Ken Nowicki on wed 2 aug 06
Hi all,
Taking a break at my 'puter in my basement from the blistering heat
outside... reading the list... and gotta say... nice to see some great threads around
here lately. Some topics that are particularly interesting and relevant to me
too...
Sucking -
The article in the recent CM about the art of critiquing one's own work was
very enlightening and well written. Gave me a lot to think about. I found his
"suck factor" chart interesting too, and wonder what my chart would look like
over the last 20+ years I've been involved with clay... and what it will look
like once I get my studio rolling again and start producing a different style
of work... I'm guessing it will rise quite sharply as I find my way again...
getting away a little bit from my 'raku' that I've been so comfortable with in
recent years... and exploring new avenues with my new 'hybrid' kiln and ^10
reduction... functional work... architectural claywork... testing and getting to
know my new kiln... not quite sure where I'm headed next... so many ideas
swimming around in this head of mine. Plenty of room to suck tho. Hmmm...
Stamps/Signing Pots -
Even after all these years, I'm still not entirely happy with how I go about
signing my work. I'm still struggling with how I should go about changing it,
making it work for me better. Many years ago, I changed from signing it with
just "Ken" and the year it was made... to my actual signature... full name...
'Kenneth J. Nowicki'. One of my galleries suggested I drop the year...
suggested that customers sometimes think there might be "something wrong with it" if a
customer picks up a piece and it's got a date that's several years old on
it... they may think to themselves... "why hasn't somebody bought it yet?... oh
there must be something wrong with it" and put it back. I felt the gallery
owner had a good point, so I stopped dating my work. I use a stylus ball tool to
sign the bottom after trimming. When it's bone dry, I knock off the 'hanging
chads' with my finger nail easily enough. My signature is long, and it tends to
not always fit on the foot of a pot... but the galleries seem to appreciate
it. I keep thinking, there's got to be a better solution. I just haven't settled
on it yet. This thread seems timely for me... and has given me a lot to think
about.
I've always liked chops. I think they are kind of classy. I've often thought
to myself, it'd be nice to have one or two for myself... personalized somehow.
I then think to myself... "hey, I'm not Japanese... my pots aren't
Japanese... am I sending the right image to my customers? Does it appear like I am
trying to be something I'm not? Can I design a chop that still looks cool like the
Japanese ones I've seen, yet be totally my own? Should I bother? Maybe I
should just make a stamp, period... not have it look at all like a chop? Maybe I'll
have a chop that I use just for my raku work... but... it is not Japanese
raku... it is American raku..." oh God... and my mind goes on and on... obsessing
about it.
I like the idea of having a stamp made of one's signature. I've been thinking
about going to claystamps.com, and having Todd Scholtz make me one every
since I heard about his service a few years ago... maybe Chris's post will give me
the nudge I needed to invest in one.
Here a weird thing though I've been thinking about lately, and I'm probably
just being paranoid... but... you know how there is this rampant "identity
theft" thing going on everywhere lately? [Side Note: About 10 years ago, I too was
victim to it... someone 150 miles away from me had checks printed up with MY
name on them, and started writing them and bouncing them all over town! I only
discovered it when they stopped accepting my check for groceries at the local
store. Boy was that a nightmare to clear up.] Anyway, I'm thinking... here I
am... using my actual signature that I use on my checks... on the bottom of my
pots... is this such a smart thing to do in today's day and age of prolific
"identity theft"? Probably not... but then... the average customer that buys
pottery... is probably not the same kind of person to be writing fraudulent
checks... nevertheless... you're putting your signature out there for all to
see... in permanent fired clay no-less... hmmm... Have any of you that sign your
name given this any thought before? What do you think?
Of course, the solution would be simple. Change the way I sign my name on my
pots. Ugh... more to think about...
I like Mel's method though of having a different stamp for a different series
of work. Sure would save me some time in the long run if I could flip over
one of my pots and know in an instant all the pertinent information about that
pot... without having to keep such detailed notes. Maybe I'll work on that.
The Web:
I've held off making a web site for myself, cause I've been in such a
transition these last few years... and not been producing work on a regular basis. I
felt as though, I didn't want to "open up shop" so-to-speak, before I had any
inventory to sell. Sure it'd be nice to show people what work I made in the
past, but I feel I need to have a current inventory available before I invest
the time and effort into a web site. Now that so much time has elapsed, it seems
like it is getting easier and easier for the novice to learn how to build and
maintain their own... which obviously, I'm interested in learning how to do
just that.
I do think that times are changing, and more and more people are buying from
the web... I know myself, I do a great deal of shopping on the web. Even if
only to establish some sort of business credibility, it seems as though these
days... a web site is "a given"... everyone needs one... at least if you want
serious exposure and a way to reach a broader market. I think as far as landing
new galleries or other opportunities (exhibitions, shows, etc.) that it simply
has to be easier to just send someone you meet to your website, rather than
spend a ton of time putting together slide packets and mailing them out, etc.
Just seems to make more sense.
I was especially interested in Gail Phillips' workshop she was putting
together for Lee Burningham's summer workshop series on "Building A Website"... if I
could've flown to Utah just to take that workshop it probably would've been
worth the cost of the airfare alone... not to mention all of the other great
workshops Lee was putting together to coincide with Gail's. I hope that more
opportunities for us potters to learn how to build our own web sites emerge...
either through NCECA sessions, Potters Council regional workshops, or
otherwise... Gail is on to something here... and there is a real need for this amongst
all of us. Gail, anymore coming down the pipeline like this... keep me in the
loop, would ya?
Well, as Kelly says... I've "blathered" on enough already... so I'll stop
bending your ears... and let ya'll move on (if'n ya haven't already!)...
Stay cool... and be cool...
- Ken
...where I guess I'm feeling a bit chatty today ...sorry about that ...and
don't say a WORD Mel... I know what you're thinkin!
Ken Nowicki
Port Washington, New York
RakuArtist@aol.com
Charter Member Potters Council
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