Donald G. Goldsobel on wed 4 jan 06
I was never fortunate enough to receive a ceramics education in a classroom,
but have attended enough workshops at places like El Camino college to know
a teacher has to bring in outside influences to counter balance the natural
instinct to follow the teacher's lead. When El Camino's very able Neil Moss
has a workshop, the potter leaves his workshop pieces behind. Neil bisques
them and has them set out where his students can see them. I get a kick out
of going there and seeing all of these styles and attitudes shoulder to
shoulder around the room. It is like seeing the work shops all over again.
Neil also has a set of CM-an endless source of info and inspiration. I
recently agreed to donate my CM collection to a local highschool so they
could have the benefit of CM's history in their ceramics program.
The one time I took classes- the instructor kept his pots hidden away-
showed technique-not style. He'd have visiting artists who were the full
spectrum from traditional functional to wacky funk teapots, tight vs loose.
The ego in teaching should be to acheive a free spirited student, and avoid
producing copy machines
Donald
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