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hank murrow bowls

updated wed 8 jun 05

 

Gene & Dolita Dohrman on mon 6 jun 05


I attended a workshop given by the venerable master Hank Murrow (he is =
going to love that!). He showed us how to facet a bowl and throw it =
from the inside. He even sold a lovely little tool with interchangeable =
wires which I am now kicking myself that I did not purchase. So we were =
given the knowledge and the exact tool with which to produce replicas of =
Hank's lovely bowls. At my stage of the game, my brain cannot fathom =
how to make them my own yet. It is such a simple, elegant design...I =
can't imagine a variation. So far I have made about 25, not all made it =
off the wheel. I was fairly pleased with myself, but kept thinking, =
these are Hank's bowls. They will never be the soft, perfectly thrown, =
shino glazed masterpieces that Hank makes, but they are his concept. =
Many of them were bad copies of Hank's bowls, but there were a few nice =
ones in there too. So tell me, am I wrong to think it is OK to sell =
them (the nice ones that is)? In my mind and to whomever inquires, they =
will always be Hank's bowls. Did I purchase the right to 'copy' them, =
did he give me permission by teaching me? I am still confused...but =
that may be a permanent state.
Dolita

Liz Willoughby on tue 7 jun 05


Hello Dolita,
About 20 years ago I went to a workshop in Toronto given by Jack
Sures. A well known Canadian potter with many years experience. His
workshop was about "inside space", and he demonstrated the many ways
of showing how important the inside space was in a vessel. One of
his demonstrations was throwing a cylinder, faceting it with a tool,
and then opening up the vessel on the inside, by pushing the inner
walls out, as the wheel turned. Later I saw in a Japanese book of
pottery, can't remember which one, a lot of the techniques that Jack
Sures showed us that day. So, I think, and I am sure that Hank will
agree with me on this, that this method is an tried and true one. It
is a method that I have occasionally used for many years too. It is
like so many things in pottery. The technique may be the same, but
the pot will always be different. And, Hank did demonstrate this
technique in a workshop, and he does sell the tools to make these
pots.
Meticky Liz from Grafton, Ontario, Canada.
Watching the bunny rabbit cut my grass.

>I attended a workshop given by the venerable master Hank Murrow (he
>is going to love that!). He showed us how to facet a bowl and throw
>it from the inside. He even sold a lovely little tool with
>interchangeable wires which I am now kicking myself that I did not
>purchase. So we were given the knowledge and the exact tool with
>which to produce replicas of Hank's lovely bowls. At my stage of
>the game, my brain cannot fathom how to make them my own yet. It is
>such a simple, elegant design...I can't imagine a variation. So far
>I have made about 25, not all made it off the wheel. I was fairly
>pleased with myself, but kept thinking, these are Hank's bowls.
>They will never be the soft, perfectly thrown, shino glazed
>masterpieces that Hank makes, but they are his concept. Many of
>them were bad copies of Hank's bowls, but there were a few nice ones
>in there too. So tell me, am I wrong to think it is OK to sell them
>(the nice ones that is)? In my mind and to whomever inquires, they
>will always be Hank's bowls. Did I purchase the right to 'copy'
>them, did he give me permission by teaching me? I am still
>confused...but that may be a permanent state.
>Dolita

dannon rhudy on tue 7 jun 05


Dolita, the bowls you made are YOUR bowls,
do whatever you like with them. So what you learned
to make them from Hank, or anyone else. You're
too new to clay to have your own "body of work".
Just keep on, eventually you'll sort out what you prefer
to make. It probably won't even be a conscious
decision, but instead something you "notice" after
a period of time.

regards

Dannon Rhudy


.....Hank Murrow (.....showed us how to facet a bowl and throw it from the
inside.....

Hank Murrow on tue 7 jun 05


On Jun 7, 2005, at 8:50 AM, Lee Love wrote:

> Dolita,
>
> Hank wouldn't be showing you how, if he didn't want you to use what he
> shows you. :-)

I wonder what the first wheel potter said to himself.........."I better
not let anyone see me using this new kick wheel........ they might copy
me(or be faster)!"

Ha!

In everything I find useful or inspiring, my first thought is......"I
gotta show this to someone." Probably the same for all artists and
lovers......... congratulations on being both, Lee.


Cheers, Hank
www.murrow.biz/hank

Lee Love on wed 8 jun 05


Dolita,

Hank wouldn't be showing you how, if he didn't want you to use what he
shows you. :-)

There are different ways to use this technique. Lee Middleman textures
surfaces on jars before he expands them. His sunflower series looks just
like sunflowers. My friend Gordon, from near Dresden came upon the
technique through his own experiments, after seeing a video of a Ruth
Tudball demo while he was staying in a Kibbutz in Israel. He added the
expansion on his own. Many of his cuts, using his homemade faceting
tool, are by holding the faceting tool vertical and making short, deep,
horizontal cuts instead of vertical ones. He also thins out the edge of
the pot so it flops and curls into interesting shapes. He makes covered
jars and teapots this way.

I use a stretched spring to cut with instead of twisted wires (you can
use a spring from a ball point, Thanks Rick MaHaffey!) and this makes
bolder cuts. You can also use a fluting tool or a loop tool. But the
possibilities are endless. Digest the lesson. Make the technique your own!

--
Z Lee Love 大
">EUREUREUREUR EUREUREUREUR -
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft

"With Humans it's what's here (he points to his heart) that makes the difference. If you don't have it in the heart, nothing you make will make a difference." ~~Bernard Leach~~ (As told to Dean Schwarz)

Lee Love on wed 8 jun 05


Hank Murrow wrote:

> I wonder what the first wheel potter said to himself.........."I better
> not let anyone see me using this new kick wheel........ they might copy
> me(or be faster)!"


Hank, this is a quote from Denny Means site at
http:/home.earthlink.net/~crookedtreepots

"We make art to sing up the earth.EUR

-Paddy Horeddy, an aboriginal Australian*.
*As quoted by Paulus Berensohn in EURoeThe Studio PotterEUR Dec. 2003.

> In everything I find useful or inspiring, my first thought is......"I
> gotta show this to someone." Probably the same for all artists and
> lovers......... congratulations on being both, Lee.

Takes one to know one! :-)

It seems that our times make us forget the essential reason for human
beings making art. Art was the first thing we made, after our tools for
feeding ourselves and keeping us safe. Those first artists in the caves
30,000 years ago at Lascaux did not make their paints to be famous, nor
to make money. They made their art to Communicate! Can't do this if we
stick it under a basket.

--
Z Lee Love 大
">EUREUREUREUR EUREUREUREUR -
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft

"With Humans it's what's here (he points to his heart) that makes the difference. If you don't have it in the heart, nothing you make will make a difference." ~~Bernard Leach~~ (As told to Dean Schwarz)