Tig Dupre on wed 27 oct 04
Dear All Mudbuds,
I've been following the threads with interest and some
amount of wry amusement. "Hearing" Lili and Janet poke at the audience,
"seeing" the beards of some of the oldsters getting twisted, and
"watching" the fireworks over sheepskin snobbery just makes me glad to be
alive. (No harm, and no insults intended.)
If an MFA or MEd will get/keep you gainfully employed (doing what you
WANT to do), and you have money, time, opportunity, and inclination
all in delightful juxtaposition, run for it! My problem is that I
have never had even two of those together at once. Thus, I am bumping up
against 60 years old in a few months, have a 35 year old BFA degree,
a few years practical experience as a "hobby" potter (I loathe that term!),
and am currently employed in a job that I enjoy, but has nothing to
do with the creative arts.
The wonderfully neat part of all this is that I am considered "eccentric" at
work (and I get away with it), sought out in the neighborhood (kids around
me all the time), thought of as harmlessly weird, and I get to be 10 years
old, playing in the mud, for the rest of my life (however long that may
be). I wallow in it. I glory in it. I work for the day when I can
retire into full-time pottery.
My self-confidence in my ability to make a "living" at pottery is not yet
solidified. Perhaps when I MUST make a living, I will. In the meanwhile,
I'll enjoy the FUN of what I do, soak in the cathartic feeling of clay in
my hands, enjoy the headaches from glaze calculation and fault determination,
and continue to stretch what brains I have left in continuing to learn
from all of you.
Thanks, with the greatest of respect,
Tig
Dupre
in Port Orchard, Washington, USA
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