Thursday, August 8, 2013

Summer crafts, not for galleries


I watched a video last night that pretty much summed up why I am not making pottery right now. It was pretentious and absurd and elitist and I actually couldn't even finish it. I just kept saying to myself, who put them up on that ceramics throne? This is the problem I have with pottery right now. Potters around here started out working on dirt floors in their denim overalls and they had no visions of pots going into a gallery in NY or LA. They just made pots for people to use. I really dislike where ceramics is right now, this elitist potter status is so far beyond my realm of where I want to be in life, I just don't even want to touch clay because of it all. I will never be invited into that club and I will never work hard enough to get there anyway. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy for the potters that have reached this pinnacle of success, they deserve every bit of it. And there is that competitive, driven soul deep inside me that knows how this game is played and sometimes considers playing it, but man, it wears me out to even think of going down that road!
The pretentious "scholars" make me want to barf up my dinner, and then I am reminded why I am not playing this game.....

Oh well, good thing I am a damn fine prop master! I have a prop gig every month from now until May, whoop!

Today I was a crafter, and I enjoyed the hell out of it! and this project will never end up in a gallery, ha!


I made a recipe journal for Wesley to take to school. She will have her own house this year and no meal plan, just a kitchen where she will have to prepare her own meals. So I thought I would help her out with some menu ideas. I kept them simple with ingredients she can easily shop for and prep.
Here's what I did:

 
I bought a cheap photo album at the local thrift store. It doesn't have to be pretty, it will be covered up.


I cut the back off of it, so it is able to stand. I covered it up with some pretty hand made papers.
Drilled holes in the top for the rings to go through.


Got out my markers and my water colors and wrote down a few ideas for her on bristol board.
We can add more cards as we think of things. She can add her own drawings and ideas.



Ta Da! Here it is finished. When you move the front cover to the back, it acts as an easel so if Wes is reading a recipe, it can stand on the counter.


Happy recipient. Happy crafter. Don't look for me in a NY gallery any time soon, haha!
I am what I am.....
weigh in tomorrow, I hope to be 8 pounds lighter!

15 comments:

Laura Farrow said...

I love how the book stands up! good thinking there, mom. oh and yay for old tiedye tshirt finding a loving home! xo

Tracey Broome said...

Wesley is rocking the shirts you passed on! I kept the pants and skirts, she took the tops, xo

Dennis Allen said...

Beautiful little book that she will probably keep forever. I don't want to work hard enough to be a successful famous potter either. At least not the kind of work it takes. Geez, I can't even summon the ambition to set up ETSY. I like making functional pots that regular people can afford and use everyday. Doing this on the scale I do it is enough to make me happy. I want to promote my pots not my self.

cookingwithgas said...

The book is fabulous and it will be well loved.
I did recipes for both of mine.
Hummmm, maybe that is why they don't call enough.
I will hold back on the potters comments.
Me, I just make stuff that I hope people will use.

Tracey Broome said...

Dennis and Meredith, you guys are the real deal! And make the kind of pots I love to love:-)

littlemancat said...

Really nice book - great idea. What a sweet looking young lady Wesley is!
As for the snob/elitist bit, it's the same in the writing world - there are long, analytical and tedious articles on how to write which lose me a few lines into the reading. Beauty and empathy, that's the heart of it all for me, but enough about that. I think you're in a good place right now, an honest place.
Cheers,
Mary

Tracey Broome said...

I think I am too, I was not in such a great place last year, time to get priorities in order!
And thanks, Wes is as sweet as she looks, I am very blessed!!

Vicki said...

What a great idea Tracey! Your custom recipe book, with "built in stand" looks really cool. And the wee raku button... sweet :)

I'm over the elite bullshit, I really am.
At the "artisans markets" that I recently attended, there was such a lot of snobbery from other stall holders who have tickets on themselves. Perhaps it's the word, "artisans".

My customers were the opposite. Sweet and down-to-earth. Loved what I make, came back for more the following week and brought their friends.

Your post resonated with me and I've been wanting to write about it for sometime now.

Tracey Broome said...

Vicki, it's exhausting isn't it!?

Lori Buff said...

Art pottery is fine, so is useful pottery. Every home should have some of each. I remember Paul Andrew Wandless discussing how difficult it is to make functional pottery, that's why he doesn't make it. Of course he really respects functional potters and it seems many of them respect him. I think that's how it should be.

Julie Whitmore Pottery said...

You are such a good mom. One year for Christmas mom made me a cookbook, all handwritten with all the recipies I'd grown up with;
I use it all the time; and I really like some of your recipies, Tracey.
O and yes on H. Potter. I like to read the series in the fall. When it starts to get dark early and the bats are back.......
xx
julie

Unknown said...

Great book Tracey, Wes will treasure it i'm sure (looks like she already does!) Just do what you've got to do. I think we all rather over think it all and get caught up in it.

Michèle Hastings said...

what a fabulous cookbook... but it really is so much more than a cookbook... i can see it being handed down, generation to generation.

Tracey Broome said...

Hey Lori, I totally agree there is room for both, I'm just pottery cranky these days, haha!
Thanks Julie, oh yes, Harry Potter for fall, great idea!
Hey Scott, yes one of my many bad habits, over taking!
Michele, that would be great wouldn't it? This one has a few quirks to work out being my first try, but I really like how it turned out....

smartcat said...

Wow! You are an inspiration to me to get my recipes in order. Right now they are on scraps of paper and various notebooks. I just love the way you made it self supporting. Endless possibilities there.

I'll refrain from commenting on the difference between real, beneficial criticism and egotistical, self-aggrandizing hot air. (You may have guessed that I have opinions on this!)

Wesley is so sweet and charming......sweet parents make for sweet kids.