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Brinson's Race Barn by Lori_Buff
During a break in a recent workshop with Ryan McKearley I started painting on one of the Rustic Buildingplates. One of the workshop participants started watching what I was doing and admired the work. Then she asked “are you an artist or a potter?” What kind of question is that?
I threw the plate, so clearly that makes me a potter, but I’m also painting on the plate which would make me an artist. Maybe I’m a ceramic artist. I know some artists don’t include pottery as art, even though it is one of the oldest art forms. For some, it loses credibility as art because it is functional. On the other hand, we do raku, which is typically not functional.
I recently read Janet McGregor Dunn’s blog post about how she was treated by a fine artists group. They excluded her because the group does not consider pottery to be art, no matter how artistic her pottery. It doesn’t make sense to me. I think potters are artists and crafts people. However, some people reason that because potters don’t necessarily know what a piece is going to look like until it’s removed from the kiln, then they aren’t artists. Because we aren’t completely in control of the final product? Where it’s true that a potter also benefits from being a chemist, testing often lets us know fairly accurately how a piece should look when it’s complete. I could argue that thought often painters have an idea of what the painting will look like, many have expressed having issues determining when a painting is “done.” I would argue that there are many types of art where the end product is different from what the artist initially envisioned.
Ceramics are included in the definition of visual arts and visual arts are included in the humanities – that makes us all humanists. I wonder what types of questions that would raise when printed on a business card or used as the answer to the question “what do you do for a living?”
I don’t imagine I will be able to solve the debate in this article, or maybe ever in my life, so maybe we should think outside the box as my friend Gary Rosenberg suggests in his video about people grouping.
Beautiful work! I don’t really understand why (or how) being a potter is different than being an artist, but if there must be a differentiation – I believe you are both!
Thanks Janet, I appreciate the kind words. I guess we can all fit into multiple boxes, that’s called diversity.
I read, once, that true art affects the viewer. When I hold a piece of pottery, I am affected … I feel the connection to the earth and the potter … I admire the curves and the artistry involved in providing not just a functional piece … but a beautiful piece. When one enters a museum of art, there will typically be pieces of pottery … things from ancient civilizations. We call them art.
My personal opinion is that anything made by hand is art … whether it is a quilt for a baby, a painting or pottery! It is that unique piece which started in a person’s mind and through their hands, becomes an object. That is different from the factory pieces where hundreds of the very same thing are turned out … without uniqueness … without the human touch.
By the way … the piece in the picture is lovely! You are an artist!
wow, i do love the question.. You are definitely an artist and yet i say that by feel, i will go and look up the definition
According to wikipedia “Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. ”
Well your work definitely qualifies
Ither definitions, all have to do with aesthetics and affecting the senses and GUESS WHAT what you do qualifies there too
Funny most of what i study, which I guess can loosely be classified as spirituality tho I might call it anything from journeying through the collective unconscious to finding my true will to figuring thangs out also tends to bring up terms that people cling to narrow definitions of–often—a lot–
Art and spirit cannot be put into boxes or categories
I ramble.. Love the dish and the wine chiller
Thank you, I did think about all the many forms of art possible, not only the ones you refer to but musicians and writers, etc. No matter how you name the art, it’s still important to just celebrate it.
Gary – Art & Spirituality are both terms that seem to be viewed very subjectively. I like the idea of “journeying through the collective unconscious.” Many of us are doing that in our artistic and spiritual growth. I see a common connection, maybe something else to write about even. Thank you.