Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Leeu...I would have broken that instructor's nose and gone to jail. That is not a "pull-up," that is cruelty...ESPECIALLY for what you were enduring. And guess what, Mr. Butthole Teacher, psychological rehabilitation facilities use art ALL-THE-TIME to heal their patients' emotional illnesses. Go suck a bisque.

 

That's one thing...I won't put up with personal attacks like that. And unfortunately, sometimes the whole "suck it up" approach doesn't work...ask Robin Williams. We all react to crap situations differently. Though I cry easily, I am fire-breather, too. I just choose to keep that side of me off here. :D

 

AND THANKS STEPHEN <3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guinea,

If you can't make decals you could make prints of your drawing using that litho technique on CAD. I used it for reproducing a drawing as well as old photos. It is easy and can reproduce drawing very well.here are 2 tiles I made from copied archival prints. You can xerox drawings and print them, vary their sizes and transfer them onto clay with a mason stain/linseed oil ink.

 

You can get good variated tonal qualities.

post-1954-0-81813200-1416516689_thumb.jpg

post-1954-0-81813200-1416516689_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to work with somebody who thought every pot he made was the best ever. I am not sure who he was trying to convince. Very good skill to have when selling work but not while making. 

 

I am still looking to find my way into selling well. Right now I am with the few posts I did read and constantly criticizing my work in front of people. Once it is made I need to lose ownership.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leeu, thanks for sharing your story.  It's a powerful reminder that it is easy to get stuck in a negative place filled with a soundtrack of all the reasons we CAN'T do something and all the ways that life has cheated us. Alternatively we can make a determined effort to focus on the positive (ten fingers and toes is as good a place to start as any!) and to recognize that most of us have the power to create the life we want.  Making art is such a joy that we naturally want the world to adapt to us so that we can keep doing it, but it just doesn't work that way. Like it or not, for most people to create art, they have to accept that there is a cost -- whether it's living on the financial edge or working a part time job to help pay the bills or adapting their work to suit the market or any of a zillion ways that life extracts the toll.  We aren't entitled to make art; it is a right that we have to earn through talent, hard work and sacrifice.   

 

It is hard to break the negative soundtrack that afflicts many of us and even harder to create a new one, but it's absolutely necessary if you want to move on to a better place.  What is the saying -- "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results".  If something isn't working, it's time to change what you're doing, how you're doing it or where you're doing it.  

 

The 26 words that you put in boldface type are enough to change a life, as you have proven with your own.  Thanks again for caring enough to share a painful tale in order to help Guneapotter (and probably many others) through a rough patch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t think either Marcia’s or LeeU’s wisdom in this matter can be under-appreciated, here.  Both have given excellent advice, especially LeeU's boldface type.  I can’t add on anything they say (mostly because I don’t have the life experience or ceramics experience they have).  But I think the positive example of Josiah Wedgwood’s life might complement what’s been said already.  I’ve used the example before, but it’s worth repeating and fleshing out.

 

 

Wedgwood was born into a pottery family and was already working by 9.  At 11, he contracted smallpox.  It left him unable to kick a wheel and he lost his leg later on.  And it must be said that this probably left him with excruciating pain for a lot of his life, first from an infected limb and then from what followed.

 

But he didn't let it bother him.  He hand built, modelled, slip cast, upped his ceramic chemistry game (inventing new clay bodies (jasperware), glazes, and ceramic technology (he invented a pyrometer), and built a factory with powered-drive wheels and lathes.  The man literally changed the ceramic discipline to fit his needs, and modernized the industry as a result.

 

Then, when he started going blind, he said this, and it’s the most inspiring quote I’ve ever come across:  'I am often practising to see with my fingers & think I should make a tolerable proficient in that science for one who begins his studies so late in life, but shall make a wretched walker in the dark with a single leg.'  He was practising for when he was totally blind, so that he could continue on, and then has the steely nerve to joke about his condition!  Never once did he ever play the victim.  He wasn’t a victim.  He was a powerful lion of a man who charged into his own personal battle, had a few losses, but won.

 

Oh! And he was an ardent fighter for the abolition of slavery.  He even produced little anti-slavery ceramic cameo medallions.  He fought for others who couldn’t fight for themselves. 

 

Cultivate your inner Josiah Wedgwood.  Don’t be afraid of your weaknesses and shortcomings.  Acknowledge them, work with them, overcome them, and then laugh at them.  No one can do it for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guinea, I had to smile, reading that you lost your sleep over one (constructive, IMO!) critique. Reading all the posts here, I see that you got at least 90% positive messages about your work. Did you see that too? 

 

When you ask openly about the opinion of fellow potters, you first have to reflect if you can cope with critique (constructive or not). If not, it's better to not ask. If you just want to get "tender loving care", you should construct your question accordingly. But hey, you can't grow with only backslapping Guinea. My experience in life was, and still is, that people who told me what is good and what is not (yet) so good in my work helped me getting where I'am now much more than people who only wanted to be nice, and unfortunately didn't tell me that this object or that was really not good enough to "offer- to- MOMA" for example. We are friends here in this forum, not foes. And friends are here to tell you the truth, before a gallery owner or potential client will do. Friends are here to help you see and reflect and question your own work as long as it takes for you to be more self-confident and pleased with your work.

 

I wish you many well-meaning friends and a lot of success in finding your own confidence!

 

Evelyne 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried the technique from that video, works really well but I found it quite messy and I never took it much further.

 

It is really easy as long as you have a printer that prints with toner.

 

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-supplies/ceramic-colorants-ceramic-supplies-2/photo-lithography-on-clay-a-surprisingly-simple-way-to-print-images-on-clay/

 

Marcie,
Can you direct me to more details and instructions using this technique? How exactly do you do the transfer writhe the mason stain and linseed oil?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

, I hope that you have already gained something even if just from the volume of response from your clay connections here on the forum.
 
There is one thing you mention that really stuck with me.  The idea that your wheel-thrown pieces are your canvas.  If the rest of your drawing work is any indication of the quality you produce, I think you need to explore all of the canvas options available to you with clay...and it may not be 100% wheel thrown work.  I could easily see your work on tiles, hand-built sculptural pieces, or figurative work that compliments your command of drawing human forms.

 

I would be interested to know if you draw/design your clay forms and include the artistic/paint/draw aspects of the project at the same time.  There is such an energy to your drawing work that I believe it should push you to more powerful canvas designs.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with your clay forms but I sense you have abilities beyond what you are doing right now that could separate you from the pack.  Take the sketch image that you shared, for example...what clay form/canvas could you build that would  allow that drawing to be more than a beautifully produced decoration?

 

OK, I didn't answer the insecurity question...'pretty sure that we all have them (me included).  I guess that I have learned to celebrate my successes, regardless how small, and let those stands of hope to tilt the balance scale away from too much self-criticism.  Yep..that's easier said than done.

 

Peace,

-Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If making decals is not your thing, perhaps drawing on your pots with underglaze pencils? You clearly have more confidence with your drawing skills, so why not transfer that to the pots? 

 

As for Marcia- I think she offered very positive advice.  I don't understand how any slight offense could have been taken. Although sometimes it sucks to work hard on something and find out that it's not as perfect as we would like, if we only live in our minds we will not expand. 

 

To me, art is therapy, but in art school art is a practice. I keep my sh*! together, but when I am making pots I do feel intense therapy takes place at the wheel.  However, when I walk away from that wheel and deal with other people, that therapy stays at the wheel.  Lashing out at people who offer critique of any kind is showing that the therapy is not working. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guys...she was under the impression that the piece I showed was finished, because she did not read its description to see it was greenware. She assumed the piece was finished. Of course it looks crappy NOW, because it ain't done! Let it rest, this has been cleared up.

I also have been implemented a rule that I am not allowed to post greenware so people won't make that mistake again. It will save me a lot of heartburn. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GP, you gave us all something to think about! I think this conversation has developed an interesting life of its own.

 

I've been considering how to weigh in. Critiques, however honest, loving, constructive or necessary, are only valuable at the point when the artist is ready to hear it.

 

How many years is it supposed to take to process all the lessons one learns in college or university art programs? I don't think we can take to heart absolutely everything they throw at you in those 4 years, because it hurts your heart. Yes you grow from it, but it still hurts.

And we all know not all crits are as constructive and caring as the ones given here.

 

Having been both an undergraduate student and someone who has needed therapy to get over a long series of negative life changing events, I can say that both critique and emotional support are NECESSARY to an artist, but almost never both at the same time. Because we only touch such a small part of each other's lives here on the forum, and without the benefit of speech inflection, it can be hard to know if either critique or support is what's most helpful in any given moment. And we all start from such diverse places, and need different things for different reasons.

 

This thread had the potential to get really nasty. I'm so very glad it didn't. Hooray for us as a community!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm definitely insecure about my work.  I've never applied for a show, tried to get my work shown in any galleries, or approached a shop to sell my work.  Partial insecurity, partial fear of talking to random strangers (other than online), and partial fear of trying to write an artists statement.  I like to make pretty things is about all I can come up with.  

 

I love the drawing.  I love that you also draw on clay.  I think there is definitely a market for your work.  Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.