mel jacobson on sun 5 nov 06
i again woke up early, thinking of wearing gloves to
work with clay.
it makes me think that the world is going crazy
for some odd safety panic.
i know that there are a few that have severe
allergies and problems. we accept that. we understand
that. do what you have to do, to make pots.
i would not fire a 15 percent manganese glaze that has 10 percent
barium added. or, if i did...there would be ten times the
ventilation. i would do it with extreme care...same for lead
glazes....i would take normal precaution. it does not mean
i would be fearful of the `doing`.
it leaves a cartoon bubble in my head, of potters working in their
own studio...in a haz/mat suit and a football helmet.
vet gloves up to their shoulders...glazing 10 ten pots
with a nice felspathic glaze. nothing around to hurt them...but,
they are safe.
my real image is of mr. shimaoka, 88 years old, working
with clay his entire life. he is a part of his work, he touches
clay and glaze...his life is immersed in clay. no fear.
i see harding black...60 years of making glaze. in love
with the materials. normal care. good common sense.
a crazy mixed up studio. full of stuff.
i see otto heino. making stuff his entire life. almost 90 years.
happy as a clam. touching clay....the message of the
material passes from his hands to his brain. no barriers.
one of the most amazing things about being a potter
is: you touch your materials, with your hands. no other craft
is as intimate. wood workers have to use steel tools, jewelers
form hot and cold metal with tools. only fabric artists have
nearly the same tactile sensation. don't take it away from yourself.
love the feelings, make them a part of your life.
you don't need veterinary gloves up to your shoulders.
there is a theory, that blends with lee's thoughts.
kids are getting rickets. yes, rickets...vitamin D deficiency.
it is common. no one ever goes outside in the sun. or, if they
do....they are slathered in chemicals. so,` every action, has an
equal reaction`...no sun. rickets. i had them as a baby.
my mom was starving. and so, i got pre/natal rickets. i had
to have my legs operated on when i was a year and a half old.
but, rickets in 2006. see, action, reaction. why is it, that very
few farmers, ranchers in australia...get skin cancer. because they
live with the sun. gradual building up of strength. it is the office worker
that never see the outside, drives to work, lives in an air conditioned
building, then an air conditioned house...and then goes to the beach
for nine hours of surfing. burned to the bone. action/reaction.
no sense.
250,000 minnesotan's are out this weekend in the woods
with rifles...hunting deer.
you know how they get killed? they fall out of trees, or have
heart attacks hauling a 12 point buck from woods.
hardly anyone gets shot. that is not how you get hurt hunting.
one guy shot himself as he was using a rope to haul up to the
top of his tree, his loaded rifle. it slipped, hit the ground and shot him
right in the chest...stupid fool.
it is like all the panic from `other people` when i went to china.
`oh, mel, be careful, disease, pestilence, bad food, water...you
will get sick...oh, be careful.` well, i had a great time. never once
thought of being sick. of course i did not eat street food. i washed
my hands a great deal with soap and water, and did not suck my thumb.
i boiled my tea water each morning...and filled a soda bottle with a lite
tea. i did not need some `finana special water`. god almighty,
don't people realize that dentists are in a panic...cavities are coming
back like the plaque. no one is using city water for anything. well
water does not have the wonder additive to prevent cavities.
common sense is not very common any longer.
global news, 24 hours a day has made us a society
afraid of our own shadows. locks and security systems
on everything. and yet, people still leave their babies in
a closed car to die...while they run off with a cell phone
plugged into their ear. gotta run, gotta run.
so.
sorry this got too long.
but, i love the feel of clay in my hands.
i love it. i love to wedge clay. i love the feel
of slippery clay...growing into pots.
i love my buckets of glaze.
my dippers full of creamy glaze, pouring into
bisque pots.
i love my kiln and fire.
it is what i do, what i am.
touch clay, make things...no fear. lots of common sense.
mel
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Lee Love on sun 5 nov 06
I like this quote from Helen Keller. It was on our bathroom mirror
in in Saint Paul and I have just printed out for the mirror here in
Mashiko:
Let Us Have Faith
by Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature,
nor do the children of men
as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer
in the long run than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
To keep our faces toward change and
behave like free spirits
in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
Timothy Joko-Veltman on sun 5 nov 06
Another quote about fear ... my personal favourite:
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom
from fear. -- Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanma (Burmese); Winner of the Nobel
Peace Prize)
=====
However, Mel, you're comment "common sense is not very common any
longer." got me thinking ... you know, I think that "sense" is only
common in a given setting, and there is not universal common sense.
For instance: the other day on Animal Planet, a documentary announced
that "humans are the only creatures on the planet who don't know what
is and is not good food right out of the womb." (my paraphrase). And
this makes sense to me ... "common" sense - if you take that to mean
that the large majority of the general population agrees on a certain
fact - suggests that white powders are probably safe to eat, ie.,
salt, flour, sugar, baking soda, etc. But introduce a random person
to an uncommon situation - the glaze material room - for example, and
this "common" sense no longer holds: most of the white powders they
encounter there may, in fact, be non-toxic and/or only bad tasting
(wouldn't want a spoonful of talc), but many others are not and could
have immediate harmful effects if handled improperly or ingested. We
know this - but not because it's common knowledge, but because we
learned it somewhere.
My point being that we as potters work in an uncommon situation -
working with minerals and fire, and we need to be educated about that
- and first hand trial and error is not always the best way to go. I
don't mean to suggest overcaution, because I really agree with the
quote above.
And hunting and traveling are uncommon situations, too ... And I've
even seen some travel magazines suggest eating from street vendors ...
because street vendors don't stay in business very long if people get
sick eating from them. (And I've had not problems eating from street
vendors in China, Thailand or Brazil - though I do live in the
latter).
Anyway ... I guess maybe all that was to say is that ignorance and
fearlessness are not a good combination (no doubt the hunter you
mention was fearless) - and n my opinion, a very, very bad
combination.
Regards,
Tim
lela martens on sun 5 nov 06
>From: mel jacobson i again woke up early, thinking of wearing gloves to
>work with clay.
>
>it makes me think that the world is going crazy
>for some odd safety panic.
Many thoughts came to mind while reading your post, Mel.
You reminded me of a radio documentary by a leading scientist
in Winnepeg who studied Canada`s drinking water, from ocean to ocean.
She found our cities`
tap water to be safer than any bottled, which, of course
is a good idea during an emergency situation..but for normal living,
out of the tap had less dangers..She also said, if you must..
whatever you do don`t buy the green bottled dtuff from France, full of
nasties..
I go to the grocery store and see cases of bottled water in plastic bottles
keeping at a nice petrie dish temperature in the south window. yum.
There is a commercial here where a woman flushes toilet, goes to kitchen and
pours
herself a glass of water. The message being,` how can we possibly
drink that same water we flush? ` Mountain Man and I got, we are
flushing away a lot of expensive clean fresh water..
Nine year old boy hunting with dad and dad`s friends. Friend walking
behind dropped his loaded rifle..killed boy..very sad and so mindless.
But then there is my sister - in - law who was frightened by a moose
strolling the ditch beside the road. Now every time they drive to
Calgary, about 6 times a week, they have to add on 45 minutes each
way to take a different road....What happens if she sees a moose by
that one..I can only guess.
I have the direct quote of Hitler`s propoganda chief buried somewhere,
but the jist of it is, no matter what government, dictatorship, democracy,
communism, the people will follow if you first create fear, then find a
scapegoat...hmm..eh, GW.? it works for my sister-in-law.., Their daughter is
now afraid of
lightning, cats, dogs, and moose, Only drinks bottled water.
aauuhh.
Best wishes from Lela on the sunny, breezy prairie..loveing those chinooks.
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Carl Finch on sun 5 nov 06
At 05:02 AM 11/5/2006, mel jacobson wrote:
>you don't need veterinary gloves up to your shoulders.
All right you guys, ENOUGH of these "shoulder-length veterinary gloves"
references!
Call me queasy, but every time one of you mentions this, it's all I can do
to retain my lunch as the image of WHY they're shoulder-length flashes
across my brain! Ewwwww!
--Carl
in Medford, Oregon
Tara Mooney on mon 6 nov 06
On Nov 5, 2006, at 3:21 PM, lela martens wrote:
> You reminded me of a radio documentary by a leading scientist
> in Winnepeg who studied Canada`s drinking water, from ocean to ocean.
> She found our cities`
> tap water to be safer than any bottled, which, of course
> is a good idea during an emergency situation..but for normal living,
> out of the tap had less dangers..She also said, if you must..
> whatever you do don`t buy the green bottled dtuff from France, full of
> nasties..
Do you mean Perrier?????? What's in it? What are nasties?????
I drink it all the time. Those little green bottles with a hint of
lemon or lime
come such in handy when you just want a little sprizt and don't want
to ruin a whole bottle of sparkling water.
T
lela martens on mon 6 nov 06
Hi Tara,
Yes. The study was done about a year , year and a half ago.
Her studies were extensive, intensive and well documenteted
across Canada as to cities` tap waters and many brands of bottled.
I have been trying to track down her name. The green bottled
imports perrier, were the very worst with the highest % of various
bacterias.
Maybe bottled water isn`t tested as vigourously at place of origin,
or harmful bugs multiply in transit...
A caller called in asking about drinking distilled water. That was nixed
because it flushes the body of necessary minerals.
Clean water has become a hot issue in Canada for various reasons.
Best wishes from Lela
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