: Wahine - Viewing Profile

John stated:
The resurgance of interest in things Mingei (folk art or folk crafts... or the art of the people)...... was tightly tied into Japanese nationalism and even ultra-nationalism as the Japanese sought to re-assert their cultural identitity after years of the impact of westernization and a cultural crisis level loss of identity (look up the term "kokutai"). It actually was looking for a way to make true Japanese-ness highly valued in their own culture. That "high value" also meant the raising of the economic value of inherent Japanese-designed and made objects. It was NOT about keeping Japanese folks arts cheap... it was about raising their percieved value. THIS runs contrary to what most Westerners understand about this subject.

It is true that the roots of the folk arts being "re-discovered" (actively promoted as the "right way" of looking at the standards for objects, actually) were in generally inexpensively made objects for daily use by the masses. However, one of the implicit goals of this actively promoted interest (by not only arts organizations and individual artists but also the national government) was to stimulate economic development. And to raise the level of "nationalism" as japan sought to extend itself into the world. Mingei also was even being used to promote the nationalistic war efforts during the war (WWII). After whe war, there was a "Mingei Revival" movement.... as the Japanese sought to "find themselves" after the period of foreign occupation after the defeat of WWII. This "second wave" too was seen as a way to not only regain culture... but to also stimulate the economy.

Wish this could happen here in the US. I, along with several family members, work very hard to by American Made products. Sometimes it is more difficult than you can imagine. I think the resurgence of the farmers market and flee markets could be a small driving force that way.

I use to live in a frequent storm area. I would invest in one of those cinder block storm closets and forget about the chemicals.

I have only been throwing on the wheel for about 6 months. I still have a hard time telling how thick my bottoms are and how much to trim. Before I trim I would push an extra thin needle tool through the bottom of the pot with my finger tip against the tool. Remove the tool with finger tip still in place to measure how thick the bottom is. When I couldn't get my hand inside a narrow neck I took a small ball of clay, placed it on the end of the needle tool. As I pushed it through the bottom of the pot the ball of clay was pushed up the needle tool showing me the depth of my bottom. Does this count???

Glazing - I work with commercial glazes that I buy dry and mix with water, easy right? It's to thick, or thin, or I had to change clays, now it doesn't fit. Testing combinations, testing stains, ugh!! It is way too much like cooking, and I hate cooking.

The first pull, feeling the cool, wet clay magically lift upward as it spins between my fingers.