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Famous Potters And Their Lure


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I have to say that I want to buy Warren Mackenzie pieces and mostly because he is famous. I love his work, and am inspired by him as many are, but I also love many other potters' works but don't seem nearly as inclined to buy. Part of me hates this, and the other part just accepts it. I currently own just one small cup of his and would like another cup, or bowl or platter! Because I don't have any expendable income I can't purchase anyone's pottery, famous or not. 

 

Does anyone else struggle with this? It seems very taboo to want Warren's work as I am a potter, like I have been made to feel guilty going into a gallery and asking for his work. I think this could be exacerbated because I live in MN too. 

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Yes. My friend recently gave me a Warren Mackenzie pot. I feel fortunate.

You should put this under the recent Potters Council collecting question.

I am retired and don't have the income for buying like I use to. I was also fortunate to be able to attend Christmas sales from the Bray foundation. I got some great pieces at fair prices over many years.Does MacKenzie still have the box at his showroom where you can just leave the money?

If you are in Mn , why not visit him personally and buy direct?

 

 

Marcia

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I read somewhere that Warren was not happy with collectors as they tended to drive up the price of his work; he wants people to use his pottery everyday and for it to be affordable.  I'm trying to do that more . . . use what I buy, not just put it on a shelf.  As a potter, I have no hesitation buying other potter's work;  however, I am much more selective now than I use to be in buying pottery.  And, by selective, I am not talking about "names" but pieces that speak to me in ways only the buyer understands. 

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I buy others work if I like and and can use it-especially mugs

Yes its nice to have a Otto Heino piece and some of Warrens on the shelves but using someones mug every day for me is more personal

PS I bought the above from these folks when I met them

I also had a customer send me a Warren piece he did not want-I sent him back one of mine.Its a small world out there

Mark

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Guest JBaymore

Yes its nice to have a Otto Heino piece and some of Warrens on the shelves but using someones mug every day for me is more personal

 

I have a different outlook. I have work by many very famous ceramic artists,.... particularly Japanese... and I don't leave them on a shelf... I USE them periodically. They were meant to be used. I just am careful when I use them....... like one should be with fine work.

 

best,

 

........................john

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An idea by Warren Mackenzie is that you should buy the pots you like because those are the good pots. 

 

I agree a little with this and disagree a lot too. I like Warren's work because it is a collectible and he is famous. That is the main reason why I like it. But if I think of his pots this way then I think he would say I am missing the point. I understand his point, but still disagree with it some. It is really fun to have his cup, fun to show off to pottery friends and people who admire ceramics (not in a haughty way but just enjoying the piece). 

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Yes its nice to have a Otto Heino piece and some of Warrens on the shelves but using someones mug every day for me is more personal

 

I have a different outlook. I have work by many very famous ceramic artists,.... particularly Japanese... and I don't leave them on a shelf... I USE them periodically. They were meant to be used. I just am careful when I use them....... like one should be with fine work.

 

best,

 

........................john

 

I did not mean to imply I did not use those pots  on that shelve-its just that my warren bowl was killed on our kitchen table by one of our cats-I had used it for cereal and now its replacement is on a shelve out of cats reach. It no longer is a daily use item.

I do think that all pots are made to use and I hope my customers feel that way also.

Tom Coleman used to make a mean cereal bowl-I still have one left.

I collect and use mugs most by other potters.

Mark

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Yes. My friend recently gave me a Warren Mackenzie pot. I feel fortunate.

You should put this under the recent Potters Council collecting question.

I am retired and don't have the income for buying like I use to. I was also fortunate to be able to attend Christmas sales from the Bray foundation. I got some great pieces at fair prices.Does MacKenzie still have the box at his showroom where you can just leave the money?

If you are in Mn , why not visit him personally and buy direct?

 

 

Marcia

Marcia,

 

You work harder than most unretired people I know, including myself.

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As i don't have a budget to buy well known potters stuff when new so instead i 'rescue' them when i find them at thrifts. Its a thrill to have these lovely wares i could not afford. My first thrift find came in college when i bought a peter king stein for $2 at a thrift, i couldn't read the sig on the bottom but could read the style of handle as his, i took it to my pottery teacher to confirm my i.d. And he took a bit of ball clay and rubbed it across the sig to make the sig readable and sure enough. My teacher laughed when i told him where i got it and the price i paid, he said "you aren't really famous til you can find your stuff at a thrift store"

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found a set of jim makins twisty porcelain cups and big twisty thing (can't call it a pitcher) in a thrift shop at $10.  couldn't afford it until my check came in.  that day it was marked down to $5.  guess where it is today?

 

also a cynthia bringle bowl, a J (mrs.) brome plate, a sugar and creamer by robin hopper and a huge jar with a vicious looking cat, a goat and a chicken by our imaginative georgia potter, ...................  senior moment.............no wonder, it is midnight.

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Its amazing what you can find at thrift stores or estate sales.  I had a customer that was wealthy but still a ordinary person,  she decided to have a garage sale.  She showed me the pottery she was going to sell, one on them was black ware by Maria and she was going to ask $10, I advised her to keep it and several other pieces.   Denice

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More problems here, over the pond. We can buy ceramics from US potters only online, and then we have to add to the asked price transport, tax and customs fees. So a nice pot will easily double or tripple in price until it is in my possession.

 

Denice: a pot by Maria! O boy, I would pay a lot for one of those.

 

Oh, and last summer I almost got to buy a vase (the one with the cranes) done by Marcia. I wanted to buy it at the opening of the "small art objects" in Vallauris but, alas, the responsible gallery people wouldn't sell it to me because it had to go into an auction. Did you finally sell it, Marcia?

 

Evelyne

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