Wednesday 10 August 2011

just for the record

each week i get at least 2 emails from people who want to come and stay with me and "help in the studio"

i'm sure they mean well, but my studio is quite messy and a little erratic and the rare occasions i'm home all i want to do is be alone and think and play and sew and brew cauldrons and draw
and make noises on the saxophone
and stand quite still
practicing my tarasana pose

so
i'm afraid i've been writing these sorts of letters....[warning to the kind-hearted, i do sound a bit mean]



..."touched as I am by your youthful enthusiasm, the sad reality of the matter is this. I am rarely, if ever, home for more than three weeks at any time and when I am at home...it is my sanctuary where I work ridiculous and slightly erratic hours, very much as a lone wolf. 

Also I live in a most impractical location; the nearest village is an hour away on foot [ie you would need a car or bicycle] and is not on public transport routes [well, there is a bus but it's once a day in the afternoon and only goes to a shopping mall in the north of the Adelaide metropolitan area] nor is there any short-term rental accommodation other than a rather unpleasant hotel. my house is lived in by more than just me and we do not offer  homestays other than to really close friends 

So while I thank you for your interesting proposal, my answer is no, I do not [ever] take apprentices or interns or workers-for-free. I do however teach workshops at many locations around the world where you would be most welcome to sign up if you were interested in learning sustainable dye techniques"... 

20 comments:

  1. No mean-ness detected, well put. Solitude is often the only thing that allows us to refill after we have been poured out.

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  2. seems totally reasonable to me. it's clear, firm, and reasonable.

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  3. Don't be afraid, this is completely understandable.

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  4. Solitude is very precious especially when you rush around the whirled like you do. Artists need their sanctuaries to brew art.

    Oh and I love your letter (giggling) and wondering what i should write to you to receive such an evocative response. Picturing young enthusiast plodding through farmlands and arriving at the gate with a suitcase in each hand (bulging at the seams) ..... and a guitar slung over the shoulder.

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  5. Totally reasonable to me too. Actually think you explained it quite well.

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  6. I concur, now leaf me alone...

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  7. good grief.what are people thinking? no doubt they want to be paid a stipend and fed as well!

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  8. I understand this completely. It's not "mean"... it's how you feel and it's protective.
    HOME IS SANCTUARY.
    No one invades that right.

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  9. just telling it like it is as simply as possible!

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  10. The hell with helping in the studio, do any of them say theyll bring wine and chocolate of any kind? How damned rude of them........lol
    Whirled galavanting is very tiring ( I used to fly for a living so attest to the fact )so solitude becomes very precious.......you get an ward for tact......I'll buy you a beer when I come over....:)

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  11. Well put! One's home - and studio - is a sacred space. Open when we choose and closed when we do not. :-)

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  12. Good fences make good neighbors... was that Robert Frost? and good & clear boundaries make for much healthier - and more productive - artists.. or something like that...

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  13. The down side of social media is familiarity, it can blur the boundaries.
    and Some people are just too tight to pay for a class....
    It is always good to put the rules out there...

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  14. Totally agree with the post and privious comment,thank you for posting!

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  15. like a wolf..I want to howl alone

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  16. Big Meanie!! joking. Sounds totally normal to me..but I live in similar circumstances and have similar requests, scary thought eh, having full time visitors no matter how helpful, best help is to leave me alone on my workbench....lol

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  17. well at other places- potteries glass factories,
    they do have 'room/need' for serious labor like wood cutting, assistants or interns or apprentices . and the only way to find out is to ask?
    but i've even seen potteries close their doors to interns et such and even stopping collaboration with other potters. they value their solitude too.

    I think you were polite enough
    and you gave them places/ways where they could learn from you, that was nice.

    its nice to have a peek at your studio life this way too, Thank you for sharing!

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  18. Yes, I feel that way too. In fact, I take my morning walk on a remote path that no one walks on, when there is a 5-mile multi-use trail right next to it. I prefer the solitude. Well, you'll see when you're here next month.

    And yes, totally reasonable.

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  19. Beautifully put! I think those offers of 'help' are not always so altruistic. They may be imagining the 'help' and experience they will garner for themselves and maybe the odd free sample and 'off cuts' from the work in hand.
    The other comments are spot on!

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  20. everyones comments are just right l think India....so no you are not mean.....Artists need their own space to think, create and some times just BE.x lynda

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