clay is passionate for us
all, but not in a way that makes us threaten each
other with death, public ostracism, or hate mail.
I searched my heart to see if there was any truth to
what I was accused of and what I found made me pause.
The people who know me personally know how it turned
out and that is how it should remain. My more casual
friends here on the list have decided for themselves a
long time ago by what they know of me here on the
list, without input from me. And that is how a
listserve works, snappy judgements based on what comes
out of your computer mouth, not necessarily the whole
picture. This has both positive and negative
components that obviously weigh out to the good, or I
wouldn't be talking to you all now...
Still, some very worth hearing from people don't use
this list because of some of the childish and churlish
discourse. The group is only the sum of the little
words across the screen for the uninitiated.
Censorship is something that should happen internally,
with a sincere devotion to the principle of doing the
least harm under a veil of ignorance. That can include
both the notion to never say anything that might
offend anyone and the notion that to restrain free
speech harms us all. You have to decide for yourself
and then post accordingly. And the rest of the world
reading what you say will judge you for the decision
you make, in a vacuum, with no input from you to
mitigate your words, no smiling gestures to soften the
blow and indicate the sarcasm or irony...say what you
want, just be aware of the format you are saying it
in.
I'm still reading you daily and learning from you all.
I love this list and have from the moment I found it.
But its kind of like going home for Christmas with
family...sometines I'ld rather take a trip to Italy.
=====
Elizabeth Priddy
epriddyclay@yahoo.com
www.angelfire.com/nc/clayworkshop
252-504-2622
PO Box 2342
Beaufort, NC 28516
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AKitchens on sun 23 mar 03
Elizabeth,
Welcome Home.......You have been missed. How was Italy? (just kidding)
Seriously, dare I ask if your hiatus from the clayart family affect your
work?
positively or negatively?
I have always loved Tony's pet name for you, Priddy woman.
He's right, inside and out.....
Nan Kitchens
Still high as a kite from NCECA......must organize the notes I took at
Don Reitz'
closing speech. I was writing as fast as I could. Moved me to tears
several times.
I think it's worth sharing.
Jeanie on tue 25 mar 03
Dear Elizabeth,
My heart leaped up when I saw that you had returned to the list. Thanks
for your articulate humane point of view...not that people will
particularly listen to it. If too much thoughtless politically
motivated invective crosses the semi-permiable barrier Mel has created,
more people,across the continuum of opinion about the war, will suffer
the pain that you experienced. Think about it people! We're building
something of value here on clayart-a forum that allows us to explore
thequestion of how we become more fully human through our exploration of
the world embodied in clay. Who would want to endanger that(at a time
when so much is in danger) for the queezy pleasure of s eeing your own
disembodied opinions dance across a computor screen?
Jeanie in Pennsylvania where the peepers have been calling in the swamp
at Chester Springs for a week now...Theirs is the only opinion(including
my own) that I want to listen to now
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