S.E.W. on sat 28 feb 04
Hello Carol,
I not only disagree with Pamela, I think it is wrong to tell =
someone to break their pieces that are "seconds". I apprenticed at a =
studio before I finally got my own and all the "seconds", or flawed but =
still functional pieces, were still kept. I often took the "seconds" to =
flea markets and sold them at a lower price and I was successful most of =
the time. We also had a section of "seconds" at some of our shows. I =
can't tell you how many people bought these pieces because they didn't =
have enough money and they wanted to take something home with them. =
Also, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and more often than not, =
the flaws that you can see are not noticed by others. If you don't want =
to do anything with them at the moment, just save them for later. Some =
day they may be useful to you or someone else! And if a piece is only =
slightly flawed, who cares! Many others may think it was supposed to =
look like that!=20
I say keep them and DON'T ever break them!!! A mosaic would be nice to =
make out of pieces that were broken due to an accident, but the time it =
would take to break your pieces and create a "mosaic" will probably put =
you in a different profession.
Rachel
Ann Brink on sat 28 feb 04
Ok, Rachel, but do you want those substandard pieces out in the world,
representing you as evidence of your calibre of work?
It's such a subjective thing...but when I take a pot out of the kiln and
feel queasy, I get it into the garbage can as fast as I can...don't want it
sitting around looking at me.
And then there are the pots that have a good shape but have glaze faults
that can be perfectly fine with a quick re-coating of the same or a
different glaze, often with surprising effects.
Good firings,
Ann Brink in Lompoc CA
Rachel wrote: (snip)..."anything with them at the moment, just save them for
later. Some day they may be useful to you or someone else! And if a piece is
only slightly flawed, who cares! Many others may think it was supposed to
look like that!
I say keep them and DON'T ever break them!!!"
Alan Fox on sat 28 feb 04
Sorry. Let me make myself a bit clearer. If , let's say, you glazed a piece
too thickly and there are teeny,tiny pin holes that you can see if you hold
it in the light...is the bowl still a functional, usable piece? Is the
functionality or food-safeness compromised?
Carole Fox
Silver Fox Pottery
Elkton, MD
thesilverfox@dol.net
Simona Drentea on sun 29 feb 04
<flaws that you can see are not noticed by others. >>
<< I say keep them and DON'T ever break them!!! A mosaic would be nice to
make out of pieces that were broken due to an accident, but the time it would
take to break your pieces and create a "mosaic" will probably put you in a
different profession. >>
I absolutely agree! Gosh, there's a glass artist in Vancouver that I go to
only to buy the seconds. Last time I was up there, he now only sells the
seconds once a year at a special sale. I won't be going back to his place & he
lost a customer b/c I made a special trip there just for his seconds. BTW, the
way he dealt with seconds is that he put signature stickers on his first
quality pieces, but not on the seconds. I think the key is really that beauty is in
the eye of the beholder. I force myself to keep pieces that I think have
'ugly' glazes b/c someone else may find them beautiful.
I don't make functional pieces, so I guess seconds may be a different story
if they render your piece non-functional, but heck, personally, I'd just sell
it as a decorative piece then. Why deprive a customer of something they may
find beautiful just b/c it may not be technically perfect?
Speaking of mosaics, I was wondering if mosaic artists might be interested in
my broken pieces? Has anyone had experience with this? I wouldn't smash
them up, I was just thinking of donating (or selling?) pieces that may be broken
to mosaic artists. Is there a market for this?
Simona in CO
Lee love on sun 29 feb 04
Jean had me tag along again to Meugendo's, a local
antique/resale shop here in Mashiko.
I looked at the Hamada tea bowl again that I have
mentioned here before, the one with white and iron polka dots. I
really like this tea bowl. I savored the pinholes and crawling in the
nami jiro glaze. Made me think of the discussion on ClayArt. I
thought, "Humm this Hamada and almost all the national treasure teabowls
wouldn't past muster back home, on account of pinholes, crazing and
crawling. But here in Japan, these are part of the aesthetic."
A smooth foot seems to be much more important here. All the American
pieces in the Mingeisota show at Nasu, about 6 years ago, required
smoothing. They imported Mashiko potters to do it.
The teabowl at Mugendo's is not for sale, but if it was, I
suppose it'd carry a $10,000.00 price tag. Back home, people that
don't know any better, might think it was a second.
--Lee in Mashiko, Japan
http://mashiko.us
"It seems to me what you lose in mystery you gain in awe" -- Francis Crick
gwen olson on mon 1 mar 04
--- Simona Drentea wrote:
> Speaking of mosaics, I was wondering if mosaic
> artists might be interested in
> my broken pieces? Has anyone had experience with
> this? I wouldn't smash
> them up, I was just thinking of donating (or
> selling?) pieces that may be broken
> to mosaic artists. Is there a market for this?
Simona,
If you do shows, you could take the seconds along and
sell them. You could break and bag them up with
simple instructions (in case anyone unexperienced in
mosaics, but willing to try, would want them).
If you don't do shows, you could visit craft or home
and garden shows, approach mosaic artists and explain
that you have seconds that are available for sale at a
reasonable price.
It's truly amazing what people will buy. There's
quite a bit of creativity flowing through some minds
out there! :)
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