Lili Krakowski on thu 6 may 04
Gertrude Stein said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. =
Thomas a Kempis wrote a book expounding how people could spend their =
lives imitating Jesus. And respectful students honor their teachers by =
speaking and working "in their name".
Good teaching gets into the student's blood and bones. I still hear =
Frans Wildenhain's many directions thundering in my ears. I still think =
of Hobart Cowles's endless patience working and reworking glaze recipes. =
I always remember Nora Braden's question : "And what shape is a =
herring?" when I was making a round pot for pickling them. =20
A good teacher spills her guts, realizing we are conduits for =
knowledge not owners of it. =20
So if a student is under the influence of a teacher what is wrong with =
that? What is wrong, it seems to me, is to go around screeching like a =
two-year old "Oh, Mommy, Mommy, look what I made! I'm SO original, SO =
creative.Please be proud me, Mommy!" =20
No one is original, period. We all are drops of water in a stream that =
goes back to prehistory. We have new methods and new materials. I can =
fire with electricity, use materials from Turkey, and Canada, and Great =
Britain. I do not need to scrabble together buffalo dung and clay from =
mudholes..But original? Ha! =20
When I was very young someone said to me: You studied with one of the =
Wildenhains. Which was correct. Now after some 50+ years there still =
is a Wildenhain influence in aspects of my pots, and my own influence =
in most. My body, my vision, my life experience has been very different =
from Frans's, and my work incorporates his teachings but I now am me. =
And I assume some of my students have absorbed some of my teaching and =
influence and use it TO BUILD ON.
And then: there is copying, imitation , influence. They are NOT the =
same thing, and may or may not segue into each other. Copying -so dear =
to the Victorians-involves planting the chosen subject in front of you, =
and copying it. Imitation-that plague of literature-involves "working =
in the style of" , trying, deliberately trying to make something NOT =
copied but as much as possible like the original artist's work. Both of =
these activities do use some left, or is it right? brain function. (I =
think it takes places in the scullery maid's room just behind the cedar =
closet) Influence is mostly unconscious. We absorb, we transform, we =
start from within ourselves. We are influenced not only by potters whom =
we have met, and worked with, been taught by, but things we see in =
shops, in museums. There is nothing wrong with that...We are influenced =
by so many things including our cultural background..whether we grew up =
in Flanders, Malibu, or in Japan.
=20
As to advanced degrees, books, videos---I am trespassing on Tony =
territory here-speaking of influence-there are more sex manuals and =
marriage guides on the market than you can shake a bookdealer at. Has =
it reduced the divorce rate? Are fewer people seeking marriage =
counseling? I don't think so. Because even in this area you must know =
yourself, and develop as sensitivity to the Other.A form of emotional =
knowledge, a relationship. And the same with clay and fire, which, =
after all, are kinda inanimate, and cannot really tell you what feels =
good and what don't.
Book knowledge is book knowledge. It helps to know why what happens =
when, or how to do this or that. But the part that is you is you. And =
that is what you should be working on. Sit and look at a day's work =
and say: Did I say what I wanted to say, or did I say what Super Potter =
said at his workshop, or what Creative Genius showed at that show, or =
in CM.? Listen to your own small voice. Your head and chest should =
resonate with it. I suggest to students that they meditate a few =
minutes before tackling the clay-say a kind of grace before starting..
=20
We have a good number among us who came to clay as the second or third =
or fourth love of their life. So what? Where has it ever been written =
(certainly not in biographies) that everyone starts out in the calling =
s/he ultimately devotes a life to . (Names of late bloomers available on =
request) Teresa Helburn said: "One's lifework .grows with the working =
and the living." I am sure everything Tig has learned in the military, =
and Wayne from his cleaning service, and Joyce from being an educator, =
and Tom and Galen from medicine, has transmigrated into the clay. I =
am sure that all of Kelly's numerous activities-folklorist, gardener, =
mother, home schooler show up in her work.
As to degrees-my views remain constant. The cost of an MFA-now =
required I gather for "everyone" who wants a job in the field, is =
mind-boggling. How is someone to start being a studio potter at 23 or =
so, when THAT MUCH MONEY IS OWED? You do not need a degree to be a good =
potter; you need love, knowledge, and skill. Talent helps. And it was =
Mr Isaac Button, not I.Button, M.F.A., I think.
=20
Lili Krakowski, A.A.S, SAC 1953
Lee Love on fri 7 may 04
Lili Krakowski wrote:
>
> As to degrees-my views remain constant. The cost of an MFA-now required I gather for "everyone" who wants a job in the field, is mind-boggling. How is someone to start being a studio potter at 23 or so, when THAT MUCH MONEY IS OWED? You do not need a degree to be a good potter; you need love, knowledge, and skill. Talent helps. And it was Mr Isaac Button, not I.Button, M.F.A., I think.
>
>
Here in Mashiko, a new factory gas kiln (they type every one
seems to buy around here) , costs more than an MFA degree. When
apprentices from my teacher's workshop came over to see my wood kiln I
had just built myself (first time building a kiln for me), they were
shocked that it cost me under $5,000.00 to build. The guy who started
two months after me was talking about how you might fire it with gas
burners. He thought you could just stick them in the front at the
stoke holes. I explained that this wouldn't be efficient, because a
gas flame is short, whereas a wood flame and you would have too much
passive air going in. I showed them the ports on the side I included
in case I wanted to supplement with gas or oil.. I also explained
that I knew of better designs for gas firing which would be cheaper to
build,( not counting the burners) because you wouldn't need bricks for
the fireboxes. I don't think they will go that route, unless they
hire someone to build it for them. Sometimes you can find an old
beatup kiln for much less, but they are hard to come by, because
everyone wants them.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://potters.blogspot.com/ Commentary On Pottery
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