[Claypple]

What if we look at it from the different perspective. Let's take pie making, e.g.
You can go to a grocery store and buy a pretty good quality pie. (equivalent of going to Walmart and buying a mug)
You can bake your own pie (sometimes good, sometimes not). (equivalent of making your own mug)
Or, if you happen to be a chef, you make it from a scratch and it looks like a very special pie. (equivalent of a professional artist making a vase)

So, if you like baking your own pies and making your own mugs, then do it! (I like.) (Not the pies.)
If you are a professional potter, then you should study and monitor the progress at 3-D printing.

If you are the artist, however, then nothing, even the best 3-D printer can put you down, because you create The Art!

[OffCenter]

Claypple, on 10 January 2013 - 10:01 PM, said:

What if we look at it from the different perspective. Let's take pie making, e.g.
You can go to a grocery store and buy a pretty good quality pie. (equivalent of going to Walmart and buying a mug)
You can bake your own pie (sometimes good, sometimes not). (equivalent of making your own mug)
Or, if you happen to be a chef, you make it from a scratch and it looks like a very special pie. (equivalent of a professional artist making a vase)

So, if you like baking your own pies and making your own mugs, then do it! (I like.) (Not the pies.)
If you are a professional potter, then you should study and monitor the progress at 3-D printing.

If you are the artist, however, then nothing, even the best 3-D printer can put you down, because you create The Art!

Not only can it not put you down but it could be the best potters tool ever.

[Marcia Selsor]

I know it has great creative potential. Creative people using new technology is an exciting combination.
It was the replicating of a very expressive historical genre that I wondered about...(not condemned). creative people play with new technology, push the limits and beyond. That is a good thing.

Marcia

[Diana Ferreira]

I cut my own plaster masters on a wheel. Sometimes it could take days to complete a complex master, as it would sometimes involve making a first mold so that another (more perfect) master could be created. With this 3-D technology it would still be 'my' design, but made much quicker. This translates into money saved, etc.

Regarding the face mug that was 3-D'ed. I could never understand the fascination of the USA potters with face mugs. Thanks to the article, I understand the historical interest/love for it. But it is still a weird thing for me :-)