Another Rough Post (Last Day)
The blog post for today will be a bit rough. I assure you, this is by design. Absolutely nothing was done to edit this piece, and I’m sure that an astute reader can find many, many mistakes.
I’ve been completely scattered this morning, panicking that I might not have everything for my final Senior Project presentation. Bill won’t be available for the rest of the month, so I have to make do with a somewhat shortened project. To be honest, the end of this thing caught me by surprise. A whole month gone? Amazing.
Today I’ll be taking Bill to lunch, as well as requesting an interview. It won’t be too vital if he agrees to one or not, but I’m fairly sure he would if I asked nicely. Anyway, I want to make the most of my last day of Senior Project.
This morning, Bill is continuing on a project that, no matter how many times he explains the exact form of the piece to me, I cannot seem to wrap my mind around how the thing might look when it is done. Something to do with an ‘S’ shaped ring, and a cone. Right now, he’s making some of the nicest shavings on the lathe that I’ve ever seen in person.
I’ve decided that tomorrow, a Friday, I’ll be trying out Bill’s shop schedule in my own home shop. We’ll see exactly how productive I am on a standard day.
I’ve decided also, that I will do a PowerPoint/video presentation. This means that I cannot forget to schedule an interview with Tom Tucker at some point. Also, this shifts up a few notches the importance of getting an interview with Bill.
An update: Bill agreed to an interview, so now I need to find the questions that I asked Michael deForest earlier.
Another update: I couldn’t find the file on my computer, so I listened to my interview with Michael, and simply wrote down the questions that I asked. Kind of a roundabout way of accomplishing my goal, but it worked.
Well, the interview went extremely well. I won’t post the raw video online, but rest assured, the answers were interesting. Hopefully I can edit down my three interviews to fit into the space I am allotted for my project. Does anyone know whether I can ask for more time?
Spent the time right before lunch practicing my inlay skills; I have a long way to go. Also, a few of the tools that I need are at home. I could ask Bill if I could borrow his, but I like the challenge of using what I brought. The inlay itself is a little piece of scrap copper, which is cut into a half-circle.
I bought lunch today (Helvetia Tavern! Yum!) and had some excellent conversation about co-op galleries and workshops with Bill. Turns out, he was involved in the founding of the Blackfish gallery down in the Pearl district, back in 1980. A bunch of artists got together and formed this gallery to market and sell their work. Apparently, the work involved in setting up a gallery is absolutely exhausting. Each founding artist had to contribute time, money and effort to make it work. From what I heard, about three of the original eighteen members are still involved, the rest of the work passed on to new artists. I’ll have to go visit that gallery sometime. I’ve taken a picture of a poster of Bill’s that came from one of the original gallery shows, which should be uploaded sometime.
Jokingly, I combined one of my older forms, a bowl without a bottom, with one of the bits of old commissions that Bill had laying around, a cone. Surprisingly, it worked out pretty well, though I don’t think that I’m going to go anywhere with the idea. Still working on inlaying copper.
Overall, my last day at Bill’s studio has been pretty great. I’ve learned new skills, refined old skills, and gotten a sense of what I could do if I decide to pursue a career as an artist. I’m still not sure where I want my career to go, but I like what I saw during my project. If I were to do this project again, I would probably try and get the perspectives of full time, professional wood turners. All of the people I discussed this project with were involved in teaching, at some level. More input from full-time woodworkers would have improved my project, in that I could have gotten more of the financial aspect of working as an artist. I had a fantastic time, and I look forward to applying the skills that I learned during my time here at the studio.
Comments
Kent: It was really a
Kent:
It was really a pleasure for me to read your blog this past couple of weeks. I am sympathetic to the quandery about full-time work as an artist versus sharing the workload with other professional commitments like teaching. I know that were it not for my contributions to our family coffers, Margot's life as an artist would have had to be shared with some other professional involvement. As it is, she is able to be a full time painter and printmaker, and I hope that by now, her career is established enough not to have to share it ever with another profession. Your project sounds like a true apprenticeship, brief though it may have been, and it sounds as if Bill was an excellent source of inspiration and a capable mentor. Thanks for sharing your senior project with us! Good on ya'!
Geo
Not so rough!
Kent - this might be "rough," but it is informative and I can sense your enthusiasm for what you have been doing. Yes, three and a half weeks is a short time. I wonder if your project would have been a good one to do part time, for all of second semester. The teaching part is interesting. I am assuming these artists need to support themselves this way, correct? Hope to see some things you have worked on next Thursday.