tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post381396269585256853..comments2023-10-03T10:48:18.780-04:00Comments on Contemporary Art Porcelain: Graduate School -- USF -- 1971John Tiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03734024084459797067noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-31769576052599399972011-01-28T06:52:41.041-05:002011-01-28T06:52:41.041-05:00I'm getting some of those slides scanned at Sc...I'm getting some of those slides scanned at ScanCafe and I wish I had them now so I could post them. I've got all the firecracker ones and the flocked ones already picked out to scan, but I have almost 40 years to go before sending them off. Even a couple of the pitchers. <br /><br />Boy have those slides faded. I have kept them almost as nicely as you could, and they are mere shadows of themselves.John Tiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03734024084459797067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-65216907262457491022011-01-27T22:29:30.119-05:002011-01-27T22:29:30.119-05:00John, wow, I remember when you made those. I also ...John, wow, I remember when you made those. I also remember the big vessels with the fire cracker holes and how about the flocked pots. I do have a pitcher you made when you did that collection of pitchers.Those were some super times and you made a great collection of workLookout Mountain Potteryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03405039517507887715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-50644348345513286312011-01-22T10:21:50.535-05:002011-01-22T10:21:50.535-05:00It was certainly a great experience. The whole fac...It was certainly a great experience. The whole faculty was good, my committee people were incredible, and I got to have these people help me crystallize my ideas. <br /><br />The idea was not so much what I made, but how I learned to analyze and approach problems. Pretty much all graduate school work is immature with respect to what happens over the next 50 years, so in that sense, it just doesn't matter what you make. Not that I didn't think it did at the time, just that over time things change and develop.John Tiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03734024084459797067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-24581582487950249712011-01-22T09:50:26.999-05:002011-01-22T09:50:26.999-05:00Sounds like it was a great experience for you.
I ...Sounds like it was a great experience for you.<br /><br />I would never have made it. I shudder to think of what I might have thought important as a 20 year old. Having the framework of pottery within which to be creative probably saved me lots of embarrassing backward glances.John Baumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10910451039953672849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-46416909496697830222011-01-20T22:16:05.355-05:002011-01-20T22:16:05.355-05:00My teacher, Charles Fager, told me that I was to m...My teacher, Charles Fager, told me that I was to make work that was on the cutting edge of Ceramics, and that functional work was not an option. My friend Neal Jowaisas got his MFA at RISD under Norm Schulman, and he made a set of dinnerware for his thesis, so functional pottery was being done in universities at the time. But, in my case, it was clearly stated that my path would be sculpture for a couple of years. <br /><br />I must admit that, even though I was probably an incredible pain in the ass, I look back on that time and really appreciate all my teacher did for me. I could not have been in a better place or had better instruction than what I got. <br /><br />Fager's style was to just let me work and not really say that much until I asked him for a critique. I would spend a whole day setting up my work in my studio. Then he would spend an hour one on one and it was always incredible what he had to say. He was very kind but honest, and his perception was amazing. I just learned so much from him. <br /><br />My work won a few nice prizes at that time and of course I thought it was me, but after a few years out of school, I realized that it was him. I was using his perception to make my work.<br /><br />So I look back on that time as one of great freedom, not as one where I made stuff that I hated. Plus I was making pots on the side. <br /><br />I do think that the sculptural ideas still inform my work today.John Tiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03734024084459797067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-29289081386382777392011-01-20T21:47:03.845-05:002011-01-20T21:47:03.845-05:00"Pots were not looked upon as a valid directi...<i>"Pots were not looked upon as a valid direction for a graduate student at USF."</i><br /><br />Y'know, I hear this time and again and I've always wondered...was this "looked upon" vocalized and overt? Or was it tacit and an atmosphere created by intimidation?<br /><br />...or is it even possible that it is a student-generated (mis)interpretation?John Baumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10910451039953672849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-16850736178400649462011-01-20T11:14:18.042-05:002011-01-20T11:14:18.042-05:00Only if they want to graduate.
Actually, at that ...Only if they want to graduate.<br /><br />Actually, at that time it depended where you went to school since there were still potters teaching at the university level. <br /><br />Just trying to stir up some comments.John Tiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03734024084459797067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2759667046765455535.post-9449121544902995432011-01-20T09:24:11.546-05:002011-01-20T09:24:11.546-05:00Doesn't everyone make sculpture in Graduate Sc...Doesn't everyone make sculpture in Graduate School?Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10310352427405865655noreply@blogger.com