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Turning point
Oct. 23rd, 2019 08:14 pmOne of the appointments I mentioned the other day was with a UO Journalism School student who wanted to interview a Saturday Market artist. This is about my third time through this process, and it's always kinda fun. One time I even got a video out of it, though I didn't have a personal copy, and it's no longer up on YouTube.
This year, Sienna's topic was turning points in an artist's career. She asked a lot of perspicacious questions, and I had a lot of fun answering, but I came away with an unexpected epiphany: A lot of the turning points that led to me today as an artist involved me getting fired.
Well, laid off, technically.
1. I was working full-time as a graphic artist in Wisconsin, spending evenings and weekends in the pottery studio, trading space and materials for assistance loading and firing kilns. Things were slow at the print shop, and I got a two-week lay-off. Which I spent researching graduate ceramics programs. They called me back in--laid off our proof-reader instead--but the idea stuck in my head, and that fall, I came out to Oregon to start my MFA.
2. After graduate school, I worked as Resident Potter at the UO Craft Center. It was a part-time gig--stipend plus teaching time and all the recycled clay you could eat--so I did other things to pay the bills. Washed dishes (for four days, until my ankle gave out), answered phones for Harry & David. Then I lucked into the perfect job: throwing pots to order for Slippery Bank Pottery. I started with hummingbird feeders, graduated to mugs, french butter dishes, egg separators, spoon rests, luminara. One entire winter, I re-poured all his slip-casting molds. After two-and-a-half years, Will lowered the boom right after Christmas. The back room was full of bisque. Unless I was willing to drive out to Cheshire to throw plates, I was out of work. He might have work for me again by May; instead, I spent the next three months making my own work, and that April opened Off Center Ceramics at the Saturday Market.
3. In 1993, I'd been at the Craft Center for five years; Peter, the other Resident, was coming up on ten. This was contrary to the purpose of the Residency, the director decided, it was designed as a first step for new graduates, not a permanent job. Going forward, there would be a five-year limit on the position, though we could both serve out our ten. Peter moved on to teach in Bend. I'd just started Off Center Ceramics, so spent the next five years working at making it able to support Denise and myself. In 1998, I left the Craft Center and moved my studio to Club Mud, where I'm still firing today. And Off Center Ceramics is in its 26th year, with no lay-offs in sight.
This year, Sienna's topic was turning points in an artist's career. She asked a lot of perspicacious questions, and I had a lot of fun answering, but I came away with an unexpected epiphany: A lot of the turning points that led to me today as an artist involved me getting fired.
Well, laid off, technically.
1. I was working full-time as a graphic artist in Wisconsin, spending evenings and weekends in the pottery studio, trading space and materials for assistance loading and firing kilns. Things were slow at the print shop, and I got a two-week lay-off. Which I spent researching graduate ceramics programs. They called me back in--laid off our proof-reader instead--but the idea stuck in my head, and that fall, I came out to Oregon to start my MFA.
2. After graduate school, I worked as Resident Potter at the UO Craft Center. It was a part-time gig--stipend plus teaching time and all the recycled clay you could eat--so I did other things to pay the bills. Washed dishes (for four days, until my ankle gave out), answered phones for Harry & David. Then I lucked into the perfect job: throwing pots to order for Slippery Bank Pottery. I started with hummingbird feeders, graduated to mugs, french butter dishes, egg separators, spoon rests, luminara. One entire winter, I re-poured all his slip-casting molds. After two-and-a-half years, Will lowered the boom right after Christmas. The back room was full of bisque. Unless I was willing to drive out to Cheshire to throw plates, I was out of work. He might have work for me again by May; instead, I spent the next three months making my own work, and that April opened Off Center Ceramics at the Saturday Market.
3. In 1993, I'd been at the Craft Center for five years; Peter, the other Resident, was coming up on ten. This was contrary to the purpose of the Residency, the director decided, it was designed as a first step for new graduates, not a permanent job. Going forward, there would be a five-year limit on the position, though we could both serve out our ten. Peter moved on to teach in Bend. I'd just started Off Center Ceramics, so spent the next five years working at making it able to support Denise and myself. In 1998, I left the Craft Center and moved my studio to Club Mud, where I'm still firing today. And Off Center Ceramics is in its 26th year, with no lay-offs in sight.
