Quote #8

Since the Subversive Clay conference all I have wanted to do is devour any kind of craft writing I can lay my hands on. I guess it got me thinking. I have ordered many of the books mentioned by presenters and am eagerly checking the post box each day to see if any have arrived. 

In the meantime I have once again picked up Lucie Rie: Modernist Potter by Emmanuel Cooper. Readers of this blog will know I had rather a shock when I received this book a while back so I tucked it away for a few months to compose myself. I am now thoroughly enjoying reading it. Nearly every chapter reveals similarities in our work approach and thinking. I must admit I nearly cried when reading the first sentence of chapter one...  "Lucie Rie Gomperz was born on 16 March"... my birth date also... freaky. However there is something validating in the similarities and Cooper has an eloquent way of expressing many thoughts that muddle about in the recesses of my mind. 

Lucie Rie in 1988

Photograph: Tony Evans/Timelapse Library Ltd/Getty Images

I feel I may be recording a number of quotations in the months to come. So to begin, a note to self...

"Throughout her working life, Lucie never sought to make things as cheaply as possible or to reach a mass market, knowing that there was a limit to the quantities she could produce. The pots she made were labour intensive, carefully thrown with precisely turned bases and meticulously applied glazes  They were sophisticated in both concept and making, aimed at an educated, appreciative market that was specialist rather than popular, and their relatively high prices, as far as Lucie was concerned, was a fair reflection of their value."                     

Lucie Rie: Modernist Potter by Emmanuel Cooper p.72

Quote #7

What we see as beauty is mostly the phenomenon of order, extracted from complexity, chaos or caprice.

David Walsh
Personal Passage to MONA
The Mercury June 23 2012

Quote #7

"I realise how lucky I am that I found my song, and that art will be a fulfilling passion offering new challenges and joys until the day I die... I don't have to retire, or look for something interesting to do, or play golf. I'll be an artist to the end, like a dog's a dog." John Olsen


From A Beautiful Life by Janet Hawley
The Age Good Weekend Dec 10 2012

Quote #6

"Organised perception is what art is all about"
Roy Lichtenstein

Quote #5

"I cannot copy nature in a servile way. I must interpret nature and submit it to the spirit of the picture. When I have found the relationship of all the tones, the result must be a living harmony of tones, a harmony not unlike that of a musical composition."    Henri Matisse

From Concepts of Modern Art 
Editor Nikos Stangos

Quote #4

"To quench our thirst, we drink boiled water.
To expel anxiety and melancholy, we drink wine.
To clear our heads, we drink tea." Lu Yu


From Chajing (Tea Classics)
AD780

Quote #3

"Perfection is a thing invented by wicked, intellectual man. Nature is absolutely innocent of any such concept" Michael Cardew

Quote #2

"In a world suffused with images and things, one might want to reflect on what already exists, rather than devise new forms." Glenn Adamson

From Once More With Feeling

Crafts UK March/April 2010

Every now and then an odd sentence floats my way that gets me thinking. I usually scrawl it down in a notebook somewhere and promptly lose it. The other day it dawned on me (quick i am) that jotting them down in my blog could prove a much more effective record. So that is why the quotes. Not always words I completely agree with but simply things that get me thinking.

And another aside, regarding the previous post - t'was purely intended to describe one aspect of my experience of the creative process and in no way did I mean to imply I wish it otherwise. Please don't stop showing me things my friends, family and collegues!!!

Quote #1

"He had a fiery temper, which was apparently pacified by seeing or holding porcelain."

Louis Le Vaillant

on antique dealer William Johnston

The Age, April 17