Book photos (3): M ark LaFavor
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B o o k s
B u s i n e s s f o r
T h e A
r t i s t
C r a ft In c.: T h e U ltim a te G u id e
T o T u r n in g Y o u r C r e a tiv e
H o b b y in to a S u c c e ssfu l
B u s in e s s (re vised ed ition )
B y M e g M a te o Ilasco
C h ro n icle B o o k s, $17
ch ro n icleb o o k s.co m
B O O K S T O R E S H E L V E S G R O A N
under the w e ig h t o f inspirational
b o oks fo r creative typ es. T h a n k -
fully,
C r a f t I n c .
isn’t one o f them.
In stead, it o ffers a path to a
craft-cen tric life based on that
m ost prosaic o f am bitions: m ak-
in g a livin g. M e g M a te o Ilasco,
fou n d er o f several d esign-
The Ultimate Guide to
Turning Your Creative Hobby
into a Successful Business
orien ted bu sinesses, sh o w s
th e reader h o w to start and run
a cra ft business. W h ile orien ted
to w a rd turn ing a creative h o b b y
in to a bu siness, Ilasco ’s ad vice
applies equ ally to th o se w ith
form al art skills w h o are turn ing
th o se skills to m aking products.
F o r artists lo okin g to turn a craft
P o t L u
c k
T h e P o t B o o k
B y E d m u n d de W a a l
P h aid on P ress, $50
p h aid on .com
В
$ п . п
&
THE
POT
b o o k
£ ,
-Î.I
________
Ihhunbmwmi
» n A iiv w
W H Y D ID E D M U N D D E W A A L
take on this b o o k ? H e is one
o f the m ost articulate v o ice s in
B ritish ceram ics, a ren o w n ed
ceram ist, and a g ifte d w rite r
w h o w o n th e 2010 C o s ta B o o k
A w a r d fo r b io gra p h y fo r his
fa m ily tale,
T h e H a r e w it h A m b e r
E y e s .
Ph aidon Press, for its part,
is k n o w n fo r its sm art b o oks
and h igh d esign standards.
T h e b o o k is billed as an “A to
Z o v e r v ie w ” o f m akers, schools,
and styles o f ceram ics. Y e t herd-
in g 300-som e pots alphabetically
in to a b o o k w ith no historical,
con textu al, or con ceptual fram e-
w o rk is a pro ject d oom ed from
the ou tset: an airplane takin g o ff
w ith to o little fuel to land. A n d
ye s,
T h e P o t B o o k
crashes.
T h e blue co v e r feels like a
p ractical jo k e p erp etrated b y
a 1970s p h o to c o p y m achine.
In sid e, d esign is m echan ical
and dull. It m im ics a lush co ffe e -
table b o o k w ith large form at and
one b ig im age p er page. B u t that
dem ands e x ce lle n t p h o to gra-
p h y , w h ich is rarely d elivered.
In stead, th e la y o u t is o d d ly
self-d efea tin g. T h e pots in
G ra yso n P e r r y ’s trip ty ch , one
o f the fe w m asterpieces in the
b o o k , b a re ly o c c u p y 3 in ch es o f
an 8-in ch-tall im age. T h e details
on his co m p le x p o ts, in clu d in g
essen tial te x t, are unreadable.
Sm all im ages also m ean readers
can ’t p ro p erly appreciate glaze
qualities and surface tex tu re s,
w h ile to o m an y p o ts are p h o to -
graphed in the old m useum style,
into a livelih ood ,
C r a f t I n c .
is a
valuable resource.
T h e b o o k ou tlin es th e e le -
m ents o f a business plan w ith
a m inim um o f jargon. It covers
such essentials as business licens-
es, zon in g, and fictitious business
nam es. It includes ch ecklists o f
essential steps in d eve lo p in g a
business, alon g w ith a h an dy
in d ex. It d oesn ’t o ffe r m uch in
the w a y o f ta x ad vice, and the
section on finan cin g a business
is lim ited.
D e sp ite the tech n ical nature
o f h er su b ject, Ilasco k eep s the
reader engaged. H er b o o k excels
at tailoring business and m arket-
ing ad vice to cra ft enterprises,
w h ich beats sco u rin g the In te r-
n et and bu siness b o o k s fo r snip-
pets o f relevan t inform ation.
A n otab le feature o f th e o rig-
inal edition w a s th e sectio n on
w ith o n ly the fron t rim sh o w in g,
lo sin g all sense o f vo lu m e.
T h e cou p de grâce, h o w e v e r,
is the selection o f pots. G ath er-
in g m asterpieces cou ld h ave
been re d em p tive , bu t “grea t”
pots are fe w . N a m p e y o , the first
m atriarch o f m od ern N a tiv e
A m erica n p o tte r y , k n o w n for
her m ajestic S ik y a tk i-s ty le flat-
to p p ed , narrow -m outhed jars, is
represented b y a cru d ely m ade,
th ick -w a lled flask, n o t from her
hand, and p o o rly painted in 1925
w h e n she w as n early blind.
G e e rt L a p is fam ous fo r his
m inim alist, m easured, precise
th ro w in g ; his p o t is a slip-cast
craft sh o w s and th e role th e y
p la y in m arketin g a business,
as w e ll as gu id an ce on sellin g to
retailers. A d d e d to this edition
is a m ore com p reh en sive sec-
tion on usin g the In tern et, E ts y ,
and social m edia to p ro m o te a
business. T h ro u g h o u t, Ilasco
bears in m ind the cen tral role o f
b o th artistic and en trep ren eu r-
ial e n e rg y and p ro vid es in spira-
tion in the form o f in te rvie w s
w ith su ccessfu l artists such as
Jon athan A d le r and L o tta Jans-
d o tte r on th eir business strug-
gles and trium phs. O v e ra ll, she
does a fine jo b o f p resen tin g the
essentials o f th e cra ft business
in a fo rm at th a t w o n ’t cause
e ye s to g la ze o ve r, - r a c h e l
S C H A L E T C R A B B
R a c h e l S c h a le t C r a b b i s a w r it e r
a n d f i b e r a r t is t i n M in n e a p o lis .
va se he d esign ed for a fa cto r y ;
L u c ie R ie is rep resen ted b y
a m u rky v ie w o f her studio.
M in o r w o rk s dim inish R o b e rt
A rn e so n , Jim M e lch e rt, K a w a i
K an jiro, B ern ard L e ach , G eo rge
O h r, B e tty W o o d m a n , Shoji
H am ada, and a h o st o f others.
M ea n w h ile , the u n fo rgivin g
alphabetical sequen ce places
p ots op p osite others th at o ffer
little or no co n textu al syn ergy.
T h e result is little b e tte r than a
G o o g le search, - g a r t h c l a r k
G a r t h C l a r k i s a n a w a r d - w in n in g
h is t o r ia n , w r it e r , d e a le r , a n d a u c -
t io n s p e c i a lis t i n c e r a m ic a r t .
feb/mari2 american craft 021
