[Marcia Selsor]

Denice, on 29 December 2011 - 09:48 PM, said:

Marcia Selsor, on 29 December 2011 - 04:49 PM, said:

Mea,


That is a very well thought out definition. I have taught for years as well and have seen people go head over heels for clay. For myself, when I started throwing, I worked in the college studio until 10 pm every night I could. My arms eventually developed a forearm muscle where my skinny straight arms had previously been. I felt like Popeye. We were eager to get permission to fire the salt kiln because we could stay all night and work. We had to salt before dawn in center city Philadelphia. Cardew said there are Mud Potters and Fire Potters and I tended towards the fire part at times. Going to NCECA was so much fun to find others to talk to about kiln designs, firing, etc.
Now we have the internet, forums etc. It is now easier to seek out discussions on these topics.

Marcia

The first NCECA I attended I wandered around and could hear tidbits of conversations about problems with Gerstley Borate or a Soda Firing and I realized that they were speaking my language. What a wonderful feeling it was, I felt like I was home the internet, forums and ect. keep me connected in the same way. Denice

Denice, was that the NCECA in Wichita? Michael Cardewwas there and so was juan and Nicholas Quezada. they were amazing.
Marcia

[trina]

Chris Campbell, on 29 December 2011 - 11:02 AM, said:

I don't believe that wanting a degree of proficiency before you claim the title of potter is sad.
Wanting respect attached to the profession is not about ego ... it's caring about the Craft..

A potter to me is someone who can execute the form he/she wants, with skill, in a timely manner.
They understand glaze chemistry and can fire in multiple ways.
None of the above is easy or fast or fun. It takes a long time to become a potter.

I agree with you totally, I can do all the things required to be a potter. But it takes a lifetime to be a great potter, if one ever gets there. I am constantly blown away with the work of other contempary potter artists that it's not even funny. Will I get there... don't know but gonna die try'n Trina

[Denice]

[quote name='Marcia Selsor' date='29 December 2011 - 10:16 PM' timestamp='1325218591' post='11519']

Denice, on 29 December 2011 - 09:48 PM, said:

Marcia Selsor, on 29 December 2011 - 04:49 PM, said:

Mea,


That is a very well thought out definition. I have taught for years as well and have seen people go head over heels for clay. For myself, when I started throwing, I worked in the college studio until 10 pm every night I could. My arms eventually developed a forearm muscle where my skinny straight arms had previously been. I felt like Popeye. We were eager to get permission to fire the salt kiln because we could stay all night and work. We had to salt before dawn in center city Philadelphia. Cardew said there are Mud Potters and Fire Potters and I tended towards the fire part at times. Going to NCECA was so much fun to find others to talk to about kiln designs, firing, etc.
Now we have the internet, forums etc. It is now easier to seek out discussions on these topics.

Marcia

The first NCECA I attended I wandered around and could hear tidbits of conversations about problems with Gerstley Borate or a Soda Firing and I realized that they were speaking my language. What a wonderful feeling it was, I felt like I was home the internet, forums and ect. keep me connected in the same way. Denice

Denice, was that the NCECA in Wichita? Michael Cardewwas there and so was juan and Nicholas Quezada. they were amazing.
Marcia
Yes that was my first NCECA I remember Michael Cardew speaking and I met Nicholas Quezada, I had just had my son 3 months before that and was suffering from separation anxiety and don't remember much else. I would like them to have another one in this area, I really liked the one in Fort Worth, Kansas City, Tulsa or St. Louis would also be good. Denice

[Glad to Be Alive]

teardrop, on 29 December 2011 - 10:21 AM, said:

I think the invisible "heirarchy" in all of this is a bit sad.

Look in the dictionary. Most will define a "potter" as "someone who makes pots". This may not be a lofty enough description for some...but in the end it is what it is and the definition is accepted by most people out there...who aren't potters....of course. LOL

IMO, the more important tag is "artist". Anyone can learn to throw a pot on a wheel (OK, most people..LOL) and that is indeed an important skill to hone...but again..in my unexperienced eye...tossing a pot doesn't automatically make you an artist. However, tossing a pot makes you a "potter"....at least by the generally accepted definition of the word.

My interest lies more in the ego factor. Is it time spent..or general ego that causes someone to call themself a potter and then place standards on others..such as having to throw for 7 years (why not 6..or 10? and who makes THAT decision?) or some other imaginary parameter?

FWIW, I don't consider myself a potter or an artist...I'm just someone trying to find pleasure/learning/understanding in something I've always been interested in but never took the time to do until now.

I like what you say here. Mostly, I think it is up to the individual as to whether they feel they comfortable calling themselves a potter; depending on how they perceive the meaning! In addition, I think being an artist is important, therefore calling yourself "just an artist" as someone previously did, seems a bit self deprecating...

[teardrop]

Wow..someone liked what i said here! LOL.

I also liked this take very much from bciskepottery "I don't call or refer to myself as a potter. If asked, I simply tell people I make pottery. If they want to refer to me as a potter, that is their choice."

Bottom line...there are some very talented people out there who create who don't bother with tags at all.

[smokin pots]

Teardrop,

Touche' !!!

juli

[Marcia Selsor]

I agree that there are very talented people out there who don't bother with tags.
But the question of this thread did state branding oneself with a tag and there is a history of
apprenticing and accomplishment.
Were we all suckered into responding to a branding system? I call myself an artist more comfortably than potter. As an artist I have my work in museums and galleries and collections in many places around the globe
so I think that qualifies.
And I call myself an educator after 40+ years of teaching. I find it necessary to use a label when I introduce myself in a new community after relocating after a lifetime in Montana. I have found it to be a very closed community here and very little in the area concerning pottery or potters.

Marcia

[teardrop]

Respect! Your bio is indeed impressive and I admire your focus over such a length of time.

I wish I would have found clay 30 years ago.

[Idaho Potter]

Someone once told me that a "writer" really isn't a writer until published. Does that mean that to be a potter one must sell their work? I don't think so, there seem to be many who are working diligently at the craft and yet haven't sold anything. The fact that your head heart and hands are stuck in the mud may be enough for the title.

I am working to improve my own "take" on pottery. Sharing my knowledge and experience with others and they--in turn--sharing with me is pure pleasure. Even with more than 25 years of working in clay, there's always more to learn. I don't think any of us will master the craft the way we'd like, so why get hung up on words? Does it matter if you call yourself a potter, how you reached the point of calling yourself a potter, or whether others call you a potter?

Clay can be taken in so many different directions--sculpture, architecture, decorative vessels, functional vessels--does the term potter cover all of these? If ceramics are items made of baked clay, maybe a better term would be ceramist, or--as Marcia says--an artist working in clay. But, if your heart says you're a potter, perhaps you are.

[TJR]

I have been making pots for 37 years now. I graduated from art school in 1975 and have been involved in making pottery in one way or another since then. I teach art. I have a studio where I throw pots every weekend, but I still feel that I haven't done it all. I can't make those thrown and coil pots called Ongi that the Koreans make. I sell everything I make. I test glazes, I make my own glazes. I work in earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.
I guess I'm a potter.
TJR.

[Matt Oz]

When can you call yourself a potter?

After you wear your finger prints off.

[Marcia Selsor]

Matt Oz, on 08 January 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

When can you call yourself a potter?

After you wear your finger prints off.

or burn them off! I'll call you a potter any day!
Marcia

[SShirley]

Matt Oz, on 08 January 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

When can you call yourself a potter?

After you wear your finger prints off.

Or if you've ever superglued cracks on your fingertips so you can keep throwing.

[Marcia Selsor]

SShirley, on 11 January 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

Matt Oz, on 08 January 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

When can you call yourself a potter?

After you wear your finger prints off.

Or if you've ever superglued cracks on your fingertips so you can keep throwing.

wow Shirley..that is hard core!!!!!I'll call you a potter any day!
Marcia

[Pres]

Marcia Selsor, on 11 January 2012 - 08:51 PM, said:

SShirley, on 11 January 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

Matt Oz, on 08 January 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

When can you call yourself a potter?

After you wear your finger prints off.

Or if you've ever superglued cracks on your fingertips so you can keep throwing.

wow Shirley..that is hard core!!!!!I'll call you a potter any day!
Marcia

How about cut your hands to pieces with a metal rib someone left in the clay before it went through the pug mill, and then finished out the semester!

[SShirley]

Pres, on 11 January 2012 - 08:19 PM, said:

Marcia Selsor, on 11 January 2012 - 08:51 PM, said:

SShirley, on 11 January 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

Matt Oz, on 08 January 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

When can you call yourself a potter?

After you wear your finger prints off.

Or if you've ever superglued cracks on your fingertips so you can keep throwing.

wow Shirley..that is hard core!!!!!I'll call you a potter any day!
Marcia

How about cut your hands to pieces with a metal rib someone left in the clay before it went through the pug mill, and then finished out the semester!

OWWWWW! You win!

[Mark C.]

I'm a studio potter
after 40 years making pots and 38 years selling them full time-thats what I am
I think everyone has a different take on what Potter is
When in collage I thought I was a potter but looking back I was a clay student more
When that became my means of support I felt I was a studio potter

Now I realize there are many hobbists with clay who call themselves potters and thats just fine
as the terminology is all semantics for me
Mark

[Ivar]

I do not know how this is defined in US, but here in Croatia we have things sorted like this:

a. potter ("loncar" in croatian language) is a pearson who makes potts on a wheel, mainly tableware etc.

b. ceramic artist is a pearson who creates objects functional or nonfunctional out of clay, on a wheel, handbuilt etc

So, after finishing my 4 years at School for art and design I got a diploma saying that I am Ceramic designer. During this 4 years of education we had to learn every tecnique (wheel, handbilding, slip casting, glazing, firing, but also complete technology theory, design theory, history of art, history of cermaics.....) Therefore I am officaly Ceramic designer, but I did not use this title until I have started working with clay.

When I relaized that I cut my fingernails every 3-4 days, that most important is that I am not out of clay insted out of bread in house, when I started taking care that I do not fire kiln if there is a storm comming and my pots might stay in kiln for few hours without heat, when most of my make up is slip on my face I relaized that that I have started living clay, and that now I can say I am ceramic designer.

[TJR]

I was reading this topic on a Friday after the students have all gone home. There are the flip answers-cracked fingers, no finger prints etc. There are the hierachical answers-I was at the Bray, I went to this grad school etc. I scrolled down reading peoples' answers, and was surprised that I had already commented.My wife was asked; "What's it like living with an artist?"
She replied- "Well, you never get to pick paint colours, You never get to pick furniture,or garden plants or.. on and on.
I didn't realize that it was do hard for her. I am pretty particular about what I surround myself with. I do call myself an artist, and I do make functional pottery. My back also hurts from sitting at my wheel. Can I be in the club?
TJR.

[trina]

TJR, on 10 February 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

I was reading this topic on a Friday after the students have all gone home. There are the flip answers-cracked fingers, no finger prints etc. There are the hierachical answers-I was at the Bray, I went to this grad school etc. I scrolled down reading peoples' answers, and was surprised that I had already commented.My wife was asked; "What's it like living with an artist?"
She replied- "Well, you never get to pick paint colours, You never get to pick furniture,or garden plants or.. on and on.
I didn't realize that it was do hard for her. I am pretty particular about what I surround myself with. I do call myself an artist, and I do make functional pottery. My back also hurts from sitting at my wheel. Can I be in the club?
TJR.

OK but don't say you haven't been warned eh? Trina