American Painted Pot Motifs

Just my opinion and I hope not an excuse for some to toss me into the pillory and throw rotten fruit at me. I think some of you are looking at this too superficially. Looking for images of Buffalo, Eagles, Indians and covered wagons, there seems to be no spiritual element in any of this. No expression of relative time or honest representation of an era. I am reminded of Marty McFly's clothes he wore back in time to retrieve his friend in 1885. What he wore was tacky and wrong. The dime store cow boy replaced by the more historically acurate Clint Eastwood is the point to be taken. Here again the effort to make something purely American seems to be devolving into the realm of the kitsch. There seems to be a lack of subtlety with everything in your face like a car load of teenagers mooning out the window of a car driving down main street.
 
One Asian pot decoration I don't think would translate well is text on a pot. No matter how well made and glazed, a pot with "SERENITY" or "NATURE" or "MOUNTAIN" written on it would just seem cheap and cheesy new age crap. Full or partial poetry text MIGHT work,
ie:
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both. And be one traveler, long I stood. And looked down one as far as I could. To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear."
 
Bonsai Nut said:
What are unique "American" thematic images? A list...

Log cabins
Indians
Canoes
Bison
Western bluffs / canyons
Longhorn cattle
Cowboys
Barns
Dairy cattle
Corn
Click to expand...
Would add wheat fields!
 
Vance Wood said:
Just my opinion and I hope not an excuse for some to toss me into the pillory and throw rotten fruit at me. I think some of you are looking at this too superficially. Looking for images of Buffalo, Eagles, Indians and covered wagons, there seems to be no spiritual element in any of this. No expression of relative time or honest representation of an era. I am reminded of Marty McFly's clothes he wore back in time to retrieve his friend in 1885. What he wore was tacky and wrong. The dime store cow boy replaced by the more historically acurate Clint Eastwood is the point to be taken. Here again the effort to make something purely American seems to be devolving into the realm of the kitsch. There seems to be a lack of subtlety with everything in your face like a car load of teenagers mooning out the window of a car driving down main street.
Click to expand...

No, your point is very well taken and not out of line at all. My vision is to incorporate American landscape imagery into the design and less so the overt superficial symbols often associated with modern American culture. I picture wheat or corn fields, with perhaps a sparsely drawn barn. I'm not even opposed to a cityscape as long as it's done subtly and tastefully. Wildlife imagery also comes to mind. For example, I would love to see some of the sumi ink drawings Stacy Allen Muse has done for scrolls transferred to pottery.
 
Ironbeaver said:
One Asian pot decoration I don't think would translate well is text on a pot. No matter how well made and glazed, a pot with "SERENITY" or "NATURE" or "MOUNTAIN" written on it would just seem cheap and cheesy new age crap. Full or partial poetry text MIGHT work,
ie:
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both. And be one traveler, long I stood. And looked down one as far as I could. To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear."
Click to expand...
Horst Heinzlereiter uses haikus of his own written in German on the bottom of his pots...
 
thams said:
No, your point is very well taken and not out of line at all. My vision is to incorporate American landscape imagery into the design and less so the overt superficial symbols often associated with modern American culture. I picture wheat or corn fields, with perhaps a sparsely drawn barn. I'm not even opposed to a cityscape as long as it's done subtly and tastefully. Wildlife imagery also comes to mind. For example, I would love to see some of the sumi ink drawings Stacy Allen Muse has done for scrolls transferred to pottery.
Click to expand...

There is a category of Japanese prints called Kacho-e or Kachoga, which are basically Japanese birds and flowers. I think that might be yet another avenue to explore with painting pots. North American birds and flowers are pretty diverse...

Here's one of the more notable Japanese painters who did very good bird/flower prints
https://www.roningallery.com/artists/koson
 
rockm said:
There is a category of Japanese prints called Kacho-e or Kachoga, which are basically Japanese birds and flowers. I think that might be yet another avenue to explore with painting pots. North American birds and flowers are pretty diverse...

Here's one of the more notable Japanese painters who did very good bird/flower prints
https://www.roningallery.com/artists/koson
Click to expand...

Wow, those are absolutely beautiful.
 
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