My Deep Seated Belief

Sometimes having a deep seated belief is really work. I believe in craft as an art and way of life, and I think most people don't understand what hard work that is. They see an “artist”, as if this is a lofty calling and an artist is above the mundane tasks and troubles of the everyday world. Well, let me enlighten you. I work like a dog. I buy clay by the ton, in 50 pound boxes, and I pick up each and every box and bring it into my studio. I sit down at the wheel for several hours a day, and hand make every piece of pottery I sell. Then I decorate them, glaze them, fire them in the kiln. Then I pack them in boxes and put them all in my truck, along with a tent, and a display, and any other thing I think I might need to keep from blowing away, getting drenched, or freezing to death. Oh, yes, and then I drive five or six hundred miles away from home to a strange place. On festival day, it might be lovely, blue skies and sunny, or it might be raining, not a mist, mind you, but a drenching rain that leaves mud and cold.

People don't much like to come out to a festival on days like that, so perhaps I don't make any money that day. Then, at the end, I pack it all back up into the truck, and start for home. Tired, discouraged, wondering in my heart if I am doing the right thing at all. Sometimes people actually say to me “I can get that cheaper at WalMart.” That's really a heartbreaker, doesn't even make me mad anymore. It has become a reminder that I am going against the way the world works. Robert Crumb said “how wonderful and how painful to be an exception.” With a war going on and economic downturns, it's been more painful lately. But, oh, when it's wonderful, now that's something. I wrap up a pot for someone and they are smiling and happy, and telling me just how they will use it, or that it's the perfect gift for that friend or a wedding. Sometimes they ask me about my life and work, and they are really interested, not just making conversation. Then what I do still seems worth it. Being poor and tired doesn't seem so bad, I can go home and work a little harder thinking that somewhere my work is appreciated.

Now, lest you think I am looking for your pity, think again. We go on through the day, all caught up in our everyday things, not much seeing the bigger picture. Our lives are so full of “stuff”, stuff we don't need, stuff we can't use, stuff that isn't beautiful, bought with money we don't have. I am just as guilty of this as anyone else, I can be seduced by the pretty ads, and the pretty, cheap things they offer me. But, I want to be more conscious than that. I want to think for myself, I want to live with beautiful and useful things. William Morris said “ Have nothing in your home that is not useful or beautiful”. Some of us would be leading pretty spare lives if we got rid of all the ugly, useless stuff we own.

Last year the Journal printed my Handmade Manifesto. I hope they print it again. I try every day to live my life by it. Some days I do better than others, but I always try to keep it in mind. Please, think about what you use in your everyday life. Keep American crafts alive with your buying dollars. I really don't want to work at WalMart.