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was "bill van gilder's show," now "sanding bisqueware"

updated fri 11 jun 04

 

Vince Pitelka on thu 10 jun 04


I am traveling now, and when downloading Clayart am prone to be a "delitist"
as Paul Taylor so aptly puts it, so I know I miss a lot. I missed the first
post on this subject, but am of the opinion that Bill van Gilder makes
gorgeous pots, and the thought of sanding them at the bisque stage horrifies
me. I am startled that anyone would suggest that bisqueware necessarily
needs to be sanded. Sanding kills the subtleties of handmade wares - the
marks of the potter's hands.

I suppose there are times when you might want to sand bisqueware. Is this
something that comes from the slip-cast greenware business? At any rate,
anyone who reads that post, please think very carefully before deciding to
sand your greenware. If you are making and handling your wares with
practiced and deliberate movements, the marks you leave can be very
beautiful, and in that case should not be sanded off

That said, you might be going for a very clean, slick, Bauhaus, art-deco or
machine-age look, in which case you might want to erase all traces of the
potter's hands - kind of like the difference between Abstract Expressionism
and Post-Painterly Abstraction.

Regarding the beauty of the natural marks of the potter's hands, this really
has to do with how you handle your wares. Many people "over-handle" their
wares in removing them from the wheel or otherwise manipulating them before
the surface tackiness is gone, and that can really scar the surface in a way
that is not at all attractive. It's just more stuff to think about
consciously and deliberately, and pretty soon it will become second nature.
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/