Vessels, or sculptures, or objects that straddle and erase that line; that's what potters make. But whatever the end result, the circuit always begins with the lump of clay and the artist's idea of the object-to-be. But that's just the beginning of a circuit. The circuit is not complete until another person looks at, thinks about, and perhaps touches and/or uses the finished object. Objects can be "stuff", or they be more. I aim for "more".
As a maker, I look for that sense of completion. I think about texture, shape, function, color and portability. I look to share the object with someone else in the end. I know it comes at an initial cost to the user- after all, the object must be located, paid for, and somehow received. I note that it comes at a cost to me, too- not just the layout for clay, glaze, kiln firings, and expenditure of effort, but also the strength of will to start the object and see it through from idea to fruition. But as a maker all my life, the will is second nature.
Makers need to make objects.
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My various costs have great meaning to me. I embrace them knowingly. My heart is in the process. Still, I do not come full circle until someone has willingly accepted the created object as his or her own.
Creating pottery is so often a solitary occupation. But in the end it has to become an interaction, or it is an incomplete thing. It really needs to be defined as an intimate and sociable art.