[Clayart] pissed off mel

[Vince Pitelka]

Signatures - the very first pieces I made in the pot shop at Humboldt State
College (now Humboldt State University) in 1970-71 just had VP on the
bottom, but from the start of my own studio business around 1974 I signed V.
Pitelka.  Over the years, so many people have contacted me because they
found me via my signature on the bottom of the pot.  The most recent was a
few years ago - a woman who bought one of my wood stove-top humidifiers at
the St. Vincent De Paul store in Eureka, CA.  She saw the name on the bottom
and Googled it, and contacted me via the information on my website.  She
paid $10 for the humidifier.  We traded a few emails. 

As far as I am concerned, there is no point in making fine craft unless it
is easily identifiable as your work.  That might be via a style that is so
completely unique that no one could mistake it for anyone else's work.  If
not that, then it only makes sense to always sign or stamp the work.  I
don't sign work anymore except for the most complex gallery pieces.
Otherwise I stamp each piece with little homemade bisque stamps with my
initials. 
- Vince

Vince Pitelka, 
Professor Emeritus, Appalachian Center for Craft, 
School of Art, Craft & Design, Tennessee Tech University, 
Now residing Chapel Hill, NC 27516, 
vpitelka at dtccom.net, 
www.vincepitelka.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:clayart-bounces at lists.clayartworld.com] On Behalf Of
Antoinette Badenhorst
Sent: Sunday, September 1, 2019 5:02 PM
To: Clayart international pottery discussion forum
<clayart at lists.clayartworld.com>
Subject: Re: [Clayart] pissed off mel

My signature is as big as the base allows it to be, sometimes very small,
sometimes big and bold. The value of signature were proved a few weeks ago
when someone were looking for my early 2000s pitfired pots and found one on
ebay. She was very proud of it. I am wondering how it landed on ebay....

Best wishes,
Antoinette Badenhorst
www.porcelainbyAntoinette.com
www.TeachinArt.com


> On Aug 31, 2019, at 3:07 PM, mel jacobson <melpots at mail.com> wrote:
> 
> it is an old story.  wonderful pots, with scratched/stupid unreadable 
> signatures on the bottom.
> i hate it.
> 
> wonderful work, worth being in a a museum...and i am going to throw 
> them into lake minnetonka.  seven pots...world class and the potter 
> did not have the confidence, or the brains to sign the pots for the 
> future.
> 
> LISTEN TO ME....SIGN YOUR POTS LEGIBLY. USE A STAMP, USE A LOGO, USE 
> SOMETHING...BUT DON'T SCRATCH CRAP ON THE BOTTOM.  i even did charcoal 
> rubbings and it means nothing.
> mel
> seven potters missed out of being represented at the AMOCA in the 
> permanent collection, because they were either stupid or lazy.
> 
> website: www.melpots.com
>