[Claypple]

[/quote]
When I am asked what I do I say I am a ceramic artist, some of my work is functional some is not
[/quote]





You almost sound as if the functional pottery cannot be an art and vice versa.
I know this is not what you were trying to say. ... It is just there are so many both ugly and useless vessels (mugs, bowls)
in all these tutorials (books, open studios), that I am sometimes wondering if people are making them because they have an urge to make something
but they do not have any good ideas in mind.

[OffCenter]

Claypple, on 08 March 2013 - 10:44 PM, said:

When I am asked what I do I say I am a ceramic artist, some of my work is functional some is not
[/quote]





You almost sound as if the functional pottery cannot be an art and vice versa.
I know this is not what you were trying to say. ... It is just there are so many both ugly and useless vessels (mugs, bowls)
in all these tutorials (books, open studios), that I am sometimes wondering if people are making them because they have an urge to make something,
but they do not have any good ideas in mind.
[/quote]

Okay, now I'm a fan.

Jim

[Jess]

Claypple, on 08 March 2013 - 10:44 PM, said:

When I am asked what I do I say I am a ceramic artist, some of my work is functional some is not
[/quote]





You almost sound as if the functional pottery cannot be an art and vice versa.
I know this is not what you were trying to say. ... It is just there are so many both ugly and useless vessels (mugs, bowls)
in all these tutorials (books, open studios), that I am sometimes wondering if people are making them because they have an urge to make something
but they do not have any good ideas in mind.
[/quote]

Of course functional pottery can be art. What I was trying to say is that physical function alone does not designate something as art or craft.

[Diana Ferreira]

interesting views, everyone! And thanks for the links. I am spending my first real day-off in months, so I am going to enjoy reading more about this.

[AtomicAxe]

Lucille Oka, on 14 January 2013 - 11:53 PM, said:

Denice, on 14 January 2013 - 02:06 PM, said:

I got offended when my daughter-in-law to be looked at my work and said "your crafty like my mom". Her mom makes teddy bears, nothing wrong with that but I quickly informed her I didn't do crafty projects.

Denice, I don't think you should be offended. People have no idea of what to call us. Sometimes I am stumped what to say about what I do, I usually find myself having to clarify in the most simplest of terms what a potter or ceramics designer does. Often I have to say, "I work with clay. I make vases, bowls, plates things like that". It isn't the public's fault; the times have changed, our work has changed, our purposes have changed. Our clientele has changed and we have no dedicated press.

I call myself a mud bug. That and when I don't shave ... a Hairy Potter.

[Wyndham]

There is such a lack of knowledge about pottery, art, & crafts by the general public that it really doesn't matter. Some believe you are lying to them by telling them pottery is safe to use for placing "Food" on.

They run to Walmart for Corelware or dishes from China because local handmade pottery couldn't possibly be safe.
It's an altered form of accepting advertizing as an authority figure that knows what's best.

I remember a prominent potter saying if one took a functional pot and made it non functional by putting a hole in a mug,( for instance) it was now "Art" His way of trying to bring clay into the art world.

I think all this talk about art, craft and bs is about following the money and the Emperor's New Clothes.

How do you reconcile the joy of making a really nice mug and finding a really neat glaze that fits it to your personal taste then have someone tell you with great authority, "that's not going to match my wallpaper", without going postal. :blink:src="http://ceramicartsdaily.org/community/public/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif">

All you can do is your personal best and let the rest of the world play their games.
2 cents and change
Wyndham

[derp]

Lucille Oka, on 14 January 2013 - 10:53 PM, said:

Denice, on 14 January 2013 - 02:06 PM, said:

I got offended when my daughter-in-law to be looked at my work and said "your crafty like my mom". Her mom makes teddy bears, nothing wrong with that but I quickly informed her I didn't do crafty projects.

Denice, I don't think you should be offended. People have no idea of what to call us. Sometimes I am stumped what to say about what I do, I usually find myself having to clarify in the most simplest of terms what a potter or ceramics designer does. Often I have to say, "I work with clay. I make vases, bowls, plates things like that". It isn't the public's fault; the times have changed, our work has changed, our purposes have changed. Our clientele has changed and we have no dedicated press.

Well said buddy. I do think some time what should I call myself but then it just comes in mind that i have to do my work and this is what I an suppose to do. I do it for the satisfaction of my creativity And there is no word when I feel that so I just think and ignore but yes i will not get fended when some one call me crafty.

[crowgrl]

Does what you create generate an emotion, does the cup, bowl, plate feel good to the hand, look beautiful bring a sense of joy in its daily use. Then craftsman or artist you have made an impact and can call yourself whatever you like.

[Frederik-W]

RDWolff, on 16 April 2013 - 05:46 AM, said:

Back in the last 1/4 of the 19th century when architectural terracotta was booming, they fired the ware in huge beehive shaped kilns, fired with wood.

Very interesting. I like big sculptures and I like Terracotta and I'm experimenting with wood fire but I do not have the space in my suburban backyard for a big wood kiln.

[OffCenter]

RDWolff, on 15 April 2013 - 01:46 PM, said:

Quote

Frederik-W, on 08 February 2013 - 08:45 PM, said:

In the past great skill was required by a craftsman to stoke a kiln to fire correctly, today an amateur can fire extremely accurately by the flick of a switch.
Factories produce very high quality functional dinner and cookware, a long time ago this required craftsmen.

Back in the last 1/4 of the 19th century when architectural terracotta was booming, they fired the ware in huge beehive shaped kilns, fired with wood. As the ware was very thick walled at an average of 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" and a lot of mass, 100# to 400# or even more, their usual schedule was candle the kiln for one week, then bring it up to temperature the second week and then it took one week for it all to cool down to remove the terracotta, just imaging the skills and all needed to run a wood fired kiln that size 24/7 for 2 weeks worth of fires!

Less than a mile from my house there were two such beehive kilns in a pottery that produced flower pots out of Lizella Red for well over a century. They closed the pottery in the late 70's and it sat there until a couple of years ago. The two beehive kilns were like large yurts. They were originally wood and coal fired but were switched to gas sometime in the 40's. A couple of years ago, a construction company bought it and immediately tore down one of the beehive kilns and are using the other one as a showroom.

Jim

[Wyndham]

You have Hewell's Pottery that still produces unglazed earthenware garden pots from the red clay of Georgia. At some earlier time some other pottery could have tried to compete in that biz. Those bee hive kilns were also used a lot for making red bricks, which the south has produced a huge amount.
Wyndham

[OffCenter]

RDWolff, on 21 April 2013 - 07:03 PM, said:

OffCenter, on 20 April 2013 - 10:13 AM, said:

Less than a mile from my house there were two such beehive kilns in a pottery that produced flower pots out of Lizella Red for well over a century. They closed the pottery in the late 70's and it sat there until a couple of years ago. The two beehive kilns were like large yurts. They were originally wood and coal fired but were switched to gas sometime in the 40's. A couple of years ago, a construction company bought it and immediately tore down one of the beehive kilns and are using the other one as a showroom.

Jim

I wonder what the company was originally called, not familiar with Georgia, I don't know of any architectural terracotta companies that were there but obviously if they had kilns that size they did either a large volumn of works or a lot of large pieces maybe.

It was Merritt's Pottery. (They're covered in books about Georgia's folk potters.) They had one pottery in the part of Lizella that is in Bibb County (near me) and another one in the part of Lizella that is in Crawford County. The one near me made flower pots. I'm not sure but I doubt that they every made anything else there because the whole place was geared to producing all sizes of the standard flower pot that you still see today but probably came from Italy. For at least a hundred years they shipped flower pots all over the country. The other Merritt's Pottery produced a wider range of pots (different shaped flower pots, strawberry pots, lawn ornaments, etc. Both potteries used a beautiful clay still dug from the banks of Echeconnee Creek, called Lizella Red. Lizella Red is shipped all over the country and is especially popular in schools. Lots of sculptors use it, too. One in NY has Mark Merritt (owner of Lizella Clay) not only ship the clay to her but has him ship all the crud that he has screened out of it before processing to her so she can put it back into the clay. I believe John B. here uses a clay that has a lot of Lizella Red in it.

Jim