primalmommy on thu 26 jan 06
Are there more clayarters than not at NCECA?
Nope. There were 4 or 5000 potters in Baltimore, I was told. Clayart is
a small but respectable slice.
Are the best pots at NCECA really in the clayart room?
Uh, no. The best people, maybe. But for NCECA pots...
There are wonderful gallery tours, amazing shows, stuff by big dog
potters, grad student and international slide shows, "cover girls" from
the mags, amazing pots made by kids, the cup sale, the artstream, the
cone box show, and mind blowing stuff being made on stage in demos.
The clayart room has some remarkable work, and some less remarkable
work, all rubbing elbows at the same table in the supportive, democratic
atmosphere that is clayart. Mel may have his quirks, but he sure creates
a safe place for all of us to trot out our best, proudest work (that we
are still awfully insecure about), in a place where everybody matters
and nobody talks down to anybody.
Are clayarters hanging out in the clayart room when they should be
broadening their minds at NCECA sponsored events?
Well, that depends.
If the clayarter you are sitting next to is a sculptor, an artist, a
professor, a writer, or a potter who enjoys complicated discourse,
academic perspectives or in-depth consideration of the inspiration for a
specific body of work -- well, there's one answer.
If the potter is wearing a T-shirt that says, "if it ain't a teapot or a
casserole, it's elitist crap", then the answer may differ.
There are always complaints by some that NCECA doesn't offer much for
the studio potter. It reminds me a little of American tourists traveling
in foreign lands lamenting that there's nothing to eat because they
can't find a burger and fries.
Me, I approach the vendor's hall with a shopping list, and lots of
questions for the companies that manufacture my equipment. I haul home
free posters and workshop info and new tools and samples and ideas.
I tour the galleries going "ooooohhhhhh" and "ahhhhh"... and
occasionally "huh?"
I watch three potters at a time demonstrate to lecture halls full of
interested people -- (some of whom actually may be studio potters.)
I try not to give the titles of lectures/slide shows/ etc. an eyeroll or
rejection too quickly. Some surpass expectations, others not so much.
While some turn out to be (to me) boring artspeak and navel gazing, (so
I leave), others are insightful, poetic explanation I find fascinating
(but others walk out on). It's based on MY taste, not on content.
I was invited to speak on a panel once to a group of university art
majors, and they wanted to know what to study. I theorized that nothing
is wasted. The classes that influenced me most as an artist were a
biology class where we dissected the sexual organs of flowers under a
microscope, anthrolopogy, and a few folklore classes. I think potters
who decide that if it isn't about burner orifices or kiln building then
it's not "about " them -- might be missing out.
But they won't be, because they will be back at the clayart room, or at
the bar, or networking with other potters. And the rest of us will be in
and out, in and out (repeat if necessary, the old joke goes.) There will
be some presentations and some Q&A sessions in the clayart room, and of
course the mug exchange, but it's the place to start out from and come
back to. There will always be somebody there to go to lunch with, or
dinner, or on a tour of the galleries. (Maybe Mark Issenberg standing
there looking like he needs to buy me a Corona.) There will be tables
with pottery and snacks and people sitting around chatting, late night
owls with mugs full of mystery beverages. It's a good place to be, and
the place where all those emails get a human face.The photos never do us
justice -- people have a sparkle that can't be captured on film.
The clayart room is face time with the people I read over my morning
coffee - (which I drink out of the cups they made.) It puts the stories
with the pots. My Molly told a little friend over hot cocoa, "See your
cup? My mom was at NCECA and a man she never MET before took it out of
his POCKET (dramatic pause)... and GAVE it to her.
Friend says, "What's en-seeka?"
There has been talk before about clayart having its own conference, but
how many of us can take a week off and fly across country TWICE a year?
Anyway, the Potter's Council, with clayart/ACERS, has wonderful regional
conferences with workshops perfectly suited to studio potters. I learned
more at the firings conference in LaCrosse than I did in year sorting
stuff out alone in my studio with my books.
Clayart rocks, and NCECA rocks, and the wenches will be cavorting at the
Friday night dance - feel free to dress expressively, folks, and join
us.
Yours
Kelly in Ohio.. overdue for my bedtime
_______________________________________________________________
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Kent Lauridsen on fri 27 jan 06
On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 22:50:48 -0800, primalmommy
wrote:
>Are there more clayarters than not at NCECA?
>
>Nope. There were 4 or 5000 potters in Baltimore, I was told. Clayart is
>a small but respectable slice.
>
>Are the best pots at NCECA really in the clayart room?
>
>Uh, no. The best people, maybe. But for NCECA pots...
>
>There are wonderful gallery tours, amazing shows, stuff by big dog
>potters, grad student and international slide shows, "cover girls" from
>the mags, amazing pots made by kids, the cup sale, the artstream, the
>cone box show, and mind blowing stuff being made on stage in demos.
>
>The clayart room has some remarkable work, and some less remarkable
>work, all rubbing elbows at the same table in the supportive, democratic
>atmosphere that is clayart. Mel may have his quirks, but he sure creates
>a safe place for all of us to trot out our best, proudest work (that we
>are still awfully insecure about), in a place where everybody matters
>and nobody talks down to anybody.
>
>Are clayarters hanging out in the clayart room when they should be
>broadening their minds at NCECA sponsored events?
>
>Well, that depends.
>
>If the clayarter you are sitting next to is a sculptor, an artist, a
>professor, a writer, or a potter who enjoys complicated discourse,
>academic perspectives or in-depth consideration of the inspiration for a
>specific body of work -- well, there's one answer.
>
>If the potter is wearing a T-shirt that says, "if it ain't a teapot or a
>casserole, it's elitist crap", then the answer may differ.
>
>There are always complaints by some that NCECA doesn't offer much for
>the studio potter. It reminds me a little of American tourists traveling
>in foreign lands lamenting that there's nothing to eat because they
>can't find a burger and fries.
>
>Me, I approach the vendor's hall with a shopping list, and lots of
>questions for the companies that manufacture my equipment. I haul home
>free posters and workshop info and new tools and samples and ideas.
>
>I tour the galleries going "ooooohhhhhh" and "ahhhhh"... and
>occasionally "huh?"
>
>I watch three potters at a time demonstrate to lecture halls full of
>interested people -- (some of whom actually may be studio potters.)
>
>I try not to give the titles of lectures/slide shows/ etc. an eyeroll or
>rejection too quickly. Some surpass expectations, others not so much.
>While some turn out to be (to me) boring artspeak and navel gazing, (so
>I leave), others are insightful, poetic explanation I find fascinating
>(but others walk out on). It's based on MY taste, not on content.
>
>I was invited to speak on a panel once to a group of university art
>majors, and they wanted to know what to study. I theorized that nothing
>is wasted. The classes that influenced me most as an artist were a
>biology class where we dissected the sexual organs of flowers under a
>microscope, anthrolopogy, and a few folklore classes. I think potters
>who decide that if it isn't about burner orifices or kiln building then
>it's not "about " them -- might be missing out.
>
>But they won't be, because they will be back at the clayart room, or at
>the bar, or networking with other potters. And the rest of us will be in
>and out, in and out (repeat if necessary, the old joke goes.) There will
>be some presentations and some Q&A sessions in the clayart room, and of
>course the mug exchange, but it's the place to start out from and come
>back to. There will always be somebody there to go to lunch with, or
>dinner, or on a tour of the galleries. (Maybe Mark Issenberg standing
>there looking like he needs to buy me a Corona.) There will be tables
>with pottery and snacks and people sitting around chatting, late night
>owls with mugs full of mystery beverages. It's a good place to be, and
>the place where all those emails get a human face.The photos never do us
>justice -- people have a sparkle that can't be captured on film.
>
>The clayart room is face time with the people I read over my morning
>coffee - (which I drink out of the cups they made.) It puts the stories
>with the pots. My Molly told a little friend over hot cocoa, "See your
>cup? My mom was at NCECA and a man she never MET before took it out of
>his POCKET (dramatic pause)... and GAVE it to her.
>
>Friend says, "What's en-seeka?"
>
>There has been talk before about clayart having its own conference, but
>how many of us can take a week off and fly across country TWICE a year?
>Anyway, the Potter's Council, with clayart/ACERS, has wonderful regional
>conferences with workshops perfectly suited to studio potters. I learned
>more at the firings conference in LaCrosse than I did in year sorting
>stuff out alone in my studio with my books.
>
>Clayart rocks, and NCECA rocks, and the wenches will be cavorting at the
>Friday night dance - feel free to dress expressively, folks, and join
>us.
>
>Yours
>Kelly in Ohio.. overdue for my bedtime
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>style="font-
size:13.5px">_______________________________________________________________
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>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Kelly, Thank you so much for taking the time to give some detail and
flavor of what going to the NCECA conference in Portland would be like.
I'm just getting back into pottery after enjoying an introduction to it 25
or so years ago. I've joined the KC Clay Guild and am trying to immerse
myself in this artworld as much as I can. Consequently I joined the
Clayart discussion group and came across the posts about the upcoming NCECA
conference in Portland and was wondering how practical it would be to try
to attend on such short notice...i.e..would there still be places to stay,
would i get that much out of it at this stage of my development, etc, etc..
..not a very specific question I know, but was hoping you and/or others
might have some helpful thoughts/advice
thanks..
Kent in Kansas City
marianne kuiper milks on fri 27 jan 06
Hey Kelly.....
I am completely confused!
I wrote what i considered some "funny" questions/responses, but do not really recognize much of what you wrote back. So: "Puzzled I Am." (quoting none other than myself here)
I was at NCECA AND in the Clayart room last year, sharing a room with Lory Leary and Gayle Depogni. Had a blast everywhere I went. Glad I wasn;'t a speaker for a change: felt like a kid.
I don't have time to look* for the email I sent, but i do confess that I'm at a loss. Nevertheless: ernjoyed your rundown of events and tastes of lovely things.
It's 8:26, gotta go to bed!* See you soon!!!
Marianne
*Flight to Haiti was cancelled, drove all the way back to PA and getting back up at 4 to make the next flight. Oy.
primalmommy wrote: Are there more clayarters than not at NCECA?
Nope. There were 4 or 5000 potters in Baltimore, I was told. Clayart is
a small but respectable slice.
Are the best pots at NCECA really in the clayart room?
Uh, no. The best people, maybe. But for NCECA pots...
There are wonderful gallery tours, amazing shows, stuff by big dog
potters, grad student and international slide shows, "cover girls" from
the mags, amazing pots made by kids, the cup sale, the artstream, the
cone box show, and mind blowing stuff being made on stage in demos.
The clayart room has some remarkable work, and some less remarkable
work, all rubbing elbows at the same table in the supportive, democratic
atmosphere that is clayart. Mel may have his quirks, but he sure creates
a safe place for all of us to trot out our best, proudest work (that we
are still awfully insecure about), in a place where everybody matters
and nobody talks down to anybody.
Are clayarters hanging out in the clayart room when they should be
broadening their minds at NCECA sponsored events?
Well, that depends.
If the clayarter you are sitting next to is a sculptor, an artist, a
professor, a writer, or a potter who enjoys complicated discourse,
academic perspectives or in-depth consideration of the inspiration for a
specific body of work -- well, there's one answer.
If the potter is wearing a T-shirt that says, "if it ain't a teapot or a
casserole, it's elitist crap", then the answer may differ.
There are always complaints by some that NCECA doesn't offer much for
the studio potter. It reminds me a little of American tourists traveling
in foreign lands lamenting that there's nothing to eat because they
can't find a burger and fries.
Me, I approach the vendor's hall with a shopping list, and lots of
questions for the companies that manufacture my equipment. I haul home
free posters and workshop info and new tools and samples and ideas.
I tour the galleries going "ooooohhhhhh" and "ahhhhh"... and
occasionally "huh?"
I watch three potters at a time demonstrate to lecture halls full of
interested people -- (some of whom actually may be studio potters.)
I try not to give the titles of lectures/slide shows/ etc. an eyeroll or
rejection too quickly. Some surpass expectations, others not so much.
While some turn out to be (to me) boring artspeak and navel gazing, (so
I leave), others are insightful, poetic explanation I find fascinating
(but others walk out on). It's based on MY taste, not on content.
I was invited to speak on a panel once to a group of university art
majors, and they wanted to know what to study. I theorized that nothing
is wasted. The classes that influenced me most as an artist were a
biology class where we dissected the sexual organs of flowers under a
microscope, anthrolopogy, and a few folklore classes. I think potters
who decide that if it isn't about burner orifices or kiln building then
it's not "about " them -- might be missing out.
But they won't be, because they will be back at the clayart room, or at
the bar, or networking with other potters. And the rest of us will be in
and out, in and out (repeat if necessary, the old joke goes.) There will
be some presentations and some Q&A sessions in the clayart room, and of
course the mug exchange, but it's the place to start out from and come
back to. There will always be somebody there to go to lunch with, or
dinner, or on a tour of the galleries. (Maybe Mark Issenberg standing
there looking like he needs to buy me a Corona.) There will be tables
with pottery and snacks and people sitting around chatting, late night
owls with mugs full of mystery beverages. It's a good place to be, and
the place where all those emails get a human face.The photos never do us
justice -- people have a sparkle that can't be captured on film.
The clayart room is face time with the people I read over my morning
coffee - (which I drink out of the cups they made.) It puts the stories
with the pots. My Molly told a little friend over hot cocoa, "See your
cup? My mom was at NCECA and a man she never MET before took it out of
his POCKET (dramatic pause)... and GAVE it to her.
Friend says, "What's en-seeka?"
There has been talk before about clayart having its own conference, but
how many of us can take a week off and fly across country TWICE a year?
Anyway, the Potter's Council, with clayart/ACERS, has wonderful regional
conferences with workshops perfectly suited to studio potters. I learned
more at the firings conference in LaCrosse than I did in year sorting
stuff out alone in my studio with my books.
Clayart rocks, and NCECA rocks, and the wenches will be cavorting at the
Friday night dance - feel free to dress expressively, folks, and join
us.
Yours
Kelly in Ohio.. overdue for my bedtime
_______________________________________________________________
Get the FREE email that has everyone talking at http://www.mail2world.com
Unlimited Email Storage – POP3 – Calendar – SMS – Translator – Much More!
______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
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