mel jacobson on sun 5 oct 03
i truly admire what lee love is going through. i have been there.
i admire his love of zen and japanese historic pottery.
it is his passion and history. but, it is HIS passion.
i live in a different world.
i live in the modern world of technology...and
do accept it.
i work on a new hp computer...as fast and full
of software as i can afford. it is modern as modern
can be.
i drive a 4 litre truck with several computer sensors.
it has power and speed. it is a technology work horse.
i shoot a thompson center fire .270 rifle with match grade
bullets...a leapold vari-power scope. single shot. spot on
accurate up to 250 yards.
i have a senco air nailer and several smaller nail shooters.
i have a left hand circle saw. power and speed.
i use laser levels.
my kiln has an oxyprobe, digital pyrometer.
my wheels are flat, level and powerful.
my pug mill makes perfect clay that i like.
i have terrific chemicals that are provided by
continental clay and minnesota clay.
i adore high quality craftsmanship.
the more the better.
i teach craftsmanship and technique...have for 45 years.
i admire the work of ron roy, john H. hank murrow and michael wendt.
nils lou has been one of my best friends for 35 years. i admire
vince's perfection.
kurt wild and i have worked together for 30 years. he is a perfectionist
artist/craftsman.
i am what i am. i never apologize for what i am.
i am a part of my society. i do the best i can with my pots.
that is all i can do. i accept that.
my dear friend tom sawyer works with the homeless. he is not
homeless himself. his neighbors are arnold palmer and tiger woods.
he is what he is. his life has been the cure of cancer. technology
is and was his slogan. x-ray, laser, chemicals. the more modern,
the more new and wonderful, the more he was able to cure cancer.
he is now a potter too. he loves his pottery.
we are what we are.
i grew up knowing about hamada and leach. i have met them
personally. i admire their work and understand it to a large
degree. it is wonderful work with dedication and love.
i am not them. i live in a different world. i do not replicate
their work. i admire it.
i am trained as a painter. surface and space rule my ideas.
i cannot change that. my work is, what it is. for good or
bad, it is what i do. it changes very slowly, bit by bit..tiny
steps. i accept that.
i sell my work. i take care of my customers. i do not enter
shows, i do not have galleries. i sell all my own work, from
my house. it has been a good living. i continue to do that.
it supplements my retirement income. i live in comfort.
we have what we need.
my teacher in japan taught me to look at the chinese potters
as models. ming was his favorite. he taught me to admire
extreme skill and simple design. form, form, form. it was
his mantra. over decoration was his enemy. he felt that
over decoration was the cover up of bad form.
he was, what he was. he did not change..he fought
for what he believed in til the day he died.. i admired and loved him.
he was a handful and was a fighter. he looked only
to the future. he loved the nordic designers. when he
looked back, he looked for the best craftsman he could find.
chinese porcelain.
so different strokes, for different folks.
crude, tight, painterly and simple, folk art and
primitive. we pick out what we do and like...and
get on with it. it becomes a lifetime of work.
you can only be what your life and personality dictates.
to be other than that is fraud.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
piedpotterhamelin@COMCAST.NET on sun 5 oct 03
I was just watching BET and a fashion photographer stated the following:
"I am as good as my last photograph"
--
"Many a wiser men than I hath
gone to pot." 1649
> On Sunday, October 5, 2003, at 11:48 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
>
> > i am what i am. i never apologize for what i am.
> > i am a part of my society. i do the best i can with my pots.
> > that is all i can do. i accept that.
>
> My wife is the potter in this family .... I subscribed her to this
> group and read out the articles I think may interest her over breakfast
> every morning ... All I can say is that this one took awhile to read
> out but she definitely thought it was worth it .... and so did I ....
> great stuff ..... Muz ...... for Janet Smith
>
> for anyone interested
> ......http://www.nzpotters.com/Newsletters/October-2003.cfm .....
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
George Koller on mon 6 oct 03
i live in the modern world of technology...
and do accept it. - mel
Oh Mel,
You've done it again.... you've said a real mouthful.
A sailor with GPS. Technology plugged into pursuit of a tradition.
Enhancing not comprimising. Allowing us to to be safer, to do things
better. And not messing with the essence.
Kurt Wild uses a dental tool to remove glaze, and a brush to apply
colorants.
Seven years ago we started working with motion control and high speed rotary
carving tools to remove glaze. Nothing that can't be done at a "trophy"
shop somewhere nearby.
Four years ago we started using an electronic nozzle to add the colorants.
(These nozzles were first used to position satellites... tiny vitamine
shaped device that can turn on/off about 1000 times per second. Dang.)
Just these two tricks used with traditional ceramic materials can build a
body of work such as Kurt is doing. Have you seen his new Trout piece?
It has taken years to get the nuances of spraying with our nozzle built into
the software. Not ashamed of that, this is just how things work. Small
incremental advances. Notch 'em in and move on to the next. Cottage
budget, but none of this stuff is that expensive.
I'd like to mention just one advance in the software. It's under the hood
but I'm very proud of it. When we noticed that some colorant / glaze
combinations dispersed better than others we did some research. Clayart was
consulted.
Then we worked and tested and learned to take advantage of this with
variable flow control. Now the nozzle works more effectively AND some 10
times faster. How? Because it stays farther from the edges whenever it
can. It shoots more when it can, saves the tricky moves for the tricky
spots. It got a lot smarter.... started planning it's moves, testing move
alternatives, optimizing.
Less colorant used, applied more evenly, no toxin exposure to humans.
That's all good, I believe.
Now there is also a real possibility to use the ability of the software to
work with Millions of graphical details. On the commercial side - a chance
push ceramic materials into the domain of wood and plastic for signs. On
the artistic side - a real chance also to explore fresh / untried territory.
Adjusting my sails using GPS, using EMail with this group, and watching that
nozzle do what it does as it moved around are a couple of things I can't
immagine ever loosing my awe of, oh ya, reverence for.
All these tools can be used for good or ill. A printing press can be used
to publish great works of literature or to print smut magazines. That's not
new. It is what is in us that will make the difference. Nothing new.
Exactly like you say... it is about picking and choosing - being true to
ourselves. And hopefully our better selves because some of these gizmos
pack a real whollip... can make real changes.
george koller
sturgeon bay, wi - door county
northport, mi - leelanau county
two great places separated by 100 miles of great lake.
Harley & Janet Smith on mon 6 oct 03
On Sunday, October 5, 2003, at 11:48 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
> i am what i am. i never apologize for what i am.
> i am a part of my society. i do the best i can with my pots.
> that is all i can do. i accept that.
My wife is the potter in this family .... I subscribed her to this
group and read out the articles I think may interest her over breakfast
every morning ... All I can say is that this one took awhile to read
out but she definitely thought it was worth it .... and so did I ....
great stuff ..... Muz ...... for Janet Smith
for anyone interested
......http://www.nzpotters.com/Newsletters/October-2003.cfm .....
Lee Love on mon 6 oct 03
----- Original Message -----
From: "mel jacobson"
Mel, you've absolutely missed the whole point in my responding to folks who
were dismissing or attacking traditions and people I respect. You argue
against a Straw man, a position I never took.
I defended the Japanese tradition of pottery and the names of Hamada and
Leach. I defended the Japanese potters that were disparaged, because they
make more money than someone approves of. I'll defend Zen against
anybody that calls it B.S. It really bugs me when people categorically
dismiss things that they don't understand. Specific criticism is always
welcomed, but categorical dismissal does not help dialog in any way.
And it is important for folks to understand that just because
someone says they believe there is another way for a person to learn their
craft, it doesn't mean that they are lazy or fixated on pleasure or that
it is "too much for them."
There are just different ways. Knowing this was an essential aspect of my
growing up in America.
I always find it strange, when you give support to alternative
minority/ opinions, you get the response that "It isn't me, I'm and
American/Minnesotan, etc. The politicians have taught us to handle things
this way, so we can keep comfortable with the way things are.I never mention
a minority alternative to repress the Majority. It is absurd to think it is
possible.
> i truly admire what lee love is going through. i have been there.
> i admire his love of zen and japanese historic pottery.
Thank you Mel. This really doesn't have much to do with what I was
responding to. I only mention my experience when it differs with someone
else's "imagination"about the reality of the situation. That's all.
> it is his passion and history. but, it is HIS passion.
Nobody has ever called it anything else. You are turning my
defense for a diverse culture on its head.
. I am only replying to the rest of your post
because the contrast you provide paints an incorrect view of who I am.
> i live in a different world.
> i live in the modern world of technology...and
> do accept it.
We do live in different worlds. But not the way you are
presenting it. Japan is a little paradoxical in that the new and the old
exist side by side, without a lot of conflict. Japan is a very modern
technological society. Actually, traditional culture is disappearing here.
Global mass-media is what the young folks embrace.
And if you ever noticed, I am not a Luddite. I've owned a modem
and have been online since 1984. In those days, it was Fidonet, University
access, local bulletin boards and a few national services. There was a
time, in 1983, when I was trying to decide if I would purchase a Sioux style
Nomadics TiPi or a computer and I decided on getting the TiPi first,
because, at the time, I thought it would help me learn more skills. I
lived in the woods in the TiPi, before I moved to Minnesota. Traded my
color T.V. to a friend for his chainsaw and a draw knife.
I bought my first computer a year later, when they were cheaper and more
capable and my TiPi was folded and in the basement on Emerson Street.
To be against "the tyranny of technology" is not to be against
the appropriate use of technology. These are two different things. But
if we do "technology for technology's sake", it may be difficult to see the
difference.
> i work on a new hp computer...as fast and full
> of software as i can afford. it is modern as modern
> can be.
Probably not more "modern" than my computer. ;^) My wife says I
spend too much time on my new Sony desktop. Sony is especially strong in
the area of audiovisual and compact design. My computer keyboard folds up,
but you can control the sound aspects with its IR remote control.. You can't
buy this model in America. It doubles as a digital T.V., with a wide LCD
screen, and I can make DVD recordings of any art or ceramics program on
Japanese T.V. And there are many of them. I have my computer wired
into the studio via wireless infrared transmitter, and listen to NPR
through KUOW in Seattle and KQED out of San Francisco. I only have
ISDN because ADL lines are all taken in my area. Computer goes online,
playing the radio hen I get up, and gets turned off when I go to bed.
I also use the computer to make audio CDs and MDs (ever see an MD,
Mini Disk? It is a laser disk, a little smaller than the size of a 3.5"
floppy, that holds up to 5 hours of music. When my old computer broke,
I listened to MD recorded lectures and music I previously record off the
net, in the workshop.. MDs are rewriteable too.
> i drive a 4 litre truck with several computer sensors.
> it has power and speed. it is a technology work horse.
I took the light truck tires off my Corolla van and put on some larger
Honda passenger car all-weather tires on. I was happy to find that the
Honda rims fit the Corolla.
Here in Japan, they call my type of station wagon a Van. They have
the hauling capacity displayed on the back door, like trucks do here. They
are true a workhorse. Many shops use them for delivery and service.
They are almost always white. The interior is not upholstered except for
the seats: no padded dash or doors, but is all metal, like the trucks of my
youth. The suspension is heavier than a car and the cargo area is set up for
hauling, including tie-off bars in the back windows. The backseat is sort
of an afterthought and not very comfortable.
The other workhorse here in Mashiko, one that all the farmers own, is
something called a "K" truck. It is only 660cc, but you should see what
the put in the bed of these trucks. We hauled all the red pine for the
noborigama in one.
My wife teaches English conversation to Engineers at Honda R&D.
She once told them that half the cars in Mashiko were Corolla Vans and the
other half were "K" Trucks. It took them a moment to understand that she
was exaggerating. :^)
Hybrid electric cars are made by all the major manufactures here and
they are very popular.
> i shoot a thompson center fire .270 rifle with match grade
> bullets...a leapold vari-power scope. single shot. spot on
> accurate up to 250 yards.
Where I grew up, this gun wouldn't work well in the brush. Scopes
made no sense either because the land was not very flat.. People preferred
30/30s, .35s and .44s. or a shotgun and slugs. I qualified as Expert with
the M-16 on a 200 meter range, no scope , but the last hunting I did was
with a non-compound bow. I've studied Japanese Kyuudo just a little, but
want to do it more. I would like to see Akita dogs hunting bear and/or
boar, just once, to better understand the breed. I've only seen them
hunt on T.V.
> i have a senco air nailer and several smaller nail shooters.
> i have a left hand circle saw. power and speed.
> i use laser levels.
Only tools I have for my air compressor are two spray guns, a blower
attachment and one to fill tires. But I've thought about using it to
power homemade compressed air oil burners. My circular saw is used
left-handed, but it is a right-handed saw. I haven't seen a left-handed
version in Japan.
At the hardware here, you can buy laser levels and also the traditional
water levels. The water levels are amazing. You have a water container
and long plastic tubes. Of course, the waterlevel in the tube is the same
at both ends. What is so great about these, unlike a laser level, is that
you don't have to worry at all about aiming and you can keep a level measure
while moving them. The leveling is automatic. I first used one in
Minnesota, helping do nailess construction with a carpenter who studied in
Japan.
I wish I had time to learn traditional carpentry. Japan makes the most
wonderful carpentry tools. You should see the antique snap-lines, often
carved in wood in the shape of a dragon.
Actually, they do well with anything that needs to carry an edge. My
hometown is Sakai and is famous for its swords and guns. Now, they make
scissors and kitchen knives. I find knives and swords more interesting
than firearms, personally.
> my kiln has an oxyprobe, digital pyrometer.
> my wheels are flat, level and powerful.
> my pug mill makes perfect clay that i like.
> i have terrific chemicals that are provided by
> continental clay and Minnesota clay.
I ordered my digital pyrometer from Minnesota Clay. They run about
$600 here in Japan. I ordered mine for $250.00 from Minnesota Clay and
received it in 3 days. Unbelievable service. Seger cones cost about
$1.50 each here, so I am ordering my next Orton cones from Minnesota Clay,
(let me look at my .PDF catalog), for $9.00 for a box of 50.
I have almost all the industrial chemicals available here that I do
back home and some that aren't available there. I also have many
traditional clays and glaze materials available.
My woodkiln is a modern, efficient design. A glaze firing cost me
about $15.00 (the wood is free, it only cost to deliver.) I could buy red
pine at about $2.25 a bundle, but I choose to use scrapwood instead.
> i adore high quality craftsmanship.
> the more the better.
I appreciate craftsmanship. I also appreciate artistic and
creative genus and expression.
> i teach craftsmanship and technique...have for 45 years.
I am a life long student. My primary gift is that I am not
afraid to make mistakes and I am willing to attempt things that I have no
reason to believe I am gifted at. I excelled at tennis in my youth, not
because of natural ability nor technical expertise, but because of sheer
effort. My other gift is that I always stand up to bullies, ever since
grade school.
> i am what i am. i never apologize for what i am.
> i am a part of my society. i do the best i can with my pots.
> that is all i can do. i accept that.
Our American society contains a lot of variety. People can
isolate themselves from it if they want to, but it is there for the pickin'
for those who are open to it.
> so different strokes, for different folks.
> crude, tight, painterly and simple, folk art and
> primitive. we pick out what we do and like...and
> get on with it. it becomes a lifetime of work.
> you can only be what your life and personality dictates.
> to be other than that is fraud.
All my life, I've work for diversity, tolerance, and the richness of
culture, as I experienced it growing up in America. Japan, in the past,
has always been more insular and homogenous. It is just now beginning to
become more diverse. Both my wife Jean and I try to share these positive
aspects of American culture here in Japan, while encouraging people to
preserve their traditional craft and culture.
It in no way betrays who you are to be tolerant of others who
approach their craft in a different way..
Lee In Mashiko
Lee Love on tue 7 oct 03
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Koller"
> ... it is about picking and choosing
You hit it on the head, George. It is all about choice. We
don't have the excuse that we are "American" and so we are bound to do
things in a certain way. Unlike any other time in history, we have
knowledge about many times, cultures, and places available to us. The new
way isn't always the best. Sometimes it is, other times, there are reasons
something was done the way it was done, for thousands or 10s of thousands of
years.
Because our limitations are not forced upon us by our
situation, we have to choose our limitations for our creative focus. So
much depends upon the makers judgment now.
> being true to ourselves.
Knowing who we really are is important in guiding our choices.
This has always been a guiding point in my quest for understanding.
Knowing who we really are helps us understand our surroundings better.
Are we only known by the things we possess? I hope not.
>And hopefully our better selves because some of these gizmos
> pack a real whollip... can make real changes.
We have more impact as individuals than any other people in
history. Our choices are important. We have a great responsibility.
Lee In Mashiko
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