I wanted to come back to this post and make a few comments about your experience with spinning the yarn, and the gentleman you let spin.
Anyhow, to me, that whole incident illustrated just how much "memory" exists in that connection between our minds and our hands (and bodies), and how quickly the "genius" of our minds can reunite with our bodies when we allow the craftsman within us to pick up the tools and materials and start to let our creativity flow. It really is one of those strange miracles associated with thought and process.
I think it's in our blood. And some of us are fortunate enough(or unfortunate<G>) to tap into that part of us that allows us to create. I remember the first time I touched clay. Was my senior year in HS(took me three long years to get kicked out of a prep school). My senior year at a public HS all I needed was a few electives. I saw "ceramics" and thought what the hell. From the first time I held a ball of clay, it filled me with a wonderful sensation I still experience to this day every time I pick up a hunk of moist clay.
Anyhow, when I use to do fairs, or demonstrating artist stuff, The ouuuuus and ahhhhhs usually made me feel pretty good about myself. But than in discussions and hearing people tell me how lucky I am that I posess such a skill to be able to take a ball of clay and turn it into something special, the cynical part of me wanted to whack them over the head with the nearest thing I could find.
You don't get rich, or even pay the bills very comfortably these days being a craftsman. I'd venture to say 90% of the american population would be just as content paying 99 cents for a machined coffee mug at K-Mart(made in China) than spend $7-$10 for one hand crafted by someone who truely enjoys what they do.
You know, every single piece I make, there is a part of me that remains in it. It sounds stupid I know(because at times when I'm doing production ware, I do go on remote and become a sort of machine). But none the less. Every piece of clay I place on the wheel, I talk to.
If the weather doesn't warm up here for a few days, I will likely take a ring off my electric kiln and just bisque what I did the other day and then transport the remainder of the studio over to where the gas kiln is, and yes, where the heat is.
I can remember back in the mid 80s when I lived in a warehouse in a ghost town(only heat was a wood burning stove. But I needed cash so I had no choice but to spin under cold temps. I can distinctly recall breaking through a thin layer of ice to get to my slop bucket and using water not much warmer. Wasn't the most enjoyable time of my life, but I'm happy to have experienced it and will charrish those days for a long while. There was an added bonus to it all though. I would work like the dickens when I was firing the kiln as the temps inside the studio would warm to a cozy 70-80°. Some times when I had some extra fuel, I would even turn the kiln on low to heat the place, but I had a hard time living with what I considered a waste of fuel. Especially when things wouldn't click and would end up with several hours of crap.
Speaking of crap. I want to get back to making some water fountains. While visiting my gas kiln, I unwrapped a fountain in progress I had started about 3-4 years ago. All greenware now, but it did make me long start something new again. But darn, I don't remember where my slab roller is! It's not all that small of thing either that I could just misplace. rolls slabs 30"x4'. Most of my fountains are of a rather large size using a couple hundred pounds of moist clay, and take aup to 100 hours to get to the piont of greenware.
My biggest dilema has been getting the suckers into the kiln w/out breaking them. I use to build them on partical board, slide them in and burn out the board. Only problem is in some places where internal supporet was heavier, it would drop first, and even though 3/4" doesn't sound like much, would be enough to crack the piece in the less supportive areas. Thus I did something not so good. A few years back I took a ceramics class at a local college. They had these 30"x30" kiln shelves that they weren't using any more, and I stole one. But even with that I continuallly find myself limited to the size. Most my pieces have been approximately 4'X3' and upwards of 4' tall. I have a problem keeping within my limitations. That was the reason for building kilns around pieces. But those days and resources are far in the past and I need to learn to conform with what I have.
It shouldn't be so hard. I just hate limitations. How can one limit creativity? I suppose the answer is discipline!
On that note, I'm heading out to the garage and gonna clean the area around the bisque kiln. It's a mess. Busted storm windowsplanks of scrap wood for this or that project. Boxes of a previous life stacked ontop, and well, you name it, it's covered it.
And Dear Mrs. West is pissed that I have commandered the garage for this recent project and her car remains in the driveway. And I didn't get a very warm reception when I said it would be all cleared out by christmas. Seems I may have to crunh the transfer into a two week period, max.
So, sorry if I have bored you with this post. Ironically, it almost seems easier to type things up instead of penning them in the journal. Huh! maybe I can print these out and put them in it some day.
Take care.
And thanks again for letting me bend your ear.
P.S> Got some disheartening news yesterday from my friend I was hoping would apply for that art teaching job here. He has a major show going up in December in Missouri and has decided to pour his efforts into completing that project before sending out his resume for the teaching position. I can't blame him. That is his bread and butter so to speak, and priorities are priorities are priorities.. It just took some wind out of my sails. |
