NCECA 2014: Bruce Pepich, Donald Clark, Jeffrey Spahn, Rebecca Sive

Marks Matter in the Material World

Akio Takamori

Cornwall Bridge Pottery

MS ? MS?

ONE, TWO

THREE,FOUR

Matthew Metz

Lisa Orr

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

The matter of marks, figuratively as well as literally.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

It would be great if every potter left her mark, literally.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

Especially, when you want to enjoy the work over time and observe how it developed, and

she grew over time.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

Then, you’d know so much more than you would otherwise.

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Alas, most times, it seems, potters don’t work this way.

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Check-her-out, anyway: she’s wonderful.

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I’ve mulled-over this conundrum and concluded that many potters want us to imagine what might happen next.

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Here is a vignette of one such potter, (whose work is utterly different, today.)

And here is a vignette of another potter’s work, equally glorious and

changing gently over time.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

And here is why the lack of a mark may not matter at

all!

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And check-her-out again, albeit in another medium.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

So, in this imperfect -- but beautiful-- clay world, I recommend developing your own marking system.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

Here’s one.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

And here’s another.

Not for reproduction without written permission from Rebecca Sive.

While you celebrate the potters who do make it easier for us to enjoy and know their

work.

MarksMatter

“There is no need to sign,

people will attribute my best pots to me and the bad ones to someone

else.” - Shoji Hamada.

JEFFREY SPAHN GALLERY

415. 519. 2857JeffreySpahn@Comcast.net

JeffreySpahn.com

YunomiBook.com

themarksproject.org