Elizabeth Priddy on fri 23 jun 06
I am going public with my adventure. Two years ago,
when I had Logan, I decided that I wasn't going to let
the details of where I live interfere with my
education. And so I decided that the primary focus of
an MFA for me was artistic development.
My areas of weakness were kilns, non-electric firing,
and media-based education systems. So I set myself up
with a plan and then did this:
designed and built a chimney kiln
modified plans and built a raku kiln
designed a hybrid portable wood/gas/raku kiln
produced and distributed a DVD on throwing
and a rice bowl project sheet designed for
distance learning
In two years, the first two are complete and work like
dreams, the third is underway, and the 4th is in the
stores around the country already. The rice bowl
participants were extremely successful and the project
sheets are now revised based on review and criticism
from the students themselves and several peer
educators. At the two year midpoint, I am about to
have my first show of the resulting work, my "Fired
Works" show, in one week on July 3-4, in conjunction
with a studio sale and opening. I am also posting the
photographs of the work on my website (photos are
happening this week).
The peer review is coming from some local and near
distant potters that I admire and respect. And I did
most of the work in isolation. Self-motivation and
ability to move forward in the face of a toddler, back
surgery, and life in general were obstacles that
interfered with my schedule of work, but I have gotten
here anyway. I am interested in a virtual critique
once the pics are up and I would like volunteers to
contact me. I have done this once before, and it was
remarkably helpful.
Secondary work was on brush painting on paper, and
handbuilding. 3/4ths of the show is hand work, and
that is a remarkable accomplishment, as my comfort
zone is throwing. Getting outside that zone, by
working on paper and not on a wheel has been an
incredible challenge. My brush painting mentor gave
me her input about 2 months ago and I topped it off
with a study of the "Silk Road", a touring exhibit of
chinese painting, contemporary and historical.
What I am getting at it this: If you want to learn,
you just need to make a plan and follow it. It won't
happen by chance, you have to set goals and benchmarks
and opportunities to review and regroup. You have to
honestly look for the areas you are weakest in and
actively pursue development of those areas, even to
the exclusion of the infinitely more comfortable zone
of working on what youare already good at.
The difference between the program of study I have
been on and just normal professional development is
that all new work, innovation, and searching did not
result in and were not motivated by sales. Instead,
it was purely for the sake of taking my brain out of
it's box and moving it up a notch, raising my own bar.
The opportunity cost associated with working for pure
artistic develpment rather than sales and profit was
rather high, but I think it was worth it. What I gave
up in order to glean the rewards of other activity
made the last two years financially difficult, to say
the least, but the potential profitability of the new
lines that were created is unbounded.
And the progress is quite amazing. I am now
well-skilled at tight AND loose expressive and lyrical
styles and can now point to an extremely diverse body
of work to show the development of range.
The next step, after this show/sale, is to focus and
produce another body of work that will be a cohesive
ecology series related to the mermaid series, but in
clay and paper paintings.
But that is another day. This week, I have to finish
getting ready for the show. Let me know if you are
interested in the crit, offlist, and I will generate a
small yahoo group that can listen to each others'
comments. Anyone who is interested in going on such
an adventure with me is welcome and I will be glad to
act as peer support for anyone else out there who is
working on their own homeschooled MFA. maybe I could
help you establish goals and we would work together
over the next year with online crits and review of
milestones. No paper involved at the end of the line,
though. You just have to want it enough to just do
it.
I am interested in what traditional MFA instructors
and graduates would say that my program lacks or could
benefit from. So please advise. What would you ask
me if I were defending my thesis in a brick and mortar
situation? The only topic that I would not like to
include is the pros and cons of direct contact time
with other students, as that horse is glue by now and
is not applicable to my situation. I learned a lot
from the conversation, but the point is moot, as I am
already on the path, hunkered down and moving forward,
however slowly.
Any thoughts?
E
Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
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Jeanie Silver on sun 25 jun 06
Dear Elizabeth
I was impressed and moved by your home-grown MFA program. and a little
saddened that it is so much the exception and not the rule.
If you are interested, I would be interested and honored to be in your group
critique. This is why I think I could help: I have been a potter for 35
years, many of them making a living at it. I don't have a Masters, but my
degree is in painting and English. I have worked in all temp ranges and
clays except salt/soda. For the past 12 years, my path has been
terracotta,functional and sculptural. I am passionate about the clay, its
history, low-on-the-hog connotations, and endless possibilities. The
emphasis in my work is the strange crossroad where language, form and
imagery come.together. I like to stand in that crossroad,ready to make
Robert Johnson's bargain with the devil, just to make some good thing.
Surface imagery and the marriage of form and content is what drives me.
Since 1987, I have taught at Chester Springs Studio, a non-profit center for
the visual arts in Chester County, Pennslyvania.about 50 miles from Philly.
We are a small but nationally known center for clay. I've been lucky over
the years to learn from the steady stream of workshop presenters there and
elsewhere. Jimmy Clark, Mary Barringer, Ron Meyers, Linda Sikora
andMathewMetz, Eva kwang and Kurt mangus are just a few. I studied China
painting with Kurt Weil at Pennland.
AT chester Springs, I teach wheel, hanbuilding which is my first love, and
surface techniques to adult classes, teenagers, 9-12 yr ols, and 6-8. I
love the feeling of a class of 12 people going in 12 directions, learning
from their own work, each other and me.
My own very minor agenda has been in the last 2 years, to become a competent
woodfirerer and make woodfired work that reflects what I am trying to do in
terracotta-I don't care about the 'romance' of wood, or about making one
more sensitive brown pot. My other agenda is to work with large painted
non-paper clay slabs, and then to construct sculptures from them in the
post-fired stage.
I am 60 years old and feel that I am in the Full-Tilt Boogie-till-I die
stage of my life. What I identified most with your post was when you talked
about working outside your comfort zone.
I apologize for talking so much about myself, but thought it might be useful
for you.I don't post to the list very often, and don't have a website, but
if you want I could send you slides. I show regularly in the mid-Atlantic
area, but don't consider myself a production potter. It doesn't make me
either squirm or preen to call myself an artist. I just want to keep on
working....
If you think we could get down the road tog ether on this feedback thing
let me know..
Jeanie in Pa., where we got 6 and a half inches in 3 hours yesterday
claybair on sun 25 jun 06
Jeanie,
What a wonderful posting.... I can really relate to it.
I'm sorry I never got to take any classes at
Chester Springs Studio. I lived in PA (Philly, Ardmore,
Overbrook Park & Thorndale) until I was 50.
My BFA (Phila College of Art) was in printmaking
though I was a painting major till my junior year.
We moved to CO in 1996 then WA.
I didn't find clay until we were in CO.
Funny... the fabulous routes life takes us!
Full Tilt Boogie really describes my life pattern
for the past 10 years (I'm also 60).
Best Regards,
Gayle Bair ... check between your fingers to see if
they are webbed. That's the true sign of rain overload!
I know .... that's the test here in WA.
Bainbridge Island, WA
Tucson, AZ
http://claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Jeanie
Silver
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2006 6:34 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Homeschool MFA
Dear Elizabeth
I was impressed and moved by your home-grown MFA program. and a little
saddened that it is so much the exception and not the rule.
If you are interested, I would be interested and honored to be in your group
critique. This is why I think I could help: I have been a potter for 35
years, many of them making a living at it. I don't have a Masters, but my
degree is in painting and English. I have worked in all temp ranges and
clays except salt/soda. For the past 12 years, my path has been
terracotta,functional and sculptural. I am passionate about the clay, its
history, low-on-the-hog connotations, and endless possibilities. The
emphasis in my work is the strange crossroad where language, form and
imagery come.together. I like to stand in that crossroad,ready to make
Robert Johnson's bargain with the devil, just to make some good thing.
Surface imagery and the marriage of form and content is what drives me.
Since 1987, I have taught at Chester Springs Studio, a non-profit center for
the visual arts in Chester County, Pennslyvania.about 50 miles from Philly.
We are a small but nationally known center for clay. I've been lucky over
the years to learn from the steady stream of workshop presenters there and
elsewhere. Jimmy Clark, Mary Barringer, Ron Meyers, Linda Sikora
andMathewMetz, Eva kwang and Kurt mangus are just a few. I studied China
painting with Kurt Weil at Pennland.
AT chester Springs, I teach wheel, hanbuilding which is my first love, and
surface techniques to adult classes, teenagers, 9-12 yr ols, and 6-8. I
love the feeling of a class of 12 people going in 12 directions, learning
from their own work, each other and me.
My own very minor agenda has been in the last 2 years, to become a competent
woodfirerer and make woodfired work that reflects what I am trying to do in
terracotta-I don't care about the 'romance' of wood, or about making one
more sensitive brown pot. My other agenda is to work with large painted
non-paper clay slabs, and then to construct sculptures from them in the
post-fired stage.
I am 60 years old and feel that I am in the Full-Tilt Boogie-till-I die
stage of my life. What I identified most with your post was when you talked
about working outside your comfort zone.
I apologize for talking so much about myself, but thought it might be useful
for you.I don't post to the list very often, and don't have a website, but
if you want I could send you slides. I show regularly in the mid-Atlantic
area, but don't consider myself a production potter. It doesn't make me
either squirm or preen to call myself an artist. I just want to keep on
working....
If you think we could get down the road tog ether on this feedback thing
let me know..
Jeanie in Pa., where we got 6 and a half inches in 3 hours yesterday
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Judi Buchanan on sun 25 jun 06
Elizabeth, Congratulations on your MFA program. I elected 35 years ago to
skip straight to a Doctoral program. You know where you learn more and more
about a smaller and smaller field of study. If I continue at my present
pace, I expect to soon know everything about nothing at all.
Judi Buchanan, Flutter-by Pottery
Lee Love on mon 26 jun 06
Hey,
My life is one big, perpetual "self study" program. Can't
tell you how much of my life is focused on "useless" learning.
When you have confidence in what you are doing, you don't
worry about comparing it to other ways.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
http://mashiko.org
My google Notebooks:
http://tinyurl.com/e5p3n
"The accessibility of the handmade object in today's world seems vital
and radical, and hopefully tempers our hunger for 'progress' and
rationality" - , Michael Kline
Snail Scott on mon 26 jun 06
At 09:38 PM 6/23/2006 -0700, you wrote:
>...
>I am interested in what traditional MFA instructors
>and graduates would say that my program lacks or could
>benefit from...
One thing I might suggest is input from
non-specialists. Not just potters, but also
artists in other disciplines. They can combine
(to some extent) the fresh eye of the 'average
joe' with the visual perception and vocabulary
of an educated, experienced artist. They don't
know the conventions and assumptions and
technical nuances of ceramics, but they can
observe, and can describe their observations
in an informed way.
Sometimes the unexpected responses are just
pointless and merely show a lack of understanding
of ceramics. But sometimes it lets you see the
work in a broader context.
(This is the portion of the MFA process akin to
'critique from a visiting artist in another
department'.) ;)
I often found them to be valuable to me, and
they can prevent the stagnation that can set in
when all your critiques come from people sharing
similar assumptions and background. The people
whose work had the least similarity to mine
sometimes had the most interesting perceptions,
seeing things that I never had.
I very much respect your self-discipline, and
your commitment to your work and life on your
own terms. And you know I admire your stuff.
Keep it up!
-Snail
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