Monthly Archives: April 2015

The Black Pearls of pottery

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Carter Gillies

“When black pearls were first introduced to the market, nobody wanted them. But then the famous jeweler Harry Winston placed black pearls in his display windows alongside his rubies, sapphires and diamonds. He set the price of black pearls high, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Beauty, Ceramics, Creative industry, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery, Teaching | Leave a comment

The bitter truth about professional standards in pottery (and art)

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Carter Gillies

“Talk about equality gets off on the wrong foot if we start from the assumption that it expresses an immediate moral demand to treat everyone the same. Of course, there are thousands of legitimate reasons why people may treat different … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creative industry, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery, Teaching | 11 Comments

The illusion of technique

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Carter Gillies

Originally posted on CARTER GILLIES POTTERY:
I have always been fascinated with this idea. I have kicked around different ways of looking at it and I see with increasing clarity that taking a stand on it says something about both…

Posted in Art | 2 Comments

If Steve Jobs had been a potter

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Carter Gillies

“When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, it was producing a random array of computers and peripherals, including a dozen different versions of the Macintosh. After a few weeks of product review sessions, he’d finally had enough. “Stop!” he shouted. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Arts education, Creative industry, Creativity, metacognition, Pottery, Teaching | 2 Comments

Raising the bar and keeping out the riffraff: What Calvin and Hobbes have to say

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Carter Gillies

Pottery, art, music, what have you, are all facing a future that has alarmed folks with a vested interest in what they might like to think of as ‘the status quo’, even the way things were ‘supposed to be’. The … Continue reading →

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“Stay on the f-ing bus!”

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Carter Gillies

From an article by Oliver Burkeman in the Guardian (followed, of course, by some of my mind blowing and otherwise dubious ramblings): This column will change your life: Helsinki Bus Station Theory ‘The theory claims the secret to a creatively … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creative industry, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition | 1 Comment

Through the Looking Glass: Studio focus and the vortex of flow

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Carter Gillies

A brief conversation about how ‘inefficient’ time in the studio can sometimes be. This is culled from the larger email conversation between me and Scott Cooper that took place over the course of a few days this past week. ………………………… … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ceramics, Creative industry, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery, Teaching | 1 Comment

Trawling through Akademie X: Lessons in Art + Life

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Carter Gillies

My friend Joel posted a link on fb to an artnet article based on the new book ‘Akademie X: Lessons in Art + Life‘. “artnet News has trawled the book to distill the most useful pearls of wisdom, so you … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creative industry, Creativity | 2 Comments

Repost: What Ron Meyers said

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Carter Gillies

It seems my last essay fell utterly flat, DOA to your computer screens…. Thankfully I was just made aware of another post I ran almost exactly four years ago that said many of the same things, but perhaps more interestingly. … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Beauty, Ceramics, Clay, Creativity, Imagination, metacognition, Pottery, Teaching | 9 Comments