Gary Navarre on wed 30 nov 05
Hay Crew,
The weather has been nasty. We got dumped on last week ago or so when I
had to knock 8" of snow off the Balsam limbs. It hasn't been real cold yet
and the needles didn't have time to freeze and set real good. I wasn't
liking a third of the greens I gave my one customer so I guess I'll have
to adjust the bill as "claims". Now that it rained and got cold I think
I'll have a couple days to get more greens for my customer, some greens
for the dozen or so wreaths I'm making for private orders and gifts, and a
little more secondary stoke hole wood. As I explained to Ed when I visited
Pete's farm today, "Ya need that small stuff to suck the ball of heat from
the front of the kiln to the back!"
Then I got to thinking about I could use a helper from time to time. I
remembered my younger days when all us new potters wanted to go to Japan
and study with a master and be somebody's apprentice. None of this college
stuff, I was one that wanted to jump right in and work in clay. Well I
found out that's not exactly how this works. It just seemed cool to be
able to say "I was apprenticed to Guru Dabalotaclayonya". A
while/year back a gal wrote in asking about apprenticeships and some guy
suggested looking in Ceramics Monthly classifieds. Ya, right, how many
credible apprenticeships have you seen in their help wanted over the
years. That's just not the sort of thing one asks for in public you know.
That reminded me of the request a few weeks ago for some kid in Germany
who has rich folks who could send him somewhere for a few weeks. Then the
Cha-ching-cha-ching machine starts clicking. The first thing that comes to
mind is Peter's daughter went to Germany for high school on a Presidential
scholarship and speaks fluent German. Then there is the court order to
finish the farm and real progress has been made. The basement walls are
just about poured with enough boulders and concrete to box in the hole and
get a wood furnace under there to keep pouring all winter. More insulation
is in and the barrel stove moved to a better location. It's quite toasty
in there!
So I think I got it figured out. This apprentice I'm thinking I need
could begin their training by living at the farm and haul wood and water
for Peter and the kids for a while and I'd come get them when I needed
some brush cut or ash cooked in the Koie cooker. That's the ticket! And of
course they would have to get a part time job at Wal-Mart, even if their
folks payed the 4 grand a month for the training. Let's see, there must be
other requirements we would want in an apprentice other than "I love
clay!". Oh, ya, I know, they'd have to go with the kids and stay drunk in
the woods for a week. Wish we could have had a requirement like that when
I was coming up. Then after a while we might start making clay and lay a
few brick when the weather is descent. Who knows, if they get a job at
Wally World with me in lawn and garden we could be together constantly and
maybe even become a local vendor to the company, then I could out source
some doodad out of clay and make millions. Those little stoneware angles
and snowmen/women are selling pretty good and they actually have
interesting glazes!
Some of this I thought about this afternoon as I carried a bundle of
greens to the van on my shoulder, one of the first job skills I learned at
12 years old carrying bundles of newspapers to my sales corner in
Northland Shopping Center, Southfield, Michigan. Nothin like some stoop
labor and a sales pitch to teach a kid how to work! Now-a-days most of the
crap sells itself. I think one reason I enjoy hand making pots and wreaths
is the customer has to really look and decide if they want to pay extra
for hand made or get off cheep like the human imagination tells them (as
opposed to spiritual imagination) and buy plastic. Well, it don't leave
needles. Or does it? Ya ougth to see all the crap that comes off these
decorations. Plastic needles still come off the wires and get sweeped up.
I don't get it. Ya buy something so ya don't have the mess of a real
greens decoration and still have a mess. And it din't even smell like
Balsam. Jeeze, shoot me now!
It's gettin light out so I better nap before cutting some brush. Think
I'll just go lay down and let God do my breathin for me for a while, stay
in there!
G in Da UP
Navarre Pottery
Navarre Enterprises
Norway, Michigan, USA
http://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/
G in Da UP
Navarre Pottery
Navarre Enterprises
Norway, Michigan, USA
http://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/
marianne kuiper milks on wed 30 nov 05
Gary, an interesting picture you drew, I feel, of the life you lead.
I am sorry, though, that you have such a negative picture of kids. I wonder what kind of kids are in you area - whether they get respect from their elders.
I can honestly say that the kids I meet in my life are totally opposite and I respect them very much.
Your last sentence "...let God do the breathin' for me for a while" was beautiful to me. What a great, great thought.
Marianne. Good luck with the plasic ;-)
Gary Navarre wrote: Hay Crew,
The weather has been nasty. We got dumped on last week ago or so when I
had to knock 8" of snow off the Balsam limbs. It hasn't been real cold yet
and the needles didn't have time to freeze and set real good. I wasn't
liking a third of the greens I gave my one customer so I guess I'll have
to adjust the bill as "claims". Now that it rained and got cold I think
I'll have a couple days to get more greens for my customer, some greens
for the dozen or so wreaths I'm making for private orders and gifts, and a
little more secondary stoke hole wood. As I explained to Ed when I visited
Pete's farm today, "Ya need that small stuff to suck the ball of heat from
the front of the kiln to the back!"
Then I got to thinking about I could use a helper from time to time. I
remembered my younger days when all us new potters wanted to go to Japan
and study with a master and be somebody's apprentice. None of this college
stuff, I was one that wanted to jump right in and work in clay. Well I
found out that's not exactly how this works. It just seemed cool to be
able to say "I was apprenticed to Guru Dabalotaclayonya". A
while/year back a gal wrote in asking about apprenticeships and some guy
suggested looking in Ceramics Monthly classifieds. Ya, right, how many
credible apprenticeships have you seen in their help wanted over the
years. That's just not the sort of thing one asks for in public you know.
That reminded me of the request a few weeks ago for some kid in Germany
who has rich folks who could send him somewhere for a few weeks. Then the
Cha-ching-cha-ching machine starts clicking. The first thing that comes to
mind is Peter's daughter went to Germany for high school on a Presidential
scholarship and speaks fluent German. Then there is the court order to
finish the farm and real progress has been made. The basement walls are
just about poured with enough boulders and concrete to box in the hole and
get a wood furnace under there to keep pouring all winter. More insulation
is in and the barrel stove moved to a better location. It's quite toasty
in there!
So I think I got it figured out. This apprentice I'm thinking I need
could begin their training by living at the farm and haul wood and water
for Peter and the kids for a while and I'd come get them when I needed
some brush cut or ash cooked in the Koie cooker. That's the ticket! And of
course they would have to get a part time job at Wal-Mart, even if their
folks payed the 4 grand a month for the training. Let's see, there must be
other requirements we would want in an apprentice other than "I love
clay!". Oh, ya, I know, they'd have to go with the kids and stay drunk in
the woods for a week. Wish we could have had a requirement like that when
I was coming up. Then after a while we might start making clay and lay a
few brick when the weather is descent. Who knows, if they get a job at
Wally World with me in lawn and garden we could be together constantly and
maybe even become a local vendor to the company, then I could out source
some doodad out of clay and make millions. Those little stoneware angles
and snowmen/women are selling pretty good and they actually have
interesting glazes!
Some of this I thought about this afternoon as I carried a bundle of
greens to the van on my shoulder, one of the first job skills I learned at
12 years old carrying bundles of newspapers to my sales corner in
Northland Shopping Center, Southfield, Michigan. Nothin like some stoop
labor and a sales pitch to teach a kid how to work! Now-a-days most of the
crap sells itself. I think one reason I enjoy hand making pots and wreaths
is the customer has to really look and decide if they want to pay extra
for hand made or get off cheep like the human imagination tells them (as
opposed to spiritual imagination) and buy plastic. Well, it don't leave
needles. Or does it? Ya ougth to see all the crap that comes off these
decorations. Plastic needles still come off the wires and get sweeped up.
I don't get it. Ya buy something so ya don't have the mess of a real
greens decoration and still have a mess. And it din't even smell like
Balsam. Jeeze, shoot me now!
It's gettin light out so I better nap before cutting some brush. Think
I'll just go lay down and let God do my breathin for me for a while, stay
in there!
G in Da UP
Navarre Pottery
Navarre Enterprises
Norway, Michigan, USA
http://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/
G in Da UP
Navarre Pottery
Navarre Enterprises
Norway, Michigan, USA
http://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/
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