Ben the potter

Thats a very interesting thing to think about, almost like art is an emergent property of the creative process. Certainly has my wheels turning, thank you my friend

This resonates with me very much

And i wonder this as somebody who experiences emotion from objects which where made with skill, but most people wouldnt call art. When i see the finger marks in an old handmade brick, hold an old storage jar, or run my hands over a shaker table, it really gets me

Thats an interesting take, and i do understand it... but my question is if it needs to be made with that intention, if the maker needs to make for the purpose of inciting an emotional response....

i dont really care what ya call it, what does it do? craft vs. art vs. folkart... and i didnt even mention "outsider art", because most artists are outsider, no matter their esthetic. i find that labels are often more a hinderence than they are worth #folkart #pottery #craft #art #labels

Thank you so much, i appreciate you

Thank you so much for the repost

Oh you stop, nobody is bad at pottery, some folks just need more practice. Ive been at it for most of my life now, and im still not where id like to be... its all a process, and the important part is enjoying it. Thank you so much for the share

Oh thank you! Its a whole lot of little pokes, one at a time... i know its not realism, but i call it mafical folk realism... and i like doing it this way

have a bisque firing warming up today, but managed to get this crock all snaked up. the weather is warming up here, the toads are coming out of their burrows, and i nearly stepped on a little copperhead the other day... alll good though #pottery #handmade #snakes #folkart #clay

been a busy week over here, finally got the bisque kiln wired up, loaded, and have it candling. here i am unloading a tile drying rack onto my bench before cleaning up the edges and preparing them to go into the kiln... slow process, and the road is long #tile #handmade #folkart #clay #humanmade

the good folks behind rifftrax and mst3k have been making me laugh for most of my life, and are still at it. would highly recommend checking out their work, absurd times demand absurd comedy #pottery #sanity #rifftrax #mst3k #laughter

Thank you my friend! Oh, i do love my chumbawamba. They have never gotten the credit they deserve, but its been nice seeing more recognition over the past few years. Thats a great observation, and not one i have ever considered before... i do find alot of nature sneaking into my work haha

been busy this week cleaning up a backlog of pots in preparation for a bisque firing, but did manage to finish this tiny little buggy jug turned from the last bit of clay left after turning a batch of bowls. a reminder to keep our nose above the water. #folkart #facejug #pottery #handmade #wildclay

most of my work requires some level of detailing in every step of the process, its alot of work, and alot of time, but thats what it takes to get the look i want. i just really dont care for austere minimalism, it looks and feels too lifeless to me #pottery #handmade #maximalism #folkart #art

Great movie! One of those that still makes me laugh as much as it did the first time i saw it

Thanks! Yeah, lug handles are great, but they can sure cause alot of issues. These types of lugs arent really traditional to this regional tradition, but i like them visually, and they are very sturdy. I just join a tapered coil and sortof pull them on the form

Thank you Camille

Thank you so much!

Thank you! Its a little statement about how when critters (including us) start gathering together, we are harder to move, and we can make functions more difficult to carry on with... we gotta be like these happy little snakes, and be harder to handle

been a busy week over here, planting the spring garden. but finished this crock here, made intentianally hard to pick up by the 3 asymmetrical handles... when we come together, we are mighty hard to handle. #folkart #handmade #snake #rise #pottery

ive made several videos about my process for creating work, but with pottery, especially heavily detailed pieces, its just as important how we dry the work. i have used this tent method for many years, and almost never have any issue with drying cracks #pottery #clay #folkart #wildclay #stoneware

Right? I feel this..... seems the art making personality doesnt necessarily come with an art promoting or art business feature much of the time... i know i am very licky to have a friend who helps me with the website stuff, and a friend who helps me with the tax stuff, would be up a creek otherwise

Thanks my friend! I am sure that could be arranged... just keep an eye out for updates as the process goes along

Now mind, the true levelers where essentially a utopian offshoot of the puritan movement, so they where tangentially in cromwells camp... history is sticky... but certainly had some radical ideas for the time as to what would yield a better society

I mean, they where anti monarchy, anti church, anti aristocracy, anti class... they where basically agrairian socialists long before there was a term for that... but advocating for the dissolution of private property and the distribution of wealth, labor, and resources in the 1650s... pretty based

just putting the last touches on this kings head crock. finished it off with a line of "the diggers song", a rhyme popular among the followers of the "true levelers" or diggers movement during the english civil war of the mid 17th century #pottery #folkart #History #skull #kingshead

been feeling a little under the weather, but on the mend... did some garden work in the sun today, and finished up this weird jar. pretty traditional form, but im always playing with ways to make em less traditional #folkart #pottery #handmade #wildclay #clay

They usually sit around 75. Always feel amlittle bad charging for the work honestly, but its alot of labor from digging and processing the clay, making and carving the pieces, digging and processing the materials for glaze, stacking kilns, stacking the wood for kilns... its alot

Thank you so much dear! You are too kind