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mirrors/powerpoint/soda fire

updated thu 8 apr 04

 

mel jacobson on wed 7 apr 04


several points.

i don't give a rats ass about powerpoint, really.
like any tool, it you over do, it won't work.
i like the slides to be in order, right side up
and timed to a presentation. powerpoint would
help that along. we do not need the graphics part.

salt/soda.
remember what gail nichos has taught us:

it ain't the soda, it is the clay body. if you do not
like your soda/salt results, look to your clay body.
not all clay likes salt.
remember, her clay body is like kiln wash...high alumina.

i think i know what is pissin me about mirrors.

if you are making twenty different shapes an hour,
and have to get off the wheel every ten minutes to
look at your pots, well a mirror is great. see all sides.

i don't do that.
if i am making teapot bodies, well, that is what i make
for three hours. do not have to get off the wheel to
wonder what they look like. craft.
if i am making mugs, i don't have to wonder what they
look like on the back side. experience.

if i am doing new things, free throwing, i get off the wheel,
or put the pot on a shelf. or, let it turn slow on the wheel.
a mirror would just confuse me. and that is not hard to do.

maybe thirty years ago i could have used a mirror...but
i doubt i would have. we knew about mirrors in 1955.
i knew a potter that used on. she made about 80 different
pots a day. that would drive me nuts.

and, remember, presenters at nceca are, in many cases more
worried about academic advancement than making you happy.
it is a very serious issue for those trying to make, let's say,
full professor. nceca presentations or offices go a long way in the
`advancement
book`. karen terpstra got a great deal of administrative applause for
having `potters council convention` at lacrosse. and, rightly so.
this is very serious stuff, and i understand that. but, when standing
in front a thousand peers, you should be ready. and, really ready.
nothing is as embarrassing as letting your undies slide off in front
of a thousand peers. integrity is everything. even if you make
full professor.
mel






From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
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