Form and the Details that Matter

I've been developing a shape for jars or casseroles (same thing, choose your use). It's shape that attracts me to pots, more than color even, and far more than decoration.

I do not have much education in art or aesthetics, and so am not sure who knows this or can jump right to the best form. For me, it is often a surprise or discovery to find a good form. I think as I become a more skilled potter, I am improving both in hand and eye. 

This was the first pot in this shape. I like the handle and the rolled rim of the pot. Otherwise, kind of boring.

When it comes out well, the handle really swirls. It's light, simple and loose, and very practical --just what I like.

Ah, better when the sides slope in, on both pot and lid. The rim has a lift to it too. I'm not sure if that's as good as the rolled edge.

OK. This is it. The sloping sides, the lifted rim, the and a continuous line from pot sides up the sides of the lid. Still having trouble getting those lids to sit evenly on the pot.

This one worked well. And a safe glaze that should look good with food.

Not a word

for 2 1/2 months. I didn't even notice. Sorry, for anyone who is reading. It's been a time to focus on people dying.

Not So Bad After All

Since the much lamented closing of the UCSD Crafts Center, I have been mourning it, deciding it is high time to learn mid-temperature oxidation firing (which I can do at home), buying clay and glazes for that temperature, and trying, with test pots. And so I discover what I suppose is the usual lesson: it's not so bad after all!

 I find I like being in control of the whole process, instead of sharing the firing under other people's management. I feel I know better what I am doing and choosing. I've found some wonderful new glazes and glaze combinations. Eventually, as I find my way, I expect I'll mix my own glazes.

 And I've made some decent pots in this way.

 Onward!

TheHoliday Hit List

I'm participating in the Holiday Hit List, a craft sale December 2, at Liberty Station.

Address: 2710 Historic Decatur; that's the corner of Decatur and Dewey. Take Dewey south off Rosecrans 2 blocks.

Time: noon to 6 pm. We're mostly inside, so rain or shine.

Here's my latest. It's a Christmas sale, I guess, but I'm still thinking fall.

Losing the UCSD Crafts Center

The Crafts Center closed suddenly during registration for fall classes this month. The funding was pulled, and we all sat stunned. I've learned to make pottery there, have been taking classes for almost 7 years.  Wow.

In some ways, it was well done. The Center is funded by UCSD student fees and by tuition for classes and studio membership. Prices rise, university budget falls, the students do not want to pay more in fees. In a poll of students' priorities for the use of their fees, the Craft Center came out low. And it is hard to argue that teaching crafts is so central to a university's work that they must find alternate funding.

But so suddenly? With no warning and no chance for all the people who love the place to work to fill the financial gap? And at this time, after course flyers were produced and distributed, and registration underway?

Individually, we who work there are forced to a decision point. This is not a bad thing  -- how do we see ourselves as craftspeople? what will we do next, since we will not do what we are used to? how much commitment will we make to finding resources to continue in our crafts? Some have already moved to other studios, decided to work alone at home, or quit. I feel kicked out of the nest, required to fly. I think it may be high time for that, good for me. I have been exploring the kind of mid-temperature firing I can do at home, but not with much energy. Until I find another shared studio, if I do, it will now be most of my potting..

But I am also mourning my losses, and finding more as the weeks continue after the Center closed. We scrambled to finish partly-done pots, feeling unwelcome in our home away from home. I have a few pots left  -- will I find another place to fire cone 10 reduction?  Whoa, I don't have access to a slab roller for making a kind of platter I have developed as mine. Like this one:

 Oops, no more glaze spraying, no more of these good effects:

                                    

 What about my favorite glazes? For some I have found lower temperature equivalents, but not for other wonderful ones, like this:

And the unpredictable runny and varying looks that high temperature firing produce; I love them.

But mostly, it's the company I miss, the colleagueship, the easy availability of answers to my questions, the shared familiarity with glazes and kilns, the friendliness, the shared history, the community.

For me, not a tragedy. I can continue at home, and I am not dependent on the Crafts Center for income. But it is real loss.

The university calls it only a temporary closure, though that seems unlikely without ongoing action from those who want to be there. A substantial group of  us are organizing to try to continue  --  to preserve equipment, raise funds, look for alternative homes in and out of UCSD, increase support among students.  I am impressed with the beginnings of this process; it seems thoughtful, careful, realistic, long-term. Wish us luck.

Last Minute Plan -- Sale This Weekend

Just got an opportunity, so I'll be selling pots on Saturday, Sept. 29, at ArtLab, a peripheral sale to the Adams Avenue Street Fair. The address is 3536 Adams Avenue, San Diego. ArtLab booths will be in their back lot, through their building from the street. From 10 AM all day and evening. Come by!

Am I stealing?

What is a source of inspiration, a good thing? What is theft of someone else's idea, a bad thing?

This morning, an article in the LA Times, about a $1billion award to Apple, by the court that decided Samsung had copied 6 patented aspects of Apple products. That's an amount to get your attention, though probably not much for such huge enterprises.

No one copyrights pottery that I know about. Some people keep glaze recipes private, but hundreds (thousands?) of recipes are published and shared.

What about forms? Decorative designs? Years ago, I taught in an interior design school. Students there were encouraged to look through publications of designed spaces, furniture, fabrics, etc., to keep collections of things that attracted them, and to use these in their designs. And there was ongoing, unfinished discussion of the ethical limits of using these materials: when does it become copying, theft? This seems a common issue in all design fields; may jewelers copy elements of others' jewelry?

In writing, this question has clear answers. Standards have been developed for quoting appropriately, and everything else is plagiarism, theft.

What about ceramics? We don't seem to have answers agreed on in the field, or very clear answers at all. When techniques are taught or explained in publications, it seems to me fine to use them. When recipes are shared  personally or in publications, I assume I may use them. Some people say: copy anything; there are no really new ideas in a 10,000 year-old craft, with traditions world-wide. Perhaps this is so, especially in functional pottery, which is what most of the traditions include. But surely artistic pottery, sculpture in clay, is full of invention, and the artists own and deserve to own their creative work.

Here is a case to consider:

I saw this pitcher on the kitchen windowsill, at a friend's house where we had dinner last week. I like the shape immensely, the proportions, the raised lip, the graceful handle, the flow of the whole thing. I borrowed the pitcher to try making something similar.

I've made several; this one came closest in form to the model. It is not as good, a bit squat, with a less smooth curve in the handle and a fatter spout. I think I like my base better.

It's unfired so far.  I am no painter, and have no intention of trying to match the original color or design. When I finish it, it will look quite different from the original, as well as being a different size. I'm thinking now of glazing it somewhat like this one:

So, am I stealing  from some potter whose signature I cannot read on the base of the borrowed pitcher? I am trying to copy the form, mostly. The result will look different, certainly. This is the other position I've heard from potters: go ahead and copy, yours will come out different anyway.

I think I may ethically make pitchers in this shape, keep and use one, give one to the friend who owns the model, along with hers. But may I sell them, as mine? I don't know.