Real Men Don't (apparently) Paint
Dec. 7th, 2014 09:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrI can't tell you how many times someone will come into our booth, see Denise and me behind the counter, and say "Who makes and who paints?" or even more often, "You make the pots and she paints them, right?"
Uh, no. I make the pots. I paint the pots. Denise helps with loading and unloading the glaze kiln, and helps greatly with the work of selling pots, but she has her own art, handmade paper and hand bound books. (Which we do sell at Holiday Market, but don't take to out-of-town shows, because we'd have to jury it separately and pay an extra booth fee.)
Some of it is a cognitive disconnect: people don't think one person can be good at both manual (throwing) and artistic (painting) skills. I still get the occasional customer who assumes I buy bisque blanks from somewhere and paint them to sell; they're equally surprised when I tell them the truth.
But I think a lot of it is just plain prejudice. As Denise puts it, "Men can't be artists--or if they are, they'll throw large lumps of clay into large pots… for delicate women to paint."
Uh, no. I make the pots. I paint the pots. Denise helps with loading and unloading the glaze kiln, and helps greatly with the work of selling pots, but she has her own art, handmade paper and hand bound books. (Which we do sell at Holiday Market, but don't take to out-of-town shows, because we'd have to jury it separately and pay an extra booth fee.)
Some of it is a cognitive disconnect: people don't think one person can be good at both manual (throwing) and artistic (painting) skills. I still get the occasional customer who assumes I buy bisque blanks from somewhere and paint them to sell; they're equally surprised when I tell them the truth.
But I think a lot of it is just plain prejudice. As Denise puts it, "Men can't be artists--or if they are, they'll throw large lumps of clay into large pots… for delicate women to paint."