Meat trays and paper dollies




A friend phoned to ask me to participate in a provincial show he is leading. He wants the show to be by invitation and by juried application. I told him he is going to be hated by every one that makes their pots with meat trays and paper dollies. They will want to be in the show. They expect to be in the show. If they have done any volunteer work they might even expect to be the featured artist.  They will track him down and brand him with heated cookie cutters, slaughter and quarter him and package him in meat trays that are no longer able to be used for slab forms. His hunters will be wearing a war paint of Floating Blue and Rosie’s Red.  The fire will be fueled with paper dollies and used boxes that contained their prepared glazes.   A tip of the hat to you, dude. There are plenty of venues for pedestrian works. Hell, every town and church has a craft show that showcases this work. There really ought to be a place in Toronto (Canada’s largest city) for a show of the best of our country. It is about time! It is happening in America! What do you think Dick Aerni is doing in Rochester and Danny F in Washington, DC?  How about the St. Croix River Valley Potters?  We always seem to follow a few years behind and oh yeah Canadians eat their own so be prepared to have your final resting place be a Styrofoam meat tray.
I send this blog post out as a harbinger of what you are in for. If it goes off like a bomb like my cookie cutter post did you might want to consider dropping it and heading for cover. That post had the most response of any I have ever done by a times of 5.  On the other hand you could give a certain friend of ours near the Nations Capital a call to prepare your defense. Change never happens because of those that say or do nothing. Get some sleep! Our friend escaped with her life and now runs two successful Invitational Shows and is co-owner of the best pot shop in our country- bar none! The General – Almonte, Ontario.
Hey man, why Toronto?  I love The Hammer and The Hammer loves the arts.

Comments

chandler said…
also an invitational show provides an important service for all the up and coming serious makers. It is a place to go and be inspired and drool and see what full time focused makers are doing.
as you say: there are tons of venues for people who make perfectly nice, adequate pots but until these folks get mentored and inspired their work wont cut the mustard. I dont think you actually get hated for creating an invitational. you just have some folks with some hurt egos for a while until they come and see the quality and diversity in an invitational and then they forget pretty quick and just get motivated. you go wonderful clay dude: make your show happen!! We need it .
Anonymous said…
Why on earth would you tell him any of that? It is completely irrelevant and, unfortunately, casts a new, disappointing light on your view of others. Those with "adequate pots" would never imagine participating in a juried invitational, especially knowing that such disdain abounds among you and your friends...
Wow Tony - I think you have the wrong idea about most potters. Most are not interested in fame - in participating in juried shows - they just enjoy the act of creating and if they can sell some stuff and make some money or get some of their expenses back they are happy. Some may be lacking in terms of design and skill, but by creating they are enriching their lives - fulfilling that elemental need to create. And that is healthy not only for them but for society as a whole.
There is already a juried show in Ontario - Fusion's Fireworks - and I really don't think that people who get rejected are that upset and they don't take it out on Fusion.
Anonymous said…
Your attitude negates work by HUNDREDS of potters, especially newbies. Anything can be a tool used to create a potters artistic vision.

Imagine how this would make your students feel.

You should be ashamed of yourself.
Schnee said…
Wow folks, you guys seems to have missed the sarcasm.... I guess Tony, you should have given a snark warning on your post, LOL!
Barbora said…
Great meat trays post. Can you imagine how hard it would be to chose potters for an invitational show if none of the potters would use meat trays?
I love invitational shows - they inspire, teach, make me feel good, happy. And most of the meat trays in our household find way into the recycling bin. Way to go we need more of the Invitational shows.
Anonymous said…
Guess you just ate your own, Tony. Well done.
Anonymous said…
Be a snark, don't ever change you. There's a phrase: $#*! em and feed em fish eyes, that I'd deem relevant in this case. BTW everyone, don't be so sensitive, T's blog isn't for the meek

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