Bernard Leach and Striking a Balance

Pottery has an endless array of subjects to explore, from chemistry to structural proportions to philosophies behind creation. I think the most intriguing part of functional pottery is it’s ability to connect the artist, the material, and the user. The marriage of function and beauty in pottery demands a sincere awareness of and commitment to reality from the artist. 

Bernard Leach 

I have mentioned Bernard Leach before and have been thinking about his journey recently. Bernard Leach was a British potter who, after a trip to Japan, brought a new energy for pottery back to England and eventually America. His ceramic work, books, and lectures inspired the emergence of studio potters across the West. He brought bits of Eastern thought into a Western mindset, something intriguing if we seek to marry community and tradition with individualism and new frontiers. Leach says, “We cannot all be like a star of the films. No, there are stars born, but there will never be many. We do not need to be a star to make beauty.” 

In this vein, Leach is also keen to promote the value in making repeat work, similar to Hans Rookmaaker’s value in perspiration, saying that no art is instant; it comes from long hard work, practice, and repetition. It is not merely 'good genes.' Leach demands a balance both in the artist and in the pot. He demands thought behind every action, analyzing the clay, the foot, the form, and more.

“We are searching for a balanced form of self expression, and potting is one of the few activities today in which a person can use his natural faculties of head, heart, and hand in balance. If the potter is making utensils for use – simple bowls, pitchers, mug and plates – he is doing two things at the same time: he is making ware that may give pleasure in use, which provides one form of satisfaction to the maker, and he is traveling in the never-ending search for perfection of form, which gives a different gratification. As these two activities come together and the potter is at one with the clay, the pot will have life in it.” 

To use my new arts management lingo, that "pleasure in use" is rather like 'external marketing' or thinking about the user, while the "perfection in form" is like 'internal marketing' or thinking about your personal standards. We can't get stuck on just one or the other. As usual, it is about striking a balance.

by Sarah Coffin

How can we take these practical ideas of non-star seeking external and internal balancing into our thought processes? The idea of thinking of others just as much as we think of ourselves is quite counter-pop-cultural (New term. Just coined. Spread the word.). As I embark on a year or so to another culture (Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies), I look forward to seeing how this move will affect my professional and personal direction, my artwork, and my outlook. That connection of artist, material, and user in pottery is one that I hope to find in Dominica as well... perhaps not in ceramics per say... but we'll see what I find or what finds me. 

Launching Pad: ready to fire!

Last January I embarked on a wild journey, delving into worlds I've never seen and certain subjects I never thought I'd study. Come December, my Arts Management (read: business and nonprofit management for the arts) Masters Program at George Mason University will come to an end and I will officially be a master. The practicality of this program has spurred in me a great sense of responsibility with the material I've learned. This is a launching pad. This is gathering with the intent to produce.

This semester, my last one, I am a management intern at Art at the Center, a small community art studio. I have the privilege of working with the founder and director, Kathryn Coneway, who built this wonderful community space. She wants to grow, offer adult classes, tweak her marketing, and build a stronger foundation. It is such a pleasure to really have something to offer and to see how my studies play out practically as I work.

Besides interning at this studio, I get to teach! I am teaching drawing to teens and adults. I taught K-8 art and art history for about 4 years but that was a few years back. I am excited to step back into that role and teach people how to see. Just like an instrument, drawing and seeing can be taught and must be practiced.

The biggest change of the semester is after graduation... At the end of December I am getting married! While that is a wild story of its own, it has implications that play out in a big way on my next steps. After the graduation and wedding in December I will move to the West Indies to join my beau as he conquers medical school on an island in the middle of the ocean.

WHAT?!

Thats right. Other than being in love and getting to spend my life with a kind and incredibly supportive guy, I am so excited for the artistic opportunities presented here. The island is small and wild and full of beautiful natural inspiration. Making artwork down there is definite. I've started to make connections with other makers down there and possibly galleries and a museum. We'll see what actually pans out. [If you know anyone on Dominica, message me!]

I am hoping that this means I will get the opportunity to be able to share, once again, the journey of an artist and making art much more accessible to you.

While making has been limited, I have had the chance to make a few things recently. Here are some of my recent pieces...

Old etching instructional book pages and a charcoal drawing of a cairn.

Some porcelain vases. 

A large commissioned piece made from the client's extra wedding invitations. Its a topographical map of where they got married! 

Details of that same piece. 

Another shot. 

A large commissioned piece for a wine wall. 

Porcelain tiles, wood base, and wire hanger. "Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,"

A timeline for my fiancé's newsletter. The places a tools of the last few years of his life and the next steps. He filled this in with information. It looked so cool!

A New Semester of Visual Notes

Another one in the series... (1, 2, 3, 4)

The funny thing about these is that it was almost always something in class that triggered the "note." The crazier the professor, the better! :)

Visual Arts Round Table in Arlington, VA!

FREE Career Roundtable for visual artists: Learn about career opportunities in museums, galleries, and arts management from art professionals representing some of the top organizations in the DC area.

March 23 - 10AM to 12:30PM
Arlington Art Center
3550 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22201

Register HERE:http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5684279834
or email
ATCAREERROUNDTABLES@GMAIL.COM

Everyday Object Sculptures

A Japanese artist makes incredible tiny architectural work out of everyday objects like rolls of tape and toothbrushes!

See the work here! 

Paper... gone weird.

Check out this Chinese artist...



Do you like it?

Crazy, right?

A Delightful Puzzle

Grad school started up again this week. The (mostly) lovely whirlwind of paper, words, people, and ideas are swirling once again. This semester is my most exciting yet. I am incredibly blessed to have a number of things that are coordinating like a puzzle coming together.

First Puzzle Piece: I am taking care of a little house while the owners are away. It is closer to school. It is closer to my internship. It is in the midst of a delightfully artsy and tight knit community. I can walk to a locally owned coffee shop and see incredible architecture each time I walk, drive, or run around the neighborhood. I have space for creating and thinking and sharing. 

A 1920's Bungalow

Second Puzzle Piece: I am so stoked to have gotten an internship at Red Dirt Studios. My program at school requires internships and this is beyond what I thought possible. Many of the internships are in offices for organizations and it just wasn't quite right. But get this. I am at a ceramic arts collaborative! What?! I will be learning their daily grind, how they sustain their practice, installation techniques, management of a space like that (under Margaret Boozer), and meeting loads of artists. On my first day we talked about community art issues, welded some large scale frames for plaster pieces, planed ceramic cheese boards, and went campaigning for getting artists involved in their local community. 

Margaret Boozer and Elle Brande

Third Puzzle Piece: I've always dreamt of starting some sort of studio space or retreat idea for artists. This semester I have a unique opportunity to start something of the sort with no venue cost. Two of my colleagues from my program jumped on board and we've got The Empty House Studio. I am doing it for credit at school and my professor who is overseeing the project is just perfect. She is challenging me and pushing me to get the most out of this temporary experience. I am taking a class called Gallery Management (actually with that same professor) which will give me an even better understanding of the nitty gritty behind a venture like this. 

Click the picture and go to the Mission and Vision tab. 

Fourth Puzzle Piece: My own creativity hasn't quit. Its a funny thing, this artistic impulse. It won't go away. And learning to train and hone and use it 'correctly' has proven quite a task. A number of people, all congregating currently, are the perfect sounding boards and collaborators. I've set goals for studio time, projects, and collaborations. I've missed this community around creation ... and I know that the lack of community cause me to burn out in the past. I will foster this and revel in it while I have it. 

www.sarahcoffin.blogspot.com

If you are on Facebook, you can follow along by "liking" The Empty House Studio community and Sarah Coffin Pottery. 

I am so excited to share the process with you all. 

Thanks for reading. 

Change your mindset. Be grateful for something each day. 

Happy New Year!

Traditional Turning from Artisan Media on Vimeo.

Use your hands.

"It is a tragedy of the first magnitude that millions of people have ceased to use their hands as hands. Nature has bestowed upon us this great gift which is our hands. If the craze for machinery methods continues, it is highly likely that a time will come when we shall be so incapacitated and weak that we shall begin to curse ourselves for having forgotten the use of the living machines given to us by God."


Mahathma Ghandi 

Drawing Notes Dec. '12

The end of the semester is a little too intense for much drawing but here are some from my last few notes...

Henri says that this means its a Fact.

One Love.

For all of you theater buffs... 

Very large art donor... 

Old woman's face. (No, Jim, I didn't trace it.)

Painting the night sky... (2nd version. Inspired by you, Abigail.)

Wobbly cup (and some pertinent info about boards of directors) 

Networking...

Networking is essential to successful and satisfying work, especially for artists. Artists are often of the mindset that they are islands, plagued with the difficult task of doing it all themselves.

While self motivation and alone time with your craft are essential, collaboration and networking seem to be underrated in the minds of individual artists. Done right, networking can boost not hurt your artwork and mind set. In the words of Bill Withers, we all need someone to lean on. Help, encourage, and love and ask for it too. It may not shape up the way you expected, but great things are born from those situations.

This is a short but helpful article on networking. She focuses on women, but the basics are true for all.