Creative Influences

I dropped into the Oak Ridge Art Center today to say hello to Jane Cartwright.  She has been teaching a hand building clay class for a little over a year now.  There were a half-dozen students breathing life into the studio with an amazing variety of projects being built.  A giant squid (and I do mean LARGE!), square folded bowls, a canister with a fish for the lid, wine stoppers, tri-pod coffee mugs, and free flowing sculpture.  Despite the incredible diversity, you could see a hint of Jane in every piece.   This is not to say they were copying her, just that her style had influenced some aspect of each one of those pieces.  I thought this was a huge compliment for Jane's work and her teaching abilities.
     Creative types face an interesting tug-o-war between sharing our ideas and techniques with those interested enough to ask, yet wanting to also protect some of those hard earned discoveries that come from hours of hard work and experimentation.  I remember the first time someone asked me how to get a taller, straighter vessel.  The next one she threw was twice the size of anything she had done previously and I felt a ton of pride for both her and myself for giving her that "boost" to the next level.  I also remember the first time I saw a shelf of pots that looked incredibly similar to some work I had been doing; down to the glaze and firing technique.  This becomes even more irritating when a portion of your household income relies on you having something to offer that others don't!  All this would seem trivial if EVERYONE contributed SOMETHING to the mix.  But life shows us this is the norm.
     Enter Bill Capshaw.  He is the person responsible for getting me started in ceramics.  Not just me, but hundreds of people!  His classes are legendary and have produced many of the "who's who"  in pottery for this region.  His teaching skills are intuitive, entertaining, and most importantly, designed to help you find your own "style" and methods, not just copy his.  Because of this, his students tend to develop quickly and in a wide variety of styles. For that we are all grateful!
    So what do you do when you see your ideas being implemented by others who seem to not posses a single creative bone in their body?   Go on a rampage and smash all the offending work like Carrie Nation in a distillery?  Tempting, very tempting.....  I've found that I can use the incident as incentive to keep experimenting and coming up with something new.  Competition spurs innovation.  But it can also create animosity;  I think it depends entirely on your personality.

    So for the positive note of the day, try to remember that  "Imitation is the highest form of flattery".  

    And if that doesn't make you feel any better......