Vince Pitelka on sun 2 may 04
Bob -
I'm not sure there is much point in carrying this on, because I find your
attitude inflexible, arrogant, and disrespectful. You aren't interested in
finding the truth, just in promoting your own version.
> Why would I question? Because I was curious about the truth, and
> asking questions is a good way to find out. Apparently, that's not the
> way it's done in academic circles - if you hear it from a lot of sources,
> it's obviously true.
You are questioning, but you aren't listening to the answers. How is it
"done in academic circles" Bob? Do you really have any idea? What we are
talking about here is the process of looking at LOTS AND LOTS of evidence
before formulating an opinion. That's what I have been doing for thirty
five years. That is why I am sometimes pretty sure of my information, but I
am always wide-open to new information and experience. But in this case,
you seem to be questioning certain things without any reason at all for
doing so, and that is indeed odd.
> So, Vince, are you saying that I am lying, or simply that I did not
understand
> what I was seeing when pueblo potters casually tossed polishing stones
> together in a box???
Of course I am not saying you are lying, and your suggestion of it really is
offensive. But yes, either you think you saw something other than what was
really there, or you saw a contemporary Pueblo potter who has grown accustom
to a vast supply of polished stones from rock shops, or you happen to see a
Pueblo potter who was a sloppy craftsperson, and of course any one of them
is a distinct possibility.
For someone who has learned to treasure good burnishing stones, as any
serious burnisher would do, throwing them together in a box would not be
done, under any circumstance. Anyone who would do that is a sloppy
craftsperson.
> From my own experience, I have been burnishing for years, and I regard
> polishing stone as simple tools - nothing more.
You don't seem to give yourself and your tools much credit or respect. So,
are you saying that you don't bother to take good care of your "simple
tools?"
> And frankly, I don't
> believe working potters of any culture or tradition are much different,
> no matter how much you would like to idealize them.
You're being arrogant, Bob. Stop it, because there is no gain in it. I
don't idealize anyone. I just give them credit for being the artists and/or
craftspeople that they are. It is as simple as that.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Vince Pitelka on mon 3 may 04
> Buy the way is there any truth to the rumor I heard that you are coming to
> Tucson, AZ to give some kind of workshop for Southern Arizona Clay
Association?
> If so, when is it scheduled? If you have any spare time while in Tucson
I'd
> like to get a chance to finally meet you.
John -
Thanks for your comments regarding Pueblo potters and their burnishing
stones. I am always delighted to come to the desert, but the only workshop
I have scheduled this summer in the Southwest is my "Handbuilding: Tricks of
the Trade" workshop from May 31 to June 4 at Mishy Lowe's Desert Dragon
Pottery in Phoenix. If you happen to be over that way during the week, it
would be a pleasure to meet you. In the past I have always appreciated your
expertise concerning Native American pottery styles and techniques.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
John Guerin on mon 3 may 04
In a message dated 5/3/2004 3:59:31 AM US Mountain Standard Time,
vpitelka@DTCCOM.NET writes:
I
don't idealize anyone. I just give them credit for being the artists and/or
craftspeople that they are. It is as simple as that.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Very well put Vince. I have only been associated with Native American
Potters for the last sixteen years but I agree with you completely. Their polishing
stones are precious to them because it was their omn ancestors who invested
the generations in them that make them work so well and before the whiteman
invented the rocktumbler.
Buy the way is there any truth to the rumor I heard that you are coming to
Tucson, AZ to give some kind of workshop for Southern Arizona Clay Association?
If so, when is it scheduled? If you have any spare time while in Tucson I'd
like to get a chance to finally meet you.
John Guerin
Tucson, AZ
Joseph Coniglio on mon 3 may 04
Experpt.
"Dear Lizza,
I am taking very good care of my jet-black-gastrolite (basalt) you gave
me, this "grayling" does has a life of it=92s own. It is a curiousity. I use=
it
to burnish my pottery. (It has become my most prized possession). "
-------------------------
---My burnishing stone is over a million years old and came from the
belly of a plant eating dinosaur that ingested large stones as gravel
similar to what a chicken will do in the barn yard, eating gravel to
digest it's good in its gizzard.
The stones were shiny because they sat in weak digestive acid.
The stone (among dozens of others) was found around the rib cage of
a dino. Long gone in oil and shale country of Utah.
I really enjoy the stone and it has marvelous effect on my pots.
Don't fight. Enjoy making pottery. Play with clay and stones. Leave all
the rest out. Have fun and share joy.
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