tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post2935231233152113382..comments2023-09-04T04:59:16.747-07:00Comments on John Bauman: My Friends Ask The Best QuestionsJohn Baumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10910451039953672849noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-9256315029086835432012-06-29T08:16:15.887-07:002012-06-29T08:16:15.887-07:00Hi John, I'm late on the bus, but Etsy for ins...Hi John, I'm late on the bus, but Etsy for instance, has a "Sales" link where one may look and see what the most popular items from a particular store are. There is also another site that tracks the highest sales in Etsy by category. It appears for pottery, the top sales site offers customized name imprinted dog bowls...who knew.The Wynhill Potterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09820163873625593718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-12823439117598734622012-05-21T10:20:34.879-07:002012-05-21T10:20:34.879-07:00Scott,
You're such a hand-thrown-mug-is-half...Scott, <br /><br />You're such a hand-thrown-mug-is-half-empty kind of guy. You see doom and gloom in science fiction. I, mister pollyanna mug-always-full-of-whatever-I-wish-to-be-drinking-at-the-time (and universal record-holder for the most hyphenated title in history) sees science fiction as the future in shipping. I will soon be able to beam my pottery to anywhere in the universe for free.<br /><br />BEAM ME UP A NEW POT, SCOTTY!<br /><br />Aye, but we're a-running oot uh poower, captainJohn Baumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10910451039953672849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-22322563475383222892012-05-18T10:34:36.948-07:002012-05-18T10:34:36.948-07:00Wait -- cell cam pics? What was I thinking? This p...Wait -- cell cam pics? What was I thinking? This problem has already been solved by the hardworking potters who provide Etsy with five views of the same piece -- both sides, top, bottom, detail -- in a effort to recreate a physical object in virtual space. One automated rip through that site, a la the opening sequence of the movie The Social Network, would provide thousands of seeds for 3D modeling software to feed to the printers.Scott Cooperhttp://stearthpottery.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-90884248323515853992012-05-18T09:31:01.802-07:002012-05-18T09:31:01.802-07:00I think this is just the leading edge of this prob...I think this is just the leading edge of this problem. Low cost 3D printers are coming, capable of reproducing just about anything from a digital file. And we all know how easily digital files spread when popular... <br /><br />While the plastic or resin or whatever these devices produce won't be suitable for making coffee mugs and such, a wide swath of the handmade objects currently available at a typical art fair or on Etsy will be easy targets, and an interested consumer won't even have to wait for overseas manufacturers to choose a line and spin up production -- they can just go home and "print" one for themselves. <br /><br />With a few more generations of software development, and it could be as easy as snapping a couple camera phone shots; the device converts them to a 3D model and presto!Scott Cooperhttp://stearthpottery.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-62330674039430199122012-05-17T11:50:23.501-07:002012-05-17T11:50:23.501-07:00I have missed your postings, good to see you back....I have missed your postings, good to see you back. I appreciate your insights and thoughts about rip off/copy cats/stealing… <br /><br />I find that relationships are important to my customers, they like to talk to me and “know” me as a potter...but I am a small time potter. When a potter gains in popularity and reach the cash flow is better, but fostering those relationships is much more difficult. The big craft shows are definitely one way to even with all its risks. Some people to do it on their own, such collectors…they take pride in their “relationship” with their favorite artist or medium or what have you. ( A special place in heaven for collectors!!)<br /><br />Big box companies don't have the luxury of developing relationships beyond cheap prices- I suppose they do get hoarders, if you want to call that a ‘relationship’! It’s just more stuff, it has no soul. I see some companies work the relationship angle by telling a story about their products or business- for each article/item (thinking of J. Peterman) and others work the "lifestyle" angle (Sundance, Saddleback Leather, etc.).<br /><br />As you point out, the advanced technology can prove to cause trouble with copies, but I hope social media (blogs, you tube, facebook, etc) can continue to develop as a vehicle for extending our relationships with customers and future craftsmen. Postings like yours get us thinking and talking... and help teach people how to appreciate time and effort. Ok, you may be preaching to the choir…but who knows?! <br /><br />I like to believe the “green” energy, organic produce, support local movements, and others, are signs that humans DO want and appreciate real…and that they want to buy handmade pottery. <br /><br />And with that I will add my emoticon<br />:)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06084462536524346103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-2510042569754232412012-05-17T07:01:21.744-07:002012-05-17T07:01:21.744-07:00So many great comments! I need to respond. I'...So many great comments! I need to respond. I'll get to it after the weekend. I'm off to a show in Lansing, MI.<br /><br />In short, though, I've been thinking about many possible answers -- some already mentioned in the comments.<br /><br />1. Don't sit still. To call it simply "a bummer" to be copied unfairly understates the scope of the problem and the economic duress it causes. But the truth is, we probably aren't going to survive on old ideas.<br /><br />2. Live simply. A great idea may bring a windfall, but great ideas are even harder to come by than good ones....and good ones are hard to come by. If you are fortunate enough to come up with a great one, it might be good to put some away for a rainy day rather than develop a lifestyle based upon the windfall. This is obvious in hindsight. Not so obvious in the living. It certainly wasn't obvious to me.<br /><br />3. Teach the next generation of craftsman. We won't value craftsmanship as a culture if we aren't actively passing it on. That usually means leapfrogging generations. For some reason we are hard wired to reject our parent's values, but we quite often buy into the values nostalgicly presented by a grandparent's generation. I'm now old enough to teach a twenty year old (where's that smiley emoticon?)<br /><br />4. The emperor's new clothes just may be our friend.<br /><br />Thanks for the participation!John Baumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10910451039953672849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-13214974185880333412012-05-17T06:31:02.330-07:002012-05-17T06:31:02.330-07:00Dang! That is dreadful. Gives me the heeby jeebies...Dang! That is dreadful. Gives me the heeby jeebies!<br /><br />It seems that this is a new ugly reality we may have to face, and my question is whether we will ever gain satisfaction from the pirates or if we need to put our efforts into the consumer end. In other words, if we can educate the consumers about the difference between these handmade items and knock offs. That they are not the same merely because they LOOK THE SAME. <br /><br />If the audience doesn't know any better or doesn't care, then of course they will see no real difference. If they are just consumers of shapes and colors, what do we expect?<br /><br />One way out seems to be helping people to value handmade in and of itself. The things a potter makes him or herself have a value that is not translatable into shape or color. If people get this they also get the difference between our work and the work of pirates. And also the idea of supporting local industry. If people get this they also get the difference between our work and the knock offs.<br /><br />If the consumer is only aware of what we do as a consumer good, how it ended up on the market is probably unimportant. The pirates will have every advantage. What we have to do is educate our audience that it isn't just a product we are making, but a contribution of personal craftsmanship and sometimes local or regional industry. But as long as the folks buying our work are immune to our story of actively creating our work it will always be a hard sell. What we really need is to prove to them that being creative matters in their own lives. We show them that what we do as artists is interesting and important by demonstrating that creativity has a role in their own lives. They understand the role of creativity by being creative themselves.<br /><br />If our audience is only a passive consumer of products and has no clue about the efforts and creativity required to make what we make, and if they have no reason to value these things, then OF COURSE they will shop at Walmart for pots.<br /><br />To me it seems that the greatest difference we should be trying to make is to remind people that creativity matters, and that they can be sympathetic to our artistry because we all understood creativity once upon a time. Its only the naked greed of money grubbing capitalism that wants the audience in their strictly consumer role being spoon fed the latest model of innovation or the season's latest fads. Is that in our ultimate interest? Don't we want them to be more than mere consumers? Don't we want them to understand the difference between what we do and what the pirates are engaged in?<br /><br />In the end we stop the pirates not by hiring bigger gun lawyers, but by getting the public to take an active role in appreciating the work of individual creativity. The fewer people buy from pirates the less piracy is rewarded. The more the public care about our creativity the less we need fear pirates. The more they care about their own creativity the more the public will see value in the creativity of others.<br /><br />What do you think?carter gillieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12744265678233135968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-21020723890923171662012-05-17T05:41:26.567-07:002012-05-17T05:41:26.567-07:00Good read. LOTS to think about....Good read. LOTS to think about....Anna M. Brannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02891156072805878934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-32015832346651787842012-05-17T05:32:26.973-07:002012-05-17T05:32:26.973-07:00Good information to consider, and worth reading th...Good information to consider, and worth reading through. Welcome back to blog-land.Barbara Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08351113054045427775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-77415899768721881492012-05-17T04:56:07.519-07:002012-05-17T04:56:07.519-07:00Hey John, it's been too long.Nice post.Hey John, it's been too long.Nice post.Dennis Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170187288282755570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-28422625486936675992012-05-17T03:17:15.952-07:002012-05-17T03:17:15.952-07:00HI John,
This was well written and thoughtful and...HI John, <br />This was well written and thoughtful and thought provoking. As a potter who lives among many other potters it is not only the mass marketers but fellow potters who think nothing of using an idea you have to add to their own lines. On the blogs I read more and more how others are inspired to make such and such after seeing someones posted work. I agree that we can not compete with the mass market but who are our customers these days? Are they moving to the mass market and away from a handmade item? Does it matter to them anymore?<br />I also wonder as pottery becomes more and more expensive, another subject, that we price our work above what folks can afford.<br />Good thoughts.<br />On another note, it was great to meet you and we hope to see you again on another visit.<br />Mcookingwithgashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11456258592273328486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-35664964993631470782012-05-17T00:00:12.637-07:002012-05-17T00:00:12.637-07:00Hi John! Glad to see you blog again! Missed you.
I...Hi John! Glad to see you blog again! Missed you.<br />I was horrified to read about this "pirating"!<br />What about taking out a patent? Then, if you see your beautiful work reproduced in a company catalogue, you, and other artists, can take action. That might put an end to this shameful thing.<br />Also, I have seen potters online who post their pictures in a way that cant be copied.<br />On the bright side, as Linda said, there are people who love and appreciate real hand made art, and look for the artist's signature.<br />I am still a learner potter, and live in Israel; I enjoy looking at other potters' work in order to learn and enhance my own ideas. I work full time in an office, so my pottery is only the hobby kind, with gifts for friends and family, and some occassional sales as gifts. But there is nothing as rewarding as one's own ideas taking shape in clay!<br />Wishing you continued success--despite the pirating!<br />Shelley, Jerusalem Israel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3313799443819854406.post-36632049383810414102012-05-16T21:57:16.399-07:002012-05-16T21:57:16.399-07:00times are definitely changing that's for sure,...times are definitely changing that's for sure, reminds me of the mugs walmart has that say hand crafted, I have noticed however that a lot of folks turn pottery over and look for a signature, that may be the saving grace, a hand signed one of a kind piece.Linda Starrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364078667554676592noreply@blogger.com