Saturday, December 10, 2011

Many Facets

You know how sometimes you get on a jag, and you just can't quit a particular technique? For me it's been facets, all of December so far...I don't want to hear about anything that isn't facets, and faceting. Something about the way the light, and then the soda vapor, hits those edges...I don't know.
Jags are the best, in that they produce the best pots, although not always the most salable pots. I can already tell I am going to be sitting on a mountain of toothbrush holders when this is over. [Edit: Want one? Get one here.]They are good pots - at least I think so - but maybe a bit too weird for the common aesthetic. Sadly, how close one's own aesthetic hews to the common determines how easily things sell - how "accessible" they are, to use the art-school word. There's a sweet spot in terms of styling which is just a hair outside of ordinary or expected, enough to intrigue but not enough to challenge. To my mind most of the best pots fall beyond this zone, which only means we have to work harder to find the folks who will like them, or transform a broader audience into those people. Functional pottery is already more accessible than, say, minimalist sculpture, so our job is easier than it might be.

ANYWAY. How did I get talking about that? That isn't faceting. I want to talk about faceting. For these pots I used my wire tool, because it was there. I used to have a nice cheese cutter with a wavy wire that made a nice texture, but somehow I've misplaced it. I am considering going out in the garage and rummaging through my husband's fishing equipment for some of that clear plastic line, because the wire tool leaves a slight texture, and I want to see if I like the facets better without. (As an aside to Mainers: Have you noticed that nobody north of Freeport, or west of, say, Windham, actually parks their car in the garage? I have one of every single man-made thing, except a car, in my garage. Possibly because in the poorer areas of Maine, no one's car is worth garaging.

WHICH IS ALSO NOT ABOUT FACETING! These pots will hopefully be out on the 18th, in time for last-minute Christmas shopping. Toothbrush holder, anyone?

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