Monday, June 29, 2009

Interview: April Grunspan

Between extra shifts at work, spending more time in the studio and the regular busy-ness of everyday life, I haven't had time for my own ceramic blogging. At least we have this weekly artist interview here, today from April in Texas.

Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?
April Grunspan, 55 years young, San Antonio, TX: agru.etsy.com

Where do you work in clay?
I work out of a local teaching/working studio called Sunin Clay. It's only a few miles from my house.

Do you have another job?
Wife, mother, and owner of three (soon to be two when the kids move out this summer) dogs and three Cockatiels.

Are your studio and occupation decisions made by choice or necessity? Please explain.
Happily, by choice.

How do you budget your time (in the studio and out - family, errands, etc)?
I just know Monday and Fridays are times for appointments, shopping, etc. Tuesday-Thursday is studio/work time. The weekends are for my husband. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules. But I find making the commitment to working in the studio makes sure pieces get made, even if the inspiration isn't always there.

Why do you make pots (or sculptures)?
There's a definite satisfaction in taking something that doesn't come easily, and seeing yourself improve from day to day. I also love the different focuses in clay: the clay itself, the science of clay and glaze, the variety of effects one can get using slip, underglaze, glaze, etc., and the incredible variety of techniques one can learn. There seems to be no end to what one can learn to do or ways to do it.

I also really enjoy working on Judaica (Jewish items). I find it a challenge to think of something related to the holidays or special occasions and, then, think of ways to twist it around with a different approach. Such items don't sell as quickly as my mugs. But when something special DOES sell it gives me a great sense of satisfaction because someone appreciated my vision.

How concerned are you about environmental issues? Does this affect your work?
I think it's important to understand that working in pottery requires both chemicals and power -- be it electric, gas, or wood. However, our creations are not ephemeral. There are pieces of pottery that go back thousands of years. So, it seems to be a slightly better investment of these resources than something like styrofoam or plastic.

What do you do when you're having a bad day in the studio?
I "play". I try a new technique, be it one the wheel, handbuilding, or using decoration. Recently, on a "bad" day, I started playing with sodium silicate on slabs of clay. The slabs, being easy to make, were an easy surface for me to work on. Another time I played with slip painted/stamped/stenciled on newspaper and then transferred onto, again, slabs of clay. During these sessions I don't work for a product, just for learning. Often inspiration follows.

Do you create art in other mediums?
Does food count? I love to cook; especially when there's someone else cleaning up. Thanks husband of mine!

Where do you sell your work?
Mostly through etsy. However, I've had sales from people seeing my work on Facebook or in my house. I'm also making custom mugs for a local, privately owned coffee shop. I love selling my work. But I really don't want to stretch myself so thin that the quality of my pieces suffers.

How did you approach those venues about selling your work?
The coffee shop came about organically. I was chatting with the owner (things like that happen in local, privately owned places) and she found out I was a potter. Things just went from there.

Do you have any questions you're dying to ask other ceramic artists, or artists in general?
I'm always curious how the potters who sell lots and lots of pieces manage everything. I'm not the most physically organized person in the world, so I really have to work at the non-pottery end of my business. Right now I average about one sale a week. When I have several in one week I get a bit frazzled with the packaging/shipping of several pieces at once.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Interview: potter John Bauman

This is the second Monday of the new weekly ceramic artists survey. If you're a potter or ceramic artist & you'd like to fill out the survey, see this post for the questions individually.

Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website)?
John Bauman, 52 , Warsaw, Indiana, baumanstoneware.com

Where do you work in clay?
In my studio – three pole buildings on an acre in the industrial park in Warsaw, Indiana

Do you have another job?
Nope. Not yet, anyway. 30 years of self-employment. 30 years of every single household dollar being earned with my hands in clay.

Are your studio and occupation decisions made by choice or necessity? Please explain.
Odd question. Being a potter was my choice. It continues to be. But I’m a realist, and I’m just responsible enough to realize how much the choice of being a potter has cost me in the ability to make choices. In other words, my potter’s income means that I don’t get too much of what I want. I mostly get only what I need.

How do you budget your time (in the studio and out - family, errands, etc)?
I try to get as much time with my hands in clay as possible. But marketing is a necessary evil so I’m wearing that hat much of the time as well. I have several other passions (guitar and running with my dogs) that take my time too. And then there’s filling out internet surveys.

Why do you make pots?
I guess I could answer that in two ways:

Practically, I make pots because I started to make my living in pottery when I was very young and simply continued. So the simplest answer to "why do you make pots?" is: So I can eat, have a roof over my head, gas up my car, and feed the dogs. (Ask the dogs. They'll tell you that hands down, the last answer is the best).

But I could also answer your question more philosophically (or maybe more romantically, as I've never, in 34 years of making pots, lost my passion for the work) with a bit I wrote out a few years ago [*see end of survey for extended answer]...

How concerned are you about environmental issues? Does this affect your work?
Concerned from both angles. I’m concerned enough to be careful with my own business – how I might affect the environment. And I am concerned that environmental concerns may soon be making pottery -- as a livelihood or hobby – not possible.

What do you do when you're having a bad day in the studio?
Type the word “whine” into your internet free thesaurus and you’ll get the complete list.

Do you create art in other mediums?
Music. Don’t laugh. You haven’t even heard me yet. Okay, go ahead. Laugh.

Where do you sell your work?
Art fairs, etsy, one gallery

How did you approach those venues about selling your work?
Type “beg/grovel” into your internet free thesaurus and you will the the complete list.

Actually, I just jury for the art fairs like anyone else. Etsy – I was a reluctant joiner and experientially convinced. The gallery asked for my pottery for about ten years. I finally gave in.

Do you have any questions you're dying to ask other ceramic artists, or artists in general?
Are potters actually a more highly and completely evolved species, or does it just seem that way?

If you could change one property of clay, what would it be? (for me it would be George Costanza’s embarrassing predicament: shrinkage. I would love it if clay didn’t shrink)


*Why do you make pots? -The philosophical answer-

It’s that wire that no one sees but draws us to the magician’s hand.
It’s the true north that mysteriously keeps our needle pointing one way.

One day we saw something-out-of-nothing spin into existence beneath a practiced hand. What we once thought solid as concrete suddenly appeared as flexible as fabric.
Or maybe in our youth, on a late evening walk past the college art department, we chanced upon a firing -- a glowing kiln. It caught our attention as fire has since…since forever. We were imprinted.

We notice everything pottery. In the background scenery of a movie set, in a commercial on TV, we'll notice the pots.
If we walk into a strange place and there happens to be a hand-thrown piece in the room, little else occupies our mind – at least until we’ve had the chance to pick that piece up, feel its heft, and look beneath it. It calls our attention like an overheard conversation that sounds more interesting than the one in which we’re currently engaged...
"Oh, excuse me. Did you say something?”

Now even the wares we use everyday take on new meaning. We’ve glimpsed behind the curtain and what was once a mystery – the “I-wonder-how-they-did-that?” – becomes de-mystified one discovery at a time. And, in turn, it is answered with a satisfying life of pursuing new “how-to-do” mysteries to put back into the world.

So, perhaps it’s the process that hooks us at first. But almost simultaneously we’re drawn to these objects that we’re making. On the one hand we observe the component parts of glaze, form, function. And often times, especially at the beginning of our lives in clay, we see the parts in spite of the whole…
...but then, as we grow with the clay and the process, we start to direct our attention to the objective end in form and function. We begin to see the whole becoming greater than the sum of those parts.
Add the fire that takes so much of the end result out of our hands – out of our control -- and we can be utterly surprised by that new whole that somehow managed to exceed our imagination. Upon opening the kiln, it’s like meeting and being charmed by a stranger.

Proof? -- the kiln opening dance. You know the one. You’ve done it. With mitted hands you hold the still hot pot by rim and base, and slowly rotate it in that graceful 360 degree pirouette – attempting to take in the whole of it. Then you set it down and turn, as if to leave – only to echo the pirouette yourself. You spin on your heel, return to the pot and pick it back up for that second look…
…Fred, meet Ginger.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Interview: Ceramic Erin

When I posted the first ceramics survey on Monday, Carole Epp noted that I hadn't found time for it myself. Well I've already got the next two Mondays scheduled for other potters, so here's a special Friday edition surveying myself... See the image in the middle for a preview of my latest work.

Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?
Erin, 23, Colorado, ceramicerin.com

Where do you work in clay?
The local potters guild and my basement studio, otherwise known as the laundry room.

Do you have another job?
Working part-time at a children's consignment shop.

Are your studio and occupation decisions made by choice or necessity? Please explain.
Definitely NOT choice. Who would honestly choose to work in a basement with no windows? It's what I have available to me right now. The potters guild I work at has more restrictions, less freedom than I would like - they don't do cone 6 oxidation firing, which is what I'm interested in - but it's the only studio I know of nearby. As for the non-clay job, I love who I work with and I love that it's close to home, but if I could afford to work solely in ceramics right now I would not have a part-time job.

How do you budget your time (in the studio and out - family, errands, etc)?
Not well... but I'm working on it. I'm taking a class from art marketing guru Alyson Stanfield and she has some excellent tips for managing time. I always plan out certain days / times to be in the studio, then get distracted with things I need to do around the house. Yesterday I planned to spend at least 2 hours glazing at the guild, then got caught up in clearing out junk that's crowding my space - taking out the recycling, taking stuff to Goodwill, etc. - and I hardly had 1 hour to glaze with everything else on my errand list. I'm working on a schedule though, and I'm optimistic that once I get the house cleaned up & free of junk I can focus my time & energy where I need to - in the studio.

Why do you make pots (or sculptures)?
I love creating beautiful forms. I don't feel I "need" to make pots or sculptures, but it's something I'm good at, and I enjoy it. Lately I've been struggling making pots and I've asked myself this question many times, but I do love seeing a beautiful pot I've made fresh out of the kiln. That's a good feeling.

How concerned are you about environmental issues? Does this affect your work?*
Quite concerned... I see that we're affecting the earth in harmful ways with our everyday habits, and I want to do my part to offset that. I'm young and I don't want to live in an ugly, deteriorating world for the rest of my life.

In college our primary kiln was high-fire gas reduction and I knew of nothing else... we also had wood, salt, and raku kilns, but I wasn't interested in those. It wasn't until after I graduated that I read about cone 6 firing, then I started noticing it everywhere. So many people think cone 10 reduction firing is superior and I think that's bullshit. I'm certainly no master potter, but I've seen stunning work come from mid-range firings. It takes less time and energy to fire at cone 6 and you can get similar results... what's not to like about it?

Two years ago, partly for environmental reasons, I traded my car for a bicycle at New Belgium Brewery's Tour de Fat, and I've been drawing bikes on my pots ever since...


What do you do when you're having a bad day in the studio?
Wonder why I'm trying to make a career of this, and find something else to do. Usually the house needs cleaning, dishes need done, the studio could use some sprucing up. So on a bad day in the studio I try to find some other productive thing to do. Sometimes I just realize the problem is simply that I didn't wedge the clay well enough, so I take more time to wedge, take some deep breaths, stretch, relax, and go at it again.

Do you create art in other mediums?
I took nearly every art class in college, but now I'm clearing out my art supplies because I don't have time for everything!** Two things I wish I had more time for are drawing & printmaking. Once in a while I make art trading cards (ATCs), usually with my favorite compact watercolor set. Just a little fun :)

Where do you sell your work?
At a co-op gallery, Etsy, bi-annual Guild sales, and I'm just beginning to sell at a housewares consignment shop nearby... not sure if that one is worth it.

How did you approach those venues about selling your work?
The gallery is one I was familiar with, near the university, and I knew some past classmates who had their pots there. I asked what the steps were to get into the gallery and they gave me an application form. The consignment shop is two doors down from where I work... they asked me if I wanted to sell my pots there.

Do you have any questions you want to ask other ceramic artists, or artists in general?
Would you let me visit for a week & work with you in your studio?


*To read more about my environmental choices, see the Tiny Choices survey I took last Friday.

**If you need quality chalk pastels, cheap oil pastels, acrylic paint, charcoal, or intaglio printmaking supplies let me know. These are the art supplies I'm selling to make space for what matters in my studio :)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Interview: Judi Tavill

The first ceramics survey comes from Judi! If you'd like to take the survey, check out this post for more info. A different ceramic artist / potter will be featured every Monday.

Vital statistics (name, age, location, website)?
Judi Tavill, 40, Rumson,NJ, jtceramics.com

Where do you work in clay?
In a studio in my home

Do you have another job?
Mom (2 boys, 12 1/2 and 9)

Are your studio and occupation decisions made by choice or necessity?
My decisions are made by choice for the most part.

How do you budget your time (in the studio and out - family, errands, etc)?
Not very well...When I'm working I tend to think of all of the other "stuff" I need to do and when I'm not working, I tend to think about needing to get work done.... Trying to be more PRESENT... having trouble.

Why do you make pots (or sculptures)?
I love to work with clay....I am drawn to it... I NEED to "express" myself through visual and I am totally addicted.

How concerned are you about environmental issues? Does this affect your work?
I'm concerned. I could be more concerned... I am trying to recycle more and more and be very careful with my use of energy.

What do you do when you're having a bad day in the studio?
Cry? Scream? Take a break...go for a walk...Yell at my kids?

Do you create art in other mediums?
I used to design clothes for a living and sewed and then I painted...mainly using oil paint sticks... and drawing but ever since clay...I sketch a bit... I knit....I don't really make art with my knitting however... although I have made some bracelets out of knitting sterling silver ....more like art...

Where do you sell your work?
I mainly sell my work on Etsy, out of my studio and at some smaller shows...have some wholesale and consignment stuff on the back burner...

How did you approach those venues about selling your work?
I try to have a positive attitude and believe presentation is key.

Do you have any questions you're dying to ask other ceramic artists, or artists in general?
Hmmm.... How they balance their time....and completely focus on what they are doing WHEN they are doing it....

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Ceramic artists interview

Since I've been setting up my own home studio I've had a lot of questions about what to do and how to go about things, and only a handful of them I've asked here on my blog. What I would like to do is survey the ceramic artists / studio potters reading, similar to the way Tiny Choices features a survey with questions based around personal living / environmental choices every Friday. So here it is... send me an email (ceramicerin at gmail . com) with your answers and I'll post one artist's survey each Monday:

Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?

Where do you work in clay?

Do you have another job?

Are your studio and occupation decisions made by choice or necessity? Please explain.

How do you budget your time (in the studio and out - family, errands, etc)?

Why do you make pots (or sculptures)?

How concerned are you about environmental issues? Does this affect your work?

What do you do when you're having a bad day in the studio?

Do you create art in other mediums?

Where do you sell your work?

How did you approach those venues about selling your work?

Do you have any questions you want to ask other ceramic artists, or artists in general?

NEW question: If you could change one property of clay, what would it be? (optional question; from potter John Bauman in the second Monday survey)

Please also include a photo of your work and/or yourself in your email.
 
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