Bonnie Staffel on sat 29 nov 03
Hi Clayarters,
I don't know if I would consider myself an elitist as a potter, but when I
was in the early years of my career, I used the term "designer/craftsman"
to describe who/what I was. Most of the national and state groups of which
I was a member were called Designer/Craftsmen groups stemming from the ACC.
I also like the designation of "potter" as it represents my feelings of
using the earth, water and fire in which to work.
However, my back goes up when the term "artisan" is used to describe me or
other potters. To me the term "artisan" is used to designate those who do
the craft work of others, such as brick layers, stone masons, foundry
workers, mold pourers, etc., where there are specific skills needed but they
do the physical work of the designers. In the dictionary the word
"craftsman" is also synonymous to artisan, as an artisan is a craftsman. I
feel the term artisan is outside the perimeters of being an artist or a
potter IMHO. There are so many of the Clayarters who are magnificent,
talented clay artists in the grandest sense of the word. They not only
design the vessel or sculpture from scratch, but also add the embellishments
or decoration to truly create a work of art to completion by the mastery of
the firing process.
Submitted for your consideration. Bonnie Staffel
http://pws.chartermi.net/~bstaffel/
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