I mentioned in this post that my work was purchased by a local couple who are, amongst many other things, art collectors. I met the Mr. of this couple first, and he is hardly a person so much as he is an event. He’s one of those fascinating and colorful sorts who is always in motion. He’s charismatic, forthright and a talented potter. The first time we met was at the gallery, and he came in without noticing me at all, accompanied by a dog. This dog travels with him wherever he goes, because this dog has a job, and his job is to keep an eye on The Event. The Event begins talking to someone else, animatedly, and then stops mid-sentence and says to me, “Who are you?” I gave him my name and the other person started telling him about my work at the gallery, to which I lamely added that I make purses. “Like that one? Can you make one with chickens? Still Water* (his wife) loves chickens, her birthday’s in a month, can you make that?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “By then?” I said, “Absolutely,” and he said, “I love this woman; what I want she can do!” One thing led to another, and three purses and two pieces of art later, he came over with a box full of pottery.
“Here’s the deal,” he said, “I make these pots; you know what Raku is?” I said yes. He said, “You know what Naked Raku is?” The smallest of the fries giggled (and giggled everytime thereafter that it was mentioned). I said no. He showed me some pots that looked like this:
The contribution of the artist (as in the one above, which is not my work) is to etch a design into that window portion, and upon firing, the etched portion turns black. One of the things I really appreciate about The Event is that he is very straightforward and clear, which makes true collaboration possible. He said, “I’m not an artist. I don’t how you guys do this, I don’t want to know how, I just want you to see what you think and if they sell, we’re in business.” He has worked with two artists previously; one tried to screw him over (so I’ve heard) and is no longer on the team. He since has recruited me and my Spiritual Mother (my art teacher from high school who is my neighbor and the gallery partner getting shafted by the rich partner in the gallery closing). My qualifications in his opinion are not just artistic, but that I deliver things when I say I will; an uncommon trait in an artist. I have this thing about deadlines and such, and I’m very efficient and prompt–it’s that I’m equally left and right brained, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad.
Anyway, he gave me about six pieces to practice on. This is the first one I did:
If you embiggen, at the bottom, you can see that the wave gets a bit over-worked; I hadn’t mastered the technique yet. However, The Event was beside himself. While it’s not a “keeper,” I’m the first artist he’s worked with to achieve a workable design on the first try. My second one wasn’t a keeper, either, but had good elements. The third and fourth fired poorly, which turned out to be his fault and not mine. The fifth one, though, that’s where it all came together and we got the first keeper:
It began like this:
This one is dipped, so then I take dental tools and carefully etch the design into it. I generally draw it on freehand, then start chipping and carving. Prior to firing, it’s a white on off-white appearance, which interestingly gives less of an idea as to how it will look fired than you might think. There are a lot of variables. One is that I have to be prepared for a section to loosen and fall off, so I can’t be too dependent on symmetry–I’ve figured a way to work with that and incorporate it for a more organic feel in the final piece. It’s either that or cry, so, one does what one can. Another is that you never know how the crackling will happen. The first bowl with the lotus didn’t crackle much, making it less interesting than the first keeper with the chrysanthemum design that crackled significantly.
My mother wanted to buy the first keeper sight unseen, but I have decided that I will instead give it to her for Mother’s Day. My portion of the work takes me about an hour per pot, and I expect to get faster as I go. My “cut” from each will range from about $30 if it’s sold from The Event’s table at a craft show to $50-60 for pieces sold in galleries. Gallery pieces are priced between $175-250, with the gallery getting 40-50% and my piece being 40% of The Event’s commission–more than fair for an hour’s work on my part. The first keeper is special, certainly, because it’s the first, and while I’ll get better and better, I’m really pleased with how quickly I’ve picked this up–and The Event predicts a beautiful friendship. My mom will love it, I’ll get to visit it when I want, and so it’s a win-win.
As of right now, I will be receiving 15 large orbs (like the first pot I showed you up there) next Monday, then 15 bowls a week later. I go on Saturday to tell The Event how I want them taped, and then once they are in my hot little hands they need to be turned around and ready to fire by the end of the month. It’s not a lot of time, but I’m looking forward to it. I like having an assignment, and it’s a totally different process than purse making. We’ll see what happens, and I apologize to those I’ve bored with a long post on pot. Sorry, on POTS. I’ll be sure to take pictures, and I update Flickr weekly, so you can always check there, too.
*Truly, she is his complement, and I liked him immensely right away because The Event is always in search of presents for Still Water. It’s his job, just like it’s the dog’s job to watch The Event, and my Leo heart just loves that in a person.
