bill edwards on sat 20 aug 05
For years I have been trying to achieve an area of
comfort with my style which I believe is individual in
concept but often inspired by others. I was playing
with clay as a child, I made mud houses and built a
fantasy in the gardens where my grandmother hoe'd and
planted her okra and tomatoes. I was a left handed,
perhaps right brain child according to some.
Some gave an analogy of their past, recently. I
decided that was almost impossible for me to do, can I
cut myself into a thin scaled down version or not and
do I really want to expose myself in such a raw way,
why not??
Ron Turner was my high school art teacher. We painted,
I done clay and I also continued what I now deem
outsider paintings that Mr. Turner deemed great art
but not what the class was about. One I remember is my
fear of dentists so my painting was of a dentist with
a giant needle almost filling the canvas. I was almost
as unique with clay but held off and learned the form
and function and purpose better for whatever reason.
I turned 15 and needed a job because we were rather
poor. I went to work for Howard Finster prior to his
fame as an American Folk Art Legend in exchange for a
bicycle and lawn mowers so I could rake in the money
after school once my summer position with Howard had
passed. I knew I could mow a yard here and there
because he only needed me for a few days at a time or
perhaps in the mornings leaving me free to roam and
look for other work around his schedual. He and I
built lawnmowers and bikes and created what is now
called Paradise Gardens, that was his vision, not
mine. It was an on-going creation of his and my
contributions was hauling the glass, throwing more
bike frames on his sculpture pile and listening to his
countless stories.
I latter married, divorced, helped raise my children
and worked as a chemical compounder, worked in City
governmemt for several Cities and States, worked in
other industries and dabbled in art. Finished college
at McKenzie in TN and obtained what I now deem a ton
of worthless certifications that honed me into
something I fought off but was good for obtaining jobs
and paying the bills.
Moved to Florida, learned how to airbrush to pay the
rent and worked as a technician at St. Johns where I
done a host of things. I went on to invent my own
airbrush colorants from my past chemistry background
and then on to invent other art colorants. Sold it all
and decided my life was about being an artist, not
about being sick and tired of the drama of the
business World.
Met with Bernice Sims, Su Fritzinger and Larry Manning
among a slew of other people who helped me realize my
passion once more, the stories of the goat-man was
good for me indeed. The pottery has mostly always been
there, I have done plenty of it and I should include
that I was an art director but that was mostly a
political platform (not always, often riddled with
politics just the same) and a need for another
business to launch a new pottery, a breath of fresh
air to an overly-tired community where the arts was
falling flat.
Even though I have a wild imagination and am an
inventive person, I try to pull whoever I can along
with me to where ever it is we all want to be. Help
the under-dog, live within the art world and challenge
myself to be what my grandmother always said I would
be that I had fought off for so many years.
I am at a turning point where I want my pots to be the
best I can possibly make, durable but yet have
adventurous glazes, something that causes them to
reach out without question and different. But thats
not satisfying me enough so I back that up with other
things like stained glass on occasion and now outsider
art on canvas again.
My goal now is to throw totally functional larger
pieces and find a method after firing, perhaps before
the final glaze firing where I can use my pots as my
canvas and marry my two loves together.
Bernice Sims and I talked about me doing pots and
perhaps her painting on them with acrylics. (China
Paints came to mind for a minute) Then I researched
other folk/primitive art and seen that some had
already given rise to that thought. I am back there
too because each persons end result will be different
and while I may be a potter, I am certainly not a
painter of fine art. I can draw what I see if I try, I
can mix any color I like, I can airbrush reality but I
cannot paint the same as I once could because I
flushed out any thought of control in that area and
finally allowed myself one free method of expression
outside of writing and attempting to convey a real
humans feelings. So this is where I started and where
I am now and it's come full circle. The Life and Times
part of who I am.
Now that I am back, the flood is a memory and my
studio is finished you will hopefully see a marriage
of unique glazes calculated for performance and
occasionally out of control with the most unusual
stylized outsider paintings on them, done with what
inventive method I can find that will dance in color
where the pot becomes the canvas.
In end, there's so much more to the person than a
scant review but I also feel that many people don't
know me and I don't know them well and the information
I recently read gave me some insight and perspective
and a better over-all picture. Most here are great
people and I admire the majority of the work I have
seen. My words are sometimes contrived and hunted for
which leaves me on the side-lines sometimes. But I
believe in all people that try and I have no barriers
when it comes to artistic expression nor do I percieve
others art any better or worse than my own. I feel as
if I am standing here nude in front of 3500 people and
am willing to do so for a little while, others have
gave of themselves and I learned from them to be
honest as possible to my detriment at times. I am an
open canvas, there's been lots of color added but the
end is nowhere near finished as far as I am concerned.
Theres some final touches here and there that I can
add and some loose ends that need adjusting and never
can I call a piece finished until all thats done and I
have signed my name to it, left handed.
I have never mastered anything that I can think of but
others have called me that and I blush and shake my
head and feel I have not trully lived up to that
remark, nor should I from my perspective. If you want
to see a master see someone else! I can adjust to
change. I can create or become defeated. The process
can be repeated enough for one to believe they have
mastered a particular subject but surely there are
others who will outpace that person at their own game
on any given day. We are all a unique group,
collectively and individually. I guess I just love
art, that simplifies everything enough! This wraps my
end of things up as neatly as I can possibly do
without writing a comprehensive book about,'ME'. I can
live without that and somes things need edited out
anyways. But I do hope this guides others to
understand the driving forces that help create a
persons pathways to art and styles.
Bill Edwards
Edmar Studio and Gallery
302 South Main St (Shipping)
POB 367 (Mailing)
Camp Hill, Al. 36850
http://apottersmark.blogspot.com/
"!" And I quote that
CampHillBilly
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Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
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Ann Brink on sat 20 aug 05
Bill- I thank you for sharing your story- I like learning more about fellow
Clayarters.
Here comes the request...and I hope you aren't upset that I'm asking it:
When you write, could you divide your post into paragraphs? I know one
thought leads to another and you haven't felt any kind of separation is
called for, but a long missive is a lot easier to read with occasional
spaces.
I'm glad to hear your studio is finished and look forward to seeing some
photos of your new work- whatever it turns out to be.
Ann Brink in Lompoc CA
----- Original Message -----
From: "bill edwards"
To:
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 7:38 AM
Subject: Rendering unto Outsider Art
Jeanie Silver on tue 23 aug 05
Dear Bill Ijust finished your account of your life and found it very
satisfying to read...something about the tone of your words was vwery
appealing-as if your soul remained supple and happy-not stiff and
stifled..thanks for the good read Jeanie in beautiful Pennslyvania
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