Do other potters think like me? Wonder who bought the pot, did it get used? did it get stuffed into a cabinet, or high on a shelf? Or did it get broken, and carted away to landfill?
When I make a teapot, it has to work as a teapot, no matter how far from the traditional shape it may be.
This one was for a gallery in Knaresborough, 1988.
Inspired by Maurice Sendak.
I wonder...If I had one of your teapots, would I know it was yours? Would my tea taste different? Would it taste better? Or would it taste like dirt & motor oil?
ReplyDeleteWho knows, dirt & motor oil might not be so bad...;)
It IS good to know when they've gone to a caring home where they love pots.
ReplyDeleteIt is also good to get more sales so that you can get on with making more!
Like the teapot!
man, I never remember anything or even think about it, but I have cotton candy between the ears so I don't count :)
ReplyDeleteRita: If you had one of my teapots would you know it was mine?
ReplyDeleteNo. Because by then it would be yours. But it would probably have my name signed on the bottom. I didn't use to do that, but people started asking me to sign things. So now I do.
Would your tea taste different? Yes, because you're American, which means you probably don't follow the tea ritual that we brits learn from birth. So export models would come with instructions. Like... First buy real tea. Loose tea is best, but hey, we're all lazy, so teabags are okay, but NOT with little paper tags for heaven's sake. Heat the pot. fill it with hot water, and tip the hot water out. Then put the tea into the hot pot, and pour BOILING water onto the tea. Stir immediately and allow to steep for four minutes at least. stir again before pouring.
Hot water, even scalding hot, it not hot enough. Boiling... with bubbles roiling, that's vital.
Dirt and motor oil? Ah, workshop tea, stirred with a rusty wrench. it has its place in the scheme of things too.
I'd just hope that the teapot would give you pleasure.
gz: I think that's it. I used to get cross with people who just buy pots as ornaments.
ReplyDeleteI don't obsess about where they all are. But I used to get a buzz out of walking around cities and seeing things I'd made in apartment windows.
I did once find one for sale in a charity shop, I looked at the pot, thought, "I quite like that", then turned it over to find my name on the bottom.
Gary: Cotton candy between the ears? Yeurghhh. Stay out of the shower!
ReplyDeleteI bet you do care really.
weird, I just devoted several pages of my baby book to reminiscences about grandma's teapot collection, kept in a locked cabinet and never used until reqd for her funeral tea. I wonder of there is a teapot shaped like a mouse anywhere because I use all of my quirky teapots and make tea with loose leaves in a warmed pot like my Yorkshire-born mother taught me
ReplyDeleteActually...I started drinking tea the "British" way when I started doing odd chores for an older lady in my neighborhood who is from England. She got me hooked on the stuff, I drink strong English breakfast tea every morning with canned milk in it. No silly little dangling tags for me, I use a brand with round tea bags. I do have a "routine"(I wouldn't call it a ritual) You'd probably think it deplorable, but when my 3 year old grandson comes over, we always have a cup of tea with lots of milk.
ReplyDeleteConfession: I make my tea in a thermos.
"please don't go, we'll eat you up, we love you so"... sofia would love that teapot. one of her all-time faves... "where the wild things are"
ReplyDeleteWhen Youve created something both beautiful & functional,It must be hard to let it go?
ReplyDeleteRita... There's hope for you yet. but the thought of canned evaporated milk in tea, Yeuch! Gah!Pthooey!
ReplyDeleteJim: I'll have to re-explore that theme in the future, they did sell like the proverbial hot cakes, glazed inside with a speckled red... If I did them now, I'd probably blush the exterior over with a little red iron, just to warm the colour up.
Tony, gz's comment got it right, you just need to let them go so you can get on with making more. And you know, we're never ever a hundred percent satisfied with anything, the observer, the buyer, may see and like, whereas the maker is always seeing the discrepancy between the vision and the actuality, let it go, try get closer to your goal next time.
I'll bet Leonardo Da Vinci leaned back on finishing his Mona Lisa, muttering words to the effect of "There's something not quite right about her smile, and that new green's a bit off, and- damn! I forgot to put a donkey in the picture. Ah well, better luck next time, eh?"
Mouse! I missed you off the reszponses, Very bad of me. I've seen a mouse teapot somewhere, in a book, probably, chinese, yi xing ware, red clay... I'll wrack my brain, scour the memory banks.
ReplyDeleteHa! http://www.imperialtea.com/Year-Of-The-Rat-Teapot-P406.htmlp