Mullins Pottery

This sounds like a great intro to a book. . . A text book perhaps?

Well honestly if it wasn't for Duke Bush leaking the family's secret baked bean recipe we would all be suffering in terms of culinary knowledge! In all seriousness though cultures all over the world have different ways of viewing aesthetic not only in their artwork but in their music literature etc.. At the same time most cultures have specific things that they take serious ownership in, some call these parts of their culture holy or sacred and so forth. These things I think should be preserved for the peoples who hold them that way. That being said what happens when someone doesn't know that some melody, story, symbol, etc. is sacred or what if the culture has a shift in what they view as sacred? I know in my heritage many of the symbols and imagery that was once viewed as sacred by my ancestors has been highly commercialized mostly because of tourism. I didn't grow up thinking that these things were sacred in any way I just knew that they were part of my heritage and were special. I thought that that was cool. Well now I know that my ancestors were pretty serious about those patterns, symbols and so on. I admit that when I see the imagery associated with my heritage I kinda laugh to myself a little and think "they don't know what that means" but I am not upset about it. Many people's heritage is preserved through other cultures that absorb the symbolism and ideas that they admire. There's a lot of gray area. Great topic Pres

I tend to think of throwing proficiency in terms of forms. If we're talking about a 6" cylinder I know my professor was expecting that 2nd or 3rd week for beginning throwing classes. I felt like after a year in high school I could throw a 6" cylinder if at the drop of a hat. I was listening to Ben Carters podcast during one of his New Zealand segments and on of the artists described mastery on the potters wheel as an ability to throw anything you can think of. Some of the interviews I've listened to have surprised me looking at the work of some of these artists, very accomplished ceramic artists, in many cases they shrink away from the term "Master" because they recognize this idea of infinite possibilities not yet tapped into. I've been making pots on the wheel since high school. Though I feel proficient in my throwing abilities each year the passes I look at my work from last year and most of the work I look at think what was I thinking. I agree with the previously posted sentiment. We should always be looking for the needed improvements in our aesthetic, technique and craftsmanship.

In terms of american pottery a few yeas back I did a paper on Maria Martinez and another on Juan Quesada. Their work rediscovering the traditional native american ceramic aesthetic and process I think is definitely worth mention.

My workbench is empty! I just cleaned it off this morning (finally!). I have the last couple weeks worth of bisque ware to glaze and decorate now. Which usually ends taking up the most time and energy of all.