joyce lee on mon 11 dec 06
So far; so good. I have had mentees but no workers
and no students. Most of my mentees were assigned
to me by the Artists League. The League has a contract
for both the mentor and the mentee. To my mind at
least, the League is responsible for insurance and/or
any liability that occurs......... unless it is from gross
negligence on my part which causes me to provide an
unsafe environment for the mentees. =20
I don't accept
payment either; mentoring is a kind of Pay Back for
me for all the help I received when I first began in clay,
including being assigned the best mentor and potter in the valley, who =
is now a
dear friend. Actually if one is mentoring for the Artists
League, one cannot charge...... that's our point... to
enable artists to move around from one medium to=20
another.... so no money changes hands since that might
easily prevent some members from trying=20
something new in a protected environment. As we all
know, many artists manage to live a great and admirable
lifestyle, but there may never, ever be a spare dollar anywhere.
We talk about safety often AND I decide what is safe
and what is not. We're adults... most of my mentees
are already artists, life long artists, but have had little
experience with clay. They are delightful and fun, but
they tend to take safety precautions in most all that they do. In MY =
studio,
work is done strictly MY way once we move away from
the realm of sheer creativity. They usually are
creative enough for 10 of me so that kind of
encouragement isn't often needed. My problem is
having them keep me informed as to just where we're
going today BEFORE we get to the tricky parts and
I have to bail them out. I also need to know when to
apply the brakes for a bit, take a breather and then
re-think whatever is occurring.
That's my main job.... keeping
mentees safe.... keeping them more or less on
target.... showing them or guiding them through how
to do what it is they want to do without doing it for
them myself (which at frustrating times, they'd be
happy for me to do).
I'm not mentoring right now. I have a couple of
good friends who work with me at the moment but
it's catch as catch can. One is taking another year
at the college (which I require of all formal mentees),
and the other is busy building her own studio which
should be a dandy. =20
Joyce
In the Mojave where Life As A Potter makes everything
more beautiful and awe-inspiring.
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