primalmommy on sun 27 mar 05
The awesome and talented Snail Scott wrote:
> Beyond 'essential' or 'inessential',
>jobs that are seen as unpleasant need to pay more
>to attract workers. 'Fun' jobs will always have
>plenty of takers, and a low price. For a few artists,
>as with a few musicians (and presumably pro surfers
>as well), their efforts are seen as special and are
>rewarded more generously. For most, that's not the
>case, so job satisfaction had better be pretty high
>to make up for it
I agree, plenty of takers, who go pretty quickly from "I can do that' to
"It's harder than it looks, isn't it?" I laugh to think that I once
walked around art fairs looking at anagama fired pots, carbon trap
shino, ash glazes, remarkable forms, thinking, "I won't buy it, I'll
just make one like that."
Writers, Musicians and Artists just love it when, once a decade of
blood, sweat and tears brings them some success, bystanders say, "yeah,
I was gonna be an artist/writer/musician in my spare time but I never
got around to it".
The thing to remember is that the world that supports a pro surfer is
mostly made up of amateur surfers. I know I certainly couldn't generate
enough giveashit about surfing for anybody to live on.
That's kind of why I scolded Tony. (BTW I love Tony, and love people who
live out loud and say what they mean, put it out there to be applauded
or shot down. It's all part of the big conversation, raising
consciousness, and some folks aren't afraid to stand buck nekkid in
front of the crowd and ask for a critique.)
But do the math: somebody said there are 3000 members on clayart. I can
count the big dogs in the world on two hands, and most of them are too
busy to follow clayart. So the rest of these lurkers and learners and
occasional posters are probably "other". That means they are the surfers
who will pay to watch Tony surf -- the folks who will visit Snail's
website and marvel at her work -- and maybe, if they are
retired/comfortable or trustafarians or otherwise financially able --
will whip out the wallet and buy pots as well.
I am not advocating for blowing soap bubbles or making small talk in
order to garner future customers... just saying that any good
teacher/lecturer/performer/writer sizes up the audience and tailors the
performance accordingly. You don't tell Polish jokes at the Ignatowski
family reunion (though the Ignatowskis probably will!)
It is tempting to think clayart IS the couple dozen regulars who talk
the most. I suspect that even the ones who read every post are rare. So
some of us are tuned in to the personalities here, we think it's a
smaller party. We learn to expect that Tony will say something
irreverent, that Lili will scold and tease, that Janet will give us the
bigger picture, that Vince will scoff and educate, that mel will channel
us back to clay, that Wayne will be a smarty pants, and that Lee will
respond to every topic ever posted, relating it in some way to Japan and
providing quotes. I don't need to list all the regulars; you get the
idea.
But imagine 3000 people, reading along quietly. Two things I learned in
real life from listening/watching: customers who think an art fair
potter is unfriendly or arrogant will put good pots back on the shelf
and walk away. And I have met at least three potters who refused to sign
up for workshops with a well known clayarter simply because they don't
like his attitude/posts on clayart. (Same for another who has a
reputation as a "skirt chaser").
I have nothing to gain by kissing up to the audience. I do not give
workshops or sell my pots to potters. But if I did, I would be careful
about who I was talking ABOUT -- lest I be talking TO them without
knowing it.
(Classic foot-in-mouth disease, endemic in my culture... sometimes
"those liberals" or "those Bush supporters" or "those fundamentalist
homeschoolers" or "those tree huggers" are the person standing across
from you, listening, quietly resenting being pigeonholed. I've been on
both sides of that conversation.)
We're all on the same road, on foot, on mule or in a ferrari. And nobody
started out as a big dog.
Just remember who pays to watch you surf, folks!
Happy Spring to those in my hemisphere... Happy Easter to those who
celebrate. Here's a tip from the Easter bunny: the black ones aren't
jelly beans ;0)
yours
Kelly Savino in Ohio, off to an egg hunt, then to Home Depot to get
mismatched paint for my new bee hive.
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