[Clayart] time, money and sales and No Mo "S Cracks"

[David Woof]

Thanks Mel, or whoever chose not to post my late-night ranted mutterings about "S-Crack stupid moves."     Thanks double!!!

It does bring up an important issue regarding anyone's choice of working with porcelain to ask self: "is this an ego driven quest for; I work with porcelain" bragging, as in "I also only have Caviar and selected vintage Dom Perignon served for my late breakfast."  But without understanding the intrinsic physical and sensually aesthetic nature of porcelain that makes it an expressively unique material among ceramic bodies.
In my long years of observation, 90 % of the potters who attempt Porcelain have the skills and hand sensitivities of a stoneware Crock throwing potter.
Subsequently their clunky porcelain creations look like flawed simulations of Jugs and Crocks not done well.

"Oh" you say, " but I just love the velvety feel of porcelain," but dear friend does it respond and love you back?

Our English word "Porcelain" is reputed to be derived from the old French pig farmer's word for "Pigs Vulva" and unless one understands the sensitivity and needs for delicate handling of this medium, it would be comparable to Snow White enduring the surrendering, with trepidation, of her virginity to a snaggle toothed, tobacco chewing, wheezing and huffing, long and dirty finger nailed, "doggie paws Dwarf."

((Please remember this image next time you sit down at the wheel in a heat of Porcelain Lust!!!)))

Stoneware is much more tolerant of misguided handling, and very forgiving when you do screw up. (Pun Intended)

****And to Quote Mel: "so, i have done my duty.  i have warned you again.  stay sober, and make stoneware pots.
mel
then they will start in..."but mel, you don't get it, i want white pots!"  good for you.
i will send you a brochure to climb mount everest. naked, and at night."

And Woof will send a fresh Elmer Fudd sob Hankie and a box of "Strike Anywhere Farmer Matches" to keep you warm when the Everest winds are howling up there.

Misneach,

 Woof....................................who only throws and trims porcelain on a momentum type kickwheel.  In a state of mind and spirit that allows the Porcelain to express its nature in cooperation with the joy in my hands and heart.  Desiring function in servitude to the ethereal beauty of Snow White whom I serendipitously rescued from the Dwarfs................

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________________________________
From: Clayart <clayart-bounces at lists.clayartworld.com> on behalf of mel jacobson <melpots at mail.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2020 6:37 AM
To: clay <clayart at lists.clayartworld.com>
Subject: [Clayart] time, money and sales

the s crack discussion raises that other grand and glorious topic.
`how long does it take you to make an item????`  what do you have to give
to get a decent product out the door?

from what i see the magazines and shows, folks are putting in hours on a mug.
if you paint 200 lady bugs on your mug...what is your time worth???  nothing.
it becomes and exercise in `see what i can do`.  your avocation is just going
forward to give you something to fill time.  if i made `lady bug` mugs i would have
to charge $200 a mug. no one would buy them.

of course, those of us that are a bit older, and have had gobs of experience still
remember famous old potters from around the world. we admired the `perfect brush stroke`
and the mackenzie `unknown potter` with simple and elegant glazes.  i realize that folks
do not know what we are talking about.  and, i have to be careful that i am not talking to
myself.  (well, the woofer will get it.)

my daughter and i packed up about 200 pots to bring home for my holiday sale. i have to admit,
they are elegant. a new shino, some dark navy blue and pete's red. they will sell, and fast...even
in the covid time, folks will come and buy them, pack the pots themselves and leave the money in jar.
most of of the pots will be under $40.  lots of them for $25.  folks do not buy one, they fill a bag.
and the common theme back to me is...`god they are pretty`.  and when the sale is over, i have been well
paid for my time.

the reason i am well paid, is that i do not have to wait ten days with my pots in a damp box. slow drying.
i gear my pottery system to speed and accuracy. i work fast, fire for 100% perfect pots.  mr uchida from Kyoto
would say.  "melsan, smart boy, learned well."  yes, and that is the bottom line, i was taught well. i worked for
potters that made lots of money, worked hard and knew what their time was worth.

i know there are some great young potters coming along...talent galore. ( i know of five i am now training, and they
get the facts of life in a bucket.) but, the idea of sales, how to do
it and what is your time worth is vital to them...or they go to starbucks to work.  ( one of my 45 year old kids
fired at the farm, took the pots to a farmers market and sold out in about two hours. elegant pots. now she is getting
calls for orders for christmas.) she is stunnnned.

sidebar:   i am always telling my new adult students that they have to go out and sell what they make. "they don't really
need the money"  but, the sale is not about money, it is about "self worth".  neighbors are stopping kathy and saying..`geez you
are a talent, i did not know that, amazing`. folks at her church are asking for pots...from the "talented lady"..
as i say. the world wants to be us. they are amazed at us. talent, what a concept.

my neighbor margaret, from scotland. ph.d in pharmacy is now becoming famous in the `village`. yes, she makes Scottish short
bread, sells it at the market. the new lady in the community, lovely, talented, nice and i have encouraged her to use
her scottish accent at the market.  everyone loves her. "she aint'a an outsider any longer"  and, she loves making her own
money...and it is rolling in.  i know she is down there right now...rolling out dough, she has an order for 100 packages.
rod thinks they will have to get a commercial over.  that lady with the ph.d. had no value here a year ago. now, she
is a star. shortbread. (and her recipe is a secret.)
mel






website: www.melpots.com<http://www.melpots.com>
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