JULENE on sat 13 dec 03
This is a thread that I originally did not intend to enter into. A bit
back, a comment was made to the affect of why not tell who your mentors are.
It was my thought at that time that with this list, being as it can be (the
little respect given to differing individuals) how could one offer up those
ones respects and owes a debt to for this type of treatment?
Few of the names that are mentioned as recent influences have much meaning
to me, but I do believe that the most of us have been influenced by the same
sources. In my first posting to the list was a reference on how I have been
building a life and finding a place to set down roots. A comment from the
peanut gallery surprised me. I had felt that anybody in the clay world
would know that this was a reference to a past historic discussion in the
clay community.
When I first read Susan Peterson's fine account of her interview with
Hamada, I was a bit put off by how he could tell us to stay with our roots
in the river. I, an immigrant without roots, while he had many generations
to define who he was. When one is young, one knows everything. It is as
one matures that understanding comes. As I have gotten older, I have
developed my own understanding of many things. I came to believe that many
of my mentors were telling me to know myself and then stand strong in that
knowledge.
As many from my home state, my greatest early influences were Norwegian.
Because the Norwegian community, I was apart of, felt I, the female daughter
of a farmer, was worth educating, and, because they supported teachers and
institutions to pass on knowledge, I am able to be the potter that I am.
My maiden name did not end with son, but then neither did my relatives and
some of them even had pictures of the boat that took them from the old
country. In my home community if one asked why not, one was told that there
are Norwegian's with all manner of names and looks. As much as I appreciate
my Norwegian background or maybe because of it, I soon realized that I was
not Norwegian, I am American. As many in my country, I have genes and memes
from many countries. I am respectfully thankful to all of them. I find it
interesting how each of us takes that which came before them and finds an
understanding of it that is unique to who they are. This makes us
individuals and is why what we, as individual artists, say is important.
I am still not comfortable with discussing individuals on the web. My
mentors taught me that making pots is about a whole lot more that just
making pots. And it is not about making money. That doing what one
believes in often takes sacrifices, while the only rewards can sometimes be
unseen. To those mentors, I say thank you. Your examples and sacrifices
were of value to me. It is my hope to continue to give back by building on
and passing on that which you so generously gave me even though it may be
but my understanding of it.
Julene, In, thankfully, snowy Wisconsin.
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