Deep in thought!

I got a note from a reader in Miss iss i pp in your eye (Mississippi) . That's how we learned to spell it in Grade school and of course we would all giggle.
Here is a portion of the note:
"Sometime, if it works, could you share your thought on function. The” why’s” you mentioned awhile back . Am out here in the ‘wilderness’ with very little  support or input most of the time."
I talk a lot about the why we do things in pottery versus how we do things. But me on function that is a whole other kettle of fish. I really don't care much about it. I have lots of pots around here that don't function all that well but I have learned to use them. Most of all these pots function for me on a visual level. I love looking at them.  I have a few teapots that don't pour all that well, one where the holes looked like they were blew out with a shot gun,  a jug with a handle so wide and big I need to prop it up against the wall so that it doesn't fall over, a cup with the handle so close you can't get one finger in it, a couple of plates that act lazy susans. I love these pots including their issues. I was going to say faults but I caught myself. Let's just say the pots have their own unique personality like all of us do. We are not Ken and Barbie the perfect people of the world. I was taught to look longest and hardest at the work you don't like for that is the work you need to learn from. It is easy to go to a gallery and only look at the work that reminds you of your own aesthetic and artistic sensibilities.
Here is a pic Richard Rowe took of me deep in thought at a critique of our wood fire mentor group. So Mississippi if you ever have a chance invite potter friends for a pot luck and critique or go somewhere where pot talk happens.  I am pretty sure my mentor ship group will tell you the crit post firing is one of the most important parts of the learning process.

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