Marguerite Wildenhaim Spits Hot Fire

Since life has a way of swinging us, as with the pendulum, from one end to the other, we find in our times that we are now a trifle tired of all those gorgeous colors, of all those decorations. We no longer believe in the values of those too sensuous surfaces, those impressionistic glazes that look like rainbows and cloudy skies, fiery outbursts of volcanoes, desert sunsets or Pacific blues. We are slowly looking for more subdued tones, for simpler and nearer relation to our original material again. Now that man has learned what he can do with his ceramic techniques, he begins to be selective as to what these convey to him in the expression of his whole life.

The modern potter is today trying again to find on his own some ways of forming, in a timeworn and often much abused material, those ideas that occupy him today.

-Marguerite Wildenhaim

I've been skimming over Pottery: Form and Expression the past few weeks and thought i'd share a quote. It seemed like a lot of potters in the midwest were influenced by this artist and spent some time at her studio/fort in California. She had a strong connection with Luther College in Iowa and produced a lot of potters. Although i find her pots pretty sleepy, she ruled with a stern hand she does not mince words:

In all ages there have been potters, some talented, and some not-so-talanted: at all times there have been good, expressive pots and live ones and also in-sensetive, unimaginative, and dull ones...Today, the effort of creation must be carried by craftsmen singly and often in opposition to the society in which he is living. This requires a much stronger personality and a greater amount of talent than in those times when the whole society carried the craftsmen.

Dolan Geiman Shout Out

Thanks to Dolan Geiman for the shout out. He featured me in a list of handmade items he loves. Dolan was my neighbor last year at Uptown Art Fair. Dolan is a hard working artist with a distinct flavor. Chances are he is coming to a fair near you, taking best of show, and turning right around to do the same thing the next weekend. I have a lot of respect for artists who are out there hoofing it and making it work. Dolan is a good example of a young artist doing it his way. He also has a thing for birds, weathered wood, and rust.

What's Going On in the Studio

Here is a quick image of pots in process over at Paul Heroux's studio. Paul has opened his studio to me, a basic stranger, and welcomed me in. It is generous of him to share the space and time. It also allows me to prepare for an exciting two person show at the Grand Hand Gallery this winter. More details on the are coming soon. I am working on some new forms, some old forms, and trying to get comfortable with the big move of spaces. Both mental and physical. I have been slowly pushing myself to work through some new forms, lately. I have not done much altering in the past few years, but am starting to move the pots more after they come off the wheel The heavily altered pot sometimes has a gimicky feel to me. It reminds me of something Heath Ledger said after being told that Philip Seymour Hoffman won the oscar for best actor: "I thought the award was for best acting, not most acting."

With that in mind, out came the paddle.

Etsy Site Back Up (for discussion)

Etsy Buy Handmade aaronsober

My Etsy Site is back up for the holidays so go online and get some pots. My inventory is dwindling but pots are turning and there is work on the horizon. If you are not near a retail outlet this season, Etsy is a great place to find some of my work. That said, let's say some other things about this ubiquitous website.

Etsy has taken the craft, DIY, and hipster community by storm these past few years and my emotions about it are so mixed. On the up side, it has generated a new energy, excitement, and interest in craft, the likes of which i have never seen. It has breathed a new life into the craft community and has done great things to educate the greater population about handmade items and the people who make them. This is generating new craft shows and careers for people. Craft is kinda cool. What a victory. In my mind, the American Craft Council is struggling for relevance in the craft world today. They continue to fight the good fight with mixed results. Etsy is affecting the craft world in a way i just have never seen any organization do. This is amazing.

The main question is whether Etsy is good for Fine Craft or not? There is a vast quantity of work out there. There are gems, and there is an ocean of trash (its true). To me, craft is taking a material and changing it in a basic manner to make an object. Craft is heating metal, or dying wool, or joinery. There is an appreciation, respect, and belief in material. On Etsy, craft can be buying an American Apparel T-shirt and spray paint, or selling a vintage lamp. To me this is not enough. If you make that T-shirt and spray paint it, i am totally good. This is a fine, but major distinction Etsy has not, and I believe will never, address. I don't want the general public to think that decorating a store bought t-shirt, and doing what i do, is the same thing. It is an elitist position, no doubt. I'm just saying, though.

Etsy is an easy way to set up an online storefront. It does not, i'm afraid, elevate the art form beyond commerce. This is a fine, knitpicky distinction and for every example of store bought, slapped together garbage, there is a serious maker, making a living on etsy. So i have to remain divided. Until then, though, i'll continue to use it to sell pots. It is not a tremendous amount of sales, but it is enough that i cannot ignore it.

I would shudder if etsy even considered a jury, as the Artful Home does. I'll also never browse it. So while i'll list items and fill the occasional order, i'll also continue to believe that Etsy is trouble for people selling fine craft.

I'd love to get some other opinions, so if your out there bloggers/crafters, what to you think?

Where to Get It Over the Holidays

Work will be available at few Holiday Shows this season. I am in Tis a Gift: The 19th Annual Holiday Exhibition, at Northern Clay Center. This is a great collection of a lot of really good makers. So for you folks in the twin cities, i left a pile of nice pots for this exhibition before i cut out of town. On the East Coast, work is going out the door to Baltimore Clayworks Winterfest. This is my first time having pots at the Clayworks in Baltimore and i am psyched to be included.

The photo above is promotion from Northern Clay Center and you can just make out my bowl in the pottery sandwich. I'm not sure if i am the bread or the filling, but i'm sure it makes no difference.

In Defense of Maine

I have been blessed with living in some very pottery rich areas for the last few years. I consider Western North Carolina and Minnesota to be the two best places in the country to see and possibly make functional pottery. The proof is in the pudding. I wont go through the laundry list of top notch potters working in both places, but there are some giants out there on those two horizons. How did these two places become such fantastic places to work? Certainly University of Minnesota and Penland School of Crafts are responsible for much of the fuss. Both have had profound influences on hundreds of potters and most importantly, has made artists locate themselves close to these institutions. Having a critical mass of working potters in one area, year after year, can make a real difference. But, i digress. This blog post is in defense of Maine. Not necessarily as a mecca for the working potter, but just as a place. An abbreviated list is as follows:

1. There are no billboards here. None.
2. This is one of the least populated states in the Union. Space abounds.
3. The coast.
4. The forests here are growing faster than they are cut. There are literally billions of trees.
5. A strong tradition of do-it-yourself, steely eyed independence.

Place is important for a potter. Even in the age of national juried shows and internet showrooms. While my local following here is restricted to relatives in Maine, I hope to start building customers closer to home, rather than farther. In my experience, this is important to most potters, but not all. That's all for now. Happy turning to all you hairy potters out there (i'm looking at you Dan, and wishing you a quick recovery).

Sam Bass in Antarctica

In blog news, my brother-in-law will be keeping a travel journal of his trip to Antarctica this month with Skiing Magazine. Sam is an editor there and will be traveling with a group of educators, scientists, explorers, and skiers. The rest of take trips, but this is a serious expedition. The link is here.