[vstetts]

Hello. I am a high school art teacher looking for quotes about clay, ceramics, pottery, potter's wheels, firing, glaze, kilns, etc. to display in my ceramic classroom. I have searched the Internet and I only found one that was good...

“Your life is a piece of clay, don't let anyone else mold it for you.”

Can anyone think of other good quotes for me to display in my room? Thank you!

Victoria

[Chris Campbell]

There are no happier people on this planet than those who decide that they
want something, define what they want, get hold of the feeling of it even
before it’s manifestation and then joyously watch the unfolding as, piece
by piece by piece, it begins to unfold. That’s the feeling of your hands
in the clay.
— Abraham

Try to put thought, time and care into making these useful objects with the hopes
that the users will somehow connect with them beyond their intended purpose.
Jennifer Harnetty, CAD

For a potter to be able to make a pot that has life and vitality there has to be some brain power connected, some intellectual curiosity.
Dwight Holland

Clay and people interact on a daily and continuous basis.
Tessie Naranjo

Also, look into the words of Paulus Berensohn a true inspiration.

[Marcia Selsor]

"God said to the clay 'Be ware' and it was" George Ohr
Marcia

[Lucille Oka]

Roman's 8:20b-21a (NKJV)
Will the thing formed say to him who formed it," Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have power over the clay?.....

[Marcia Selsor]

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" old proverb but told to his students by Bill Daley, Philadelphia.

Old Spanish saying seen in potters' studios in Spain
"God made the first pot and it was man"

[LawPots]

We throw clay to shape a pot,
But the utility of the clay pot is a function
      of the nothingness inside it.

- Tao Te Ching: Chapter 11
trans. by R. T. Ames & D. L. Hall (2003)

[JBaymore]

"Clay and wheel, they teach us." HAMADA Shoji

[Stephen Robison]

Of course you may be teaching in a public school and may want to keep all the god stuff out of the conversation. So a pot with no soul is just a lump of clay with a hole, sure. Many of the sayings I have heard are very superficial. Your life is a piece of clay, don't let anyone mold it for you is a bit unrealistic. We are molded by everything around us and we are an amalgamation of influences imposed on us from outside sources, i.e. your teachers, (direct or vicarious), your peers or the research one does in any given discipline. The world is your oyster does not mean that if you as a student just taste anything you want that you wont eat something pretty crapy or even something that could make you sick. With some molding from teachers and peers the student eats healthy food, a critique with peers is one great example of brainstorming and molding. Teachers of course should act as conduits of information that mold the student in a direction that is worthy of intellectual discourse. I tell my students just because it is in print does not really validate it as quality work to be influenced by. It is dangerous and a disservice to the student to just let the reins off and allow them to just mold themselves. There are many times we have seen some pretty bad work in the magazines or even in books, sometimes the student does not see it as mediocre work and they are excited about it. Is it not our jobs as teachers to direct the student towards the best in our discipline? Now this tasked gets even more challenging with the onslaught of the tripe on the internet. So I feel it a mistake to teach students that they should not let people help mold their work or their life for that matter. As a teacher I feel it my job to somewhat mold students by giving them freedom to do their own research but at the same time be their for them to keep them from stepping in some deep and muddy puddles. Bridging the gap for the student to overcome obstacles for their growth and getting them to learn to build their own bridges is a challenge that with each individual student I embrace. One major question to ask, (if one does believe we should not let others mold us), why go to school or why study ceramics or why study anything. As a life long learner and feeling as though I will always be a student I am in a struggle to always look for more information on my discipline and on subjects outside of art in general? So as Plato said art is a reflection of society, society is a constant and is part of the process of molding strong and honest work. If we take Brancusi's words that he never looked at other art for influence and think there is validity in that statement we can assume then that we live in a vacuum. We don't and because we don't live in a vacuum we have all the growth we have in all areas of knowledge. So as I pave my road, (not to hell), I will be a vacuum and suck it all in. Digestion is the major problem.

[ayjay]

Ever tried
Ever failed
Never mind try again
Fail better.

attributed to Martin McWilliam in the book Stoneware: by Richard Dewar

[LawPots]

Being in the son of a public school teacher, and a lawyer, I would understand how you might want to use caution in using religious quotes. Therefore, I would say that unless you are prepared to quote a variety of religious texts (and perhaps even if you did) my Tao quote might be too controversial. It is, however, something I think about when I make pots. Even if it isn't exactly inspirational.

[Pres]

vstetts, on 30 January 2012 - 09:30 AM, said:

Hello. I am a high school art teacher looking for quotes about clay, ceramics, pottery, potter's wheels, firing, glaze, kilns, etc. to display in my ceramic classroom. I have searched the Internet and I only found one that was good...

“Your life is a piece of clay, don't let anyone else mold it for you.”

Can anyone think of other good quotes for me to display in my room? Thank you!

Victoria

Keep your studio clean so that everything else won't go to pot!

[SShirley]

Here's a great link to find quotes:
http://thinkexist.co...h/keyword/clay/

[teardrop]

My English teacher in HS had this saying adorned around the room in a large banner. I have always remembered it....

dunno how it flies in the "Art" world....nor do I know/or can I find who the quote is attributed to...

"Style has to do with limits, with discipline. When there are no limits and there is no discipline, there is no style".

"Art for art's sake......money for God's sake" is another cheesy one....but hey...it's a darn good tune ...so shoot me LOL

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=5ICh235gj0o

most everything else I found has a religious undertone and wouldn't be suitable for a classroom situation.

good luck

[neilestrick]

'Shut up and throw'

[Amy Waller]

The language is a little flowery, but it's one of my favorite pottery quotes. It's Charles Fergus Binns talking about the difficult process of making Delftware in "The Potter's Craft," first published in 1910. It's the second part of the sentence that I really like:

"This was, in a measure, courting a difficulty but it is the glory of the craft that a difficulty is cheerfully accepted if in the overcoming there is found success."

[scoobydoozie]

Stephen Robison, on 31 January 2012 - 12:00 PM, said:

Of course you may be teaching in a public school and may want to keep all the god stuff out of the conversation. So a pot with no soul is just a lump of clay with a hole, sure. Many of the sayings I have heard are very superficial. Your life is a piece of clay, don't let anyone mold it for you is a bit unrealistic. We are molded by everything around us and we are an amalgamation of influences imposed on us from outside sources, i.e. your teachers, (direct or vicarious), your peers or the research one does in any given discipline. The world is your oyster does not mean that if you as a student just taste anything you want that you wont eat something pretty crapy or even something that could make you sick. With some molding from teachers and peers the student eats healthy food, a critique with peers is one great example of brainstorming and molding. Teachers of course should act as conduits of information that mold the student in a direction that is worthy of intellectual discourse. I tell my students just because it is in print does not really validate it as quality work to be influenced by. It is dangerous and a disservice to the student to just let the reins off and allow them to just mold themselves. There are many times we have seen some pretty bad work in the magazines or even in books, sometimes the student does not see it as mediocre work and they are excited about it. Is it not our jobs as teachers to direct the student towards the best in our discipline? Now this tasked gets even more challenging with the onslaught of the tripe on the internet. So I feel it a mistake to teach students that they should not let people help mold their work or their life for that matter. As a teacher I feel it my job to somewhat mold students by giving them freedom to do their own research but at the same time be their for them to keep them from stepping in some deep and muddy puddles. Bridging the gap for the student to overcome obstacles for their growth and getting them to learn to build their own bridges is a challenge that with each individual student I embrace. One major question to ask, (if one does believe we should not let others mold us), why go to school or why study ceramics or why study anything. As a life long learner and feeling as though I will always be a student I am in a struggle to always look for more information on my discipline and on subjects outside of art in general? So as Plato said art is a reflection of society, society is a constant and is part of the process of molding strong and honest work. If we take Brancusi's words that he never looked at other art for influence and think there is validity in that statement we can assume then that we live in a vacuum. We don't and because we don't live in a vacuum we have all the growth we have in all areas of knowledge. So as I pave my road, (not to hell), I will be a vacuum and suck it all in. Digestion is the major problem.

Phew! Did somebody hit a nerve? Chill my friend....