We are two young artists trying to start a small-scale pottery production over the course of a summer and contribute to the Maine art scene. We are looking to gain experience and better our understanding of the notably difficult creative market. Our project is about expanding our portfolios and skills, creating an image, a business, and most importantly, making a meaningful contribution to the greater art community while doing what we love.
There is no guidebook for young artists. We want to be transparent about this experience to share our successes (and failures) with other young artists by maintaining this blog throughout the process detailing and documenting our costs, strategies, processes, inspirations, thoughts, and ideas. In addition, we hope to convey our ideas about the importance of pottery, the language of ceramics, and the process of creating the work. The plan is, simply, to create a variety of affordable pottery meant to be used everyday.
We are not heading into the project blindly. We both have experience studying and making–particularly ceramics. And here's why we think pots (still) matter:
Every civilization on earth has created some form of pottery. It is a common language often entwined with food– another commonality. There is a subtle language in pottery that many of us have become illiterate to in the digital age: the communication of touch and value of surface. Whether it is a soldier from the terra cotta army or a hand-crafted bowl from down the street, there are quiet marks from hands which have pushed the clay into the right place for a reason. We believe that it is important to understand and acknowledge this involved process of creation, at a time when we are seeing more and more mass-produced, standardized objects. The purpose of the Pottery Project is to continue this dialogue, and bring others into the conversation.
We hope you will join us in this very early stage of our project and watch it grow with us over time.
- m + e
There is no guidebook for young artists. We want to be transparent about this experience to share our successes (and failures) with other young artists by maintaining this blog throughout the process detailing and documenting our costs, strategies, processes, inspirations, thoughts, and ideas. In addition, we hope to convey our ideas about the importance of pottery, the language of ceramics, and the process of creating the work. The plan is, simply, to create a variety of affordable pottery meant to be used everyday.
We are not heading into the project blindly. We both have experience studying and making–particularly ceramics. And here's why we think pots (still) matter:
Every civilization on earth has created some form of pottery. It is a common language often entwined with food– another commonality. There is a subtle language in pottery that many of us have become illiterate to in the digital age: the communication of touch and value of surface. Whether it is a soldier from the terra cotta army or a hand-crafted bowl from down the street, there are quiet marks from hands which have pushed the clay into the right place for a reason. We believe that it is important to understand and acknowledge this involved process of creation, at a time when we are seeing more and more mass-produced, standardized objects. The purpose of the Pottery Project is to continue this dialogue, and bring others into the conversation.
We hope you will join us in this very early stage of our project and watch it grow with us over time.
- m + e
