pikestudiospottery on tue 17 dec 02
To Vince, with respect.
You were explaining to someone about pulling handles and you stated,
quote, but when extruded handles are applied to mugs and pitchers withou=
t
any taper they look pretty awful. unquote
What you are basically saying is any handle on any mug or teapot or
pitcher etc., that is not tapered looks pretty awful.
It=B9s kind of a sideways insult to anyone using extruded handles.
=20
Creativity in ones work is more important than any one rule. We must
always be finding new ways and trying new things. There are no rules. It=B9s
not possible to discard a pot simply because one element of it is made usin=
g
a certain method and it=B9s certainly not possible to judge pots you haven=B9t
seen. Extruded handles can feel very sensuous, very smooth and flowing and
soft. Extruded handles can be very complex or very simple. What makes a
wonderful mug has nothing to do with how much taper is in the handle. It ha=
s
everything to do with it=B9s overall design, function and feel. The handle ca=
n
be made thousands of different ways and still make a great mug. A tapered
handle is one small element that may or may not have relevance to a
particular design. It certainly must not be deemed an absolute to be good
design. Pulled handles seem to be the convention in some cultures but
convention is a poor ruler to measure creative endeavor by.
=20
I started extruding handles in 1973 when I found pulling handles too
limiting. When I pulled handles, they looked pretty conventional, so I
started extruding them with a swedish cookie maker I found in a department
store. I wanted to find ways to create new kinds of handles. Since then I=B9v=
e
made thousands of extruded handles of many different designs, some good,
some not so good and some great, but the most important thing about all of
those handles is they were MY handles. They didn=B9t look like Leach handles
or Cardew handles or early Ming dynasty handles. I made pots with extruded
handles and put them out into the world and am satisfied they will be judge=
d
by the people who use them everyday. My pots have been purchased by every
imaginable type of person, all just wanting to have a beautiful mug t=
o
drink their morning constitutional from.
=20
When people of your standing state an opinion in such a way that it
reads as truth or fact, then it may mislead some of those who are just
starting out. Creative endeavor is about trying new things, not about being
conventional. Conventional means; not original. I hope people can try to
find their own way and break the boundaries of convention.
=20
Safety lies in convention. Excitement lies in defying it.
=20
Just my two bits worth.
Bob Pike =20
--=20
Bob and Connie Pike Pike Studios Ltd.
Mailing Address: 1303-10th Ave SE, High River, Alberta T1V 1L4
Phone 403-652-5255 Fax 403-652-5255
Studio Location 70-9th Ave SE, High River
http://www.pikestudios.com
=20
Ned Ludd on tue 17 dec 02
Bob Pike wrote
>To Vince, with respect.
>
> You were explaining to someone about pulling handles and you stated,
>quote, but when extruded handles are applied to mugs and pitchers
>without any taper they look pretty awful. unquote
>
>Bob and Connie Pike Pike Studios Ltd.
If I had a dime for every awful extruded handle I've seen in craft
potterdom I believe I'd have saved enough by now to build the 40 cu
ft car kiln of my dreams.
Eureka! A modest Federal levy on potters for each ugly extrusion
seems a promising idea. What could be more agreeable than hefty
grants to PPA-certified handle pullers? (US Agribusiness, watch out!)
I must rush this idea to my friends in the Professional Potters
Administration in Washington.
Only joking ;-) Now please put away your guns, my fellow Americans!
My sincere Well Done to makers of _beautiful_ extruded handles (you
know who you are), and not only beautiful but good to grasp. The
aesthetic design challenge of marrying hand thrown pot to extruded
handle is a hard one. Many are called but.... :-/
best
Ned, in northern California, 20 years a puller.
David Hendley on tue 17 dec 02
I have been extruding handles, and lots of other forms, since 1975,
and you will not find a stronger advocate for creative use of clay
extruders.
That said, I agree with Vince: "extruded handles applied to mugs and
pitchers without any taper look pretty awful."
In fact, extruded handles stuck on mugs for expediency, not for form
or craftsmanship, are responsible for the "bad reputation" extruders
earned when they first started being used by modern studio potters. This
anti-extruder bias continues today in some quarters.
Of course, there can be countless variations of handles, from traditional,
to far out, to non-functional.
I am not saying, and I don't think Vince is saying:
"What you are basically saying is any handle on any mug or teapot or
pitcher etc., that is not tapered looks pretty awful."
I like, and have made, non-tapered extruded teapot handles. I have made
non-tapered mug handles that are very different from pulled handles.
But, an extruded handle that is similar in size, shape, and feel to a pulled
handle, and is attached to the pot with no modification, looks and feels
like a bad substitute for a pulled handle.
Lots of people don't discern the difference, and will still buy them; lots
of sales doesn't validate the form. I have several times been amazed to
see factory-produced pottery in large stores with clumsy, awful looking
extruded pitcher handles. Of course I can't speak for all handles ever
made in the world, but I have never seen a good pulled-handle-mimicking
extruded handle. As a teacher, I would tell my students that, unless they
can come up with something I've never seen, they are awful.
Excitement and creativity are great, bad form is just bad form.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
To Vince, with respect.
You were explaining to someone about pulling handles and you stated,
quote, but when extruded handles are applied to mugs and pitchers without
any taper they look pretty awful. unquote
What you are basically saying is any handle on any mug or teapot or
pitcher etc., that is not tapered looks pretty awful.
Itıs kind of a sideways insult to anyone using extruded handles.
Creativity in ones work is more important than any one rule. We must
always be finding new ways and trying new things. There are no rules. Itıs
not possible to discard a pot simply because one element of it is made using
a certain method and itıs certainly not possible to judge pots you havenıt
seen. Extruded handles can feel very sensuous, very smooth and flowing and
soft. Extruded handles can be very complex or very simple. What makes a
wonderful mug has nothing to do with how much taper is in the handle. It has
everything to do with itıs overall design, function and feel. The handle can
be made thousands of different ways and still make a great mug. A tapered
handle is one small element that may or may not have relevance to a
particular design. It certainly must not be deemed an absolute to be good
design. Pulled handles seem to be the convention in some cultures but
convention is a poor ruler to measure creative endeavor by.
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