As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the first assignment in my ceramics class at Harvard was to make 8 bowls with 8 different rims, ranging from simple to elaborate without worrying about functionality. As I was working on this project, I realized that I think and work in very functional, symmetric terms and to break out of the “box” so-to-speak, was quite a challenge. It reminded me of the same challenges I used to struggle with while working with my painting teacher. He did his best (for years!) to encourage me to move beyond my safety zone and loosen up my style, to not worry so much about the edges and to let my brush roam with freedom rather than constraint – a difficult task for a photorealist, but a much more joyful process that I got a small taste of in those few occasions I allowed myself to “let go”.
Because of my graphic design background, I think I’m so used to following typographical rules and being exact with my lines (my forte was technical illustration), that it feels awkward to disregard restraints and allow an edge to be crooked, or a bowl to be lopsided and askew. However, this seems to be what is valued more as “art” in my ceramics class versus simply a “craft”. I find that what gets praised as interesting and vibrant are those pieces that look to my unaccustomed eyes like a third grader made them – messy at first glance, and flopping all over the place with no rhyme or reason. I hate to admit this, but it is a little like how I used to feel about abstract painting – I just don’t get it. I like things to be orderly, I guess. Funny though, that in painting after time, it was the looser work that I admired most and what I aspired towards – maybe eventually (and I can already see this happening), I’ll be able to look at ceramics the same way. Abstraction is actually a sophisticated way of seeing things – it taps into the soul at a deep level and quickens the imagination of the viewer in a way that the “too obvious” doesn’t necessarily require, even if the work only poses the question, “What is that?” I don’t really know what the end result will be in regards to clay, but I do know that I am drawn into this unknown world and fascinated by the possibilities. It is a world that it is highly worth exploring.
So, once again, I’m working on breaking out of my boundaries and trying things that are totally foreign to me. Looking at the work I did for this assignment in the photograph above, you will see an obvious shift between the rows. The back row is more on the free and lively side (I did this row first to get the uncomfortable stuff out of the way), and the front row is more sedate and – well, how do I put this – typical. During my critique and if you didn’t already guess, it was the back row that was unanimously preferred. The next assignment was to concentrate on the foot of a bowl which, by-the-way, I failed miserably at since I’ve never given it a thought before (I’ll post photos later – maybe 
). This week, we’re working on ideas that merge the foot with the rim to create an exciting, yet cohesive “whole”. Hopefully by the end of the course, I will have reached a new understanding of how all of this wild and loose exploration works together to make a truly unique, artistic vessel that could still be functional if that is what I ultimately desire, but with a deliberate, individual twist that stands out as not your everyday ware. Even if I only get halfway there, it will be a big achievement for me.
Melynn, this course may turn out to be more important to your growth as a person than as an artist, even. Good start.
Let me pose a thesis for you to consider. What if the very thing you find hardest is actually your inner (Upper?) self coming through your outer (lower? everyday?) self?
Ego wants it to be “right.” Ego wants to be competent, functional, rational. But the part of ourselves that is greater than ego couldn’t care less about competent, functional, rational. It wants to EXPRESS! It wants to show through.
Does your conflict perhaps involve a bit of “good girl following the rules” and/or perhaps “competent artist demonstrating mastery”?
The pieces in the front row are one aspect of you — the meticulous crafter, the accurate stylist, the clear-sighted designer. All to the good. But the back row shows the child, the wild woman, the free spirit. Any wonder that people prefer the pieces in the back? It isn’t that they prefer crudity over polish, or asymmetry over balance; it is that they can feel the breath of life coming from the pieces in the back, where the pieces in the front could almost have been made by a machine.
My prediction is that when you “tap into it” you will produce things that couldn’t possibly have been produced by a machine, but at the same time will be as finished, polished and competent — rational in an entirely different sense, at an entirely different level — as anything you have done to date.
Sorry if this sounds preachy — but I foresee a great loosening up of your style that will at first seem (and probably will be) sloppy next to what you have been doing, but will be so much more vital, in ways no one can now predict, least of all you.
After all, think of van Gogh’s Starry Night!!!! I could paint a more “realistic” sky than that! But could I infuse my painting with that feeling, that expression of the inexpressible? Not by careful realism I couldn’t.
We’re all going to learn a lot from your course. Thanks for sharing it, and please continue!
Thinking outside the box is not always an easy thing to do. I know I have that problem from time to time. The thing is though, when I do the results can be pleasantly surprising.
If I could pick those bowls up, I’d chose the back row. Letting loose (especially for me, never feeling skilled enough) does not come easily. But I’ve done it with earlier sketches and it is fun! Disregarding the perceived judgements of others opens the flood gates. The heck what others think! First, do it for yourself.
Melynn, I love that you are sharing this process! I have to say I wouldn’t be able to choose one bowl over the other, I truly see the beauty in each. I admire that you are challenging yourself going to a place that is unfamilar to you. Once you “get there” I think you will realize that you were always there, this might sound like jibberish, I don’t mean it too, I just think you are further along than you give yourself credit for. Each piece that I have seen on your site does resonate the soul that went into it and yes they may also be functional pieces and that is just a bonus. I know when I hold the mug you made I can’t help but think “Melynn made this, it is perfectly shaped, light as a feather, my favorite shade of green, a handle with ridges that one can’t help but trace with their fingers, she makes it look so effortless like when a bird flies, how did she do this with beauty as her main ingredient, how did she do this?”
Thanks, Katy for such a wonderful comment. I’m really glad you like your new mug!
I had an instructor in a design class once whose own work was very abstract. We battled all semester because he wanted my work, which was based more in realism, to be like his. He graded me down on many projects even though I had fulfilled the assignment criteria because it did not reflect his own personal vision of “good” art, he felt I was too concerned with pleasing the viewer. I thought it was odd (and sad even) that of all the places where I might be judged and pushed to conform to someone else’s ideals, that it was taking place in an art classroom. My artwork comes from me, my spirit is reflected in what I create, not the teacher’s spirit or that of some imaginary future viewer. So while I understand the importance of spreading one’s creative wings and trying different techniques, I also believe that an artist should always be allowed the freedom to express their own truth, that for me is the real definition of “good” art. Does that make any sense?
Bookbabie, what you say makes sense in its own terms, but what if your instructor saw potential in you that you did not see yourself, and was trying to push you to the point that you could find it? If that had happened you would then not only still have the freedom to express the truth you had known before, but now would also have the freedom to express a truth you hadn’t suspected.
Obviously I don’t know you, the teacher or the situation. It may have been that you had a teacher who tried to make students into clones. But I think you should at least consider that he was trying to help you to find unsuspected treasure.
Hi bookbabie, yes, what you say makes a lot of sense. I agree with both you and Frank. It’s important to spread one’s creative wings in the case that something new might be discovered. It is also important to find one’s own unique voice without being influenced by what others think or view as the right way versus the wrong way. However, I have taken so few ceramic classes, that I am willing to try anything at this point. Besides, I’ve been in sort of a vacuum the past couple of years working alone here in my studio. Just being in the classroom and seeing all kinds of directions being explored – not only by my class, but by everyone else that is connected to the studio – has been an eye-opening experience. Luckily, my teacher is quite lovely and one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever met (I’m not sure I could have handled a teacher like the one you spoke of, bookbabie). She sees beauty in everyone’s work, no matter what stage the person is at. She’s pushing us hard in a certain direction, but she’s doing it in a way that is inspiring, not stifling. After all, the class is about creating unique vessels, not production pottery which is what I do for the most part. I am encouraged to follow her direction first and foremost for the fun of it – but also for the mystery. Who knows where I’ll land at the end of the semester, but I imagine my work will be a little different going forward, even if it is only me that notices the shift.
melynn, i completely understand your comment and where you’re coming from. i just finished and posted a painting and although happy with it initially, my next immediate thought was how rigid it felt (and seemed) and how i wished i could just loosen up my style. a loose free style like the artworks i always seem to linger over from others. maybe it brings me back to the meme game…breath in, breath out, let go.
Hi Suz, I love that painting, especially the background where you’ve collaged musical notes, handwriting and embossed paper of some kind that is also part of the girl’s dress. Beautiful!
“When the personality of an artist is absorbed in her art, it becomes art itself.” – Hazrat Inyat Khan
thanks melynn
— i look forward to seeing more of your stunning work.
[...] what it is. Let me start over…I have been really inspired by my blog friends sperlygirl and breatheasy and how they are exploring listening to themselves and taking more chances with their art. I have [...]
Melynn, I copied your photo and blew it way up to look at it more closely (which of course made the image fuzzy). Just out of curiosity, which of the pieces in the back row were people’s clear-cut favorites, if there WERE any clear-cut favorites? I find myself drawn first to the one that is second from the right, then to the ones to the left of that, in that order. For some reason the rightmost one doesn’t particularly appeal to me: Was this the last of the get-this-out-of-the-way-so-I-can-throw-some-REAL-pots? The body of the pot is your usual smooth craftsmanship but the top looks like an effort to be “spontaneous” whereas the others in the back row seem more integral.
So — were any of the pots preferred by most?
Hi Frank, the first pot I made was the middle one in the back row, then the one to the left of that, based on the same idea but a little less careful. After that, I made the bigger version on the far right, but lost some of the spontaneity you spoke of. My teacher pointed out that if I had varied the size of the “flutes” on the rim, it would have felt less contrived. As far as what was preferred by the class, it wasn’t necessarily a spoken distinction. There just wasn’t much to discuss about the front row – some weren’t even mentioned. The back row received a lot more enthusiasm with the middle pot standing out as the winner in that regard, with some suggestions for the next version. There are a couple of other pots not pictured here that were also deemed a favorite – a combination of smooth craftsmanship with rims that were rolled and pinched sporadically in a few places. All of these pots went into the studio’s gas kiln last Friday. I’m not familiar with their glazes and I rarely get to have my work gas-fired (I have an electric kiln), so I’ll be very curious to see how they turn out. I’ll post a few close ups when the time comes.
What great feedback you are getting, everyone is so perceptive. I like all of your pots!
Often in critiques I ask my students to pick out what is their best piece, their favorite piece, and their worst piece. I would have to hold and examine each piece before I could determine which I thought fitted these categories.
Like the others thanks for sharing. I will look forward to seeing them glazed. Remember to expect the unexpected with a free and open mind.
Bless You!
I am definitely attracted to the square pot…2nd from right in the back row. It looks like a pocket open and ready to catch something. It is interesting the way it appears to be pinned together at the corners! I would love to see it after it is glazed.