Evelyne Schoenmann Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 This weeks question is not only (but mainly) about clay and our insecurity at times. The best advise I myself once got was: Never give up. Similar to what Nelson Mandela once said: "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" Did you get good advice too in your life? Would you share it with us? Evelyne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rakukuku Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 well the best art advice was from an art professor of sculpture and jewelry who said to take great time with making a form because thats the shape it will have forever. i often think of this when forming clay. rakuku Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evelyne Schoenmann Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 oh that's good advise from your professor, rakuku. It reminds me also to form the shape and inside of a plaster mold to perfection, because every time one is casting a piece in an imprecise form, one will be sorry forever.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 1975 Lustre workshop with Larry Camm, I asked "what will happen if I put Lustre on an unglazed surface?" and he said "Try it and see". Well, I did, got some interesting results, and applied that advice ever after. There's no substitute for hands-on experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 i was told that if i did not like it when i made it, it would not get any better. toss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrgpots Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 There is a spanish saying: "Hablame despacio, tango prisa"....talk to me slowly, I'm in a hurry. That goes along with the next advise....Make haste slowly. Jed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerdry Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 "You can lie, cheat, and steal to get the pot you want" and "Step away from that pot"...which is another version of "don't love it to death". I have to disagree with saying that if you don't like it when you make it it won't get any better. When I don't like a pot coming out of the kiln because it doesn't meet my expectations(doesn't look like I wanted it to, I can sometimes wait awhile (months), then look at it again. Once my expectations are gone, I can see the pot for who it is, not for who I wanted it to be, and sometimes I find I like it after all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 Best suggestion I received was to stop, step back and get a fresh eye even if it is just for a few minutes. I believe that has benefited my work more than anything else I just wish I would remember to do it more often. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123pop Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 "Don't be afraid to be afraid". Not sure who said it but words to push you to new heights. About liking pots later....some pots came out of the kiln not what I expected so I immediately gave them to a friend (she liked them). A year later or so I was at her house. I saw these lovely pots and asked where she got them. She said from you. I loved them...the glaze was quite nice and colorful. You just never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRankin Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 Someone also told me to stop and step back, but she meant it literally. Stand up and step away from the wheel and to look at the piece the way she was seeing it from a few feet away. It gave me a whole new perspective on the shape and proportions of my work so I occasionally do that when throwing and trimming and it helps to stretch my legs and back. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 'The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everyone rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Never quit trying, eventually you will get something right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinks Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 I was told,just close your eyes and feel the clay .....probably one will form the shape desired, there will be harmony among your hands and clay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Eberhardt Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 "Until you fire it, it's just mud." Probably the most liberating words ever spoken to me by my instructor. As for life in general: "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." I think that pretty much sums up my approach to tools in the studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiselleNo5 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 I like that, Amy! I'll remember that. The best advice,for me, is that if you can't let go and have fun and enjoy the whole process, you're going to stay in the safe little box of what you're already good at or naturally good at. Growth takes risk because trying something new involves making mistakes and learning from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugaboo Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 I too received the advice, Never Give Up. You can never lose if you never give up. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnlanger Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 A mentor told me to make good pots. Anything that you make and fire will be on the planet longer than you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evelyne Schoenmann Posted June 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 Thank you everybody for telling us what best-of advice you got in life. I'am tempted to copy/paste all of the above and make a pdf out of it. We could print it out and hang on the wall in our studios. How about that?! A lot of your posted advice is so encouraging! One that is daily in front of my nose, so that I don't see it anymore, is a postcard from a friend, writing: Life is short - live your dream! I hope the sun is shining too were you live and that you can enjoy it! Evelyne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted June 27, 2015 Report Share Posted June 27, 2015 "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" -Bill Daley, my mentor " we all must be crazy to work in clay" -Patti Warashina, Guest Artist at MSU-Billings "One man's treasure is another man's poison" Nick Vergette, Grad. Professor These were usually mentioned at critiques. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiselleNo5 Posted June 27, 2015 Report Share Posted June 27, 2015 This isn't advice but it always makes me smile: I am a potter. This means I live in a perverse fantasy world with unrealistic expectations. Thank you for understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtRoads Posted June 27, 2015 Report Share Posted June 27, 2015 Back in 1993 Brooks Jacobs, owner of Greenbrook Floral in Jackson MS, was sitting next to me at some floral demonstration and I had just taken over a family florist business (by default I might add) and was gearing up to sell it. I said "making flower arrangements is boring, I want to hear someone talk about making money." He said the way to grow and expand was to "spend time working ON your business, not just IN it" and "never do anything you can pay someone $10/hour to do". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evelyne Schoenmann Posted June 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 It is great to see that the "advice giving" is still taken seriously. I have a last one for this topic: Start doing things you love and share your passion! Evelyne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeU Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 Friedrich Nietzsche, in the essay "Twilight of the Idols" (1889), wrote: “Out of life’s school of war: what does not kill me makes me stronger.†This advice has been my life preserver over the past 50+ years. A close second, specific to creativity, has been "Never let your story be more interesting than your art." (Lester Van Winkle ). Can't say I have attained that, but I do take inspiration from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 My mentor said(he taught art for 35 years) Ceramics will never be viewed as high an art form as other arts-but its harder than the other arts. Still rings true for me today 40 years later Mark Marcia (" we all must be crazy to work in clay" -Patti Warashina, Guest Artist at MSU-Billings) on a light note I had a party at my place during a Patty Warashina vist during my school days in the 70s and my place got trashed. I went to the store and somehow the art dept (ceramics only) moved my cast iron stove and when I retured they where banging on all the pans.I will leave out the other details of that night to protect the innocents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbeartx Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 I love how everyone received advice that would look great on a motivational poster. Lol My mantras are: “It’s only dirt†and “You can’t polish a turdâ€. A bit more earthy, I suppose. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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