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James Tingey | Episode 456
James Tingey is a studio potter whose work explores ideas of utility, process, material and landscape. His work incorporates a straight forward visual language to address function, and the vocabularies of utility and wood firing to investigate the intersection of form and flame. Currently, James is Resident Coordinator and Studio Technician at LH Project in Joseph, OR.
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How important is it to be a goal setter as a maker?
We always have to set goals. If you are not setting goals I think you are just treading water. I think it is important to have short term goals whether it’s, I am going to sell out my tables while at work today or it’s, I’m going to clean my studio out. Or if you have longer term goal like, I would like to do this show or that show or do this residency or that residency. I think that those things are important for helping you keep track of your career and do grow and push yourself.
Does your work have a message or is it strictly trying to create a feeling?
I think that feeling is the message. I think those are one in the same thing. It may not be a message like in a narrative piece of pottery or sculpture but I think that the work evokes a sense of comfort and I think that feeling is the message. The object should be a pleasure to hold, to look at, to touch, and that there is a sense of discovery that everything is considered within the object. The objects are unique and beautiful and tell somewhat of a story.
Who are the top three people who have been an influence on your work?
Tom Rohr number one. Brad ——-, and the third is sort of muddy. There are a lot of people that could fall into that third spot.
How do you think they influenced your work?
Tom Rohr, I met him in 2001. Him and his wife Katherine had moved to Pleasant Hill, Oregon. Which is right outside of Eugene. I think it was my final year of engineering school and I had been maintaining an interest in pottery while I was doing an engineering program. I met Tom very much by accident. We met at a concert actually. He had just moved and was starting to build his first kiln at the property out there and he invited me to come down and help him build. I think I went down there for the first time in July 2001 and I just kept gong back. He was very impactful for one, my aesthetic and my vocabulary for what’s possible. He had a very generous personality and he was an excellent teacher.
How did you find your own voice and not just keep mimicking what their influence was?
That is a good question. I think you always have to be looking for new sources of inspiration. There is a saying,: Your work is only as original as your sources are obscure. So it is pretty easy to look and see what they people are making around you, and it can be really easy to repeat, or imitate, or respond to what is in your immediate surroundings. You are constantly looking and trying to re-evaluate your intent behind the work and I think it is going to naturally evolve. I think some people naturally evolve faster or more quickly than others. For me I think the biggest changes came through graduate school. It’s definitely a time when things evolve quickly. I definitely honed in on a few things like the slip casting that I am doing, and having a larger mold library so that I can have a longer in depth dialog with the objects that I am working with.
Are you a person who looks for opportunities or do you make opportunities?
I think a little of both. I think you have to do both. It is important to be involved with the community at large, are there conferences and events that you can be a part of? I also think it is important that you also take time to start something within your community. I don’t think one is more important than the other.
Do you think about cultivating a collector base for your work?
Oh boy, that is one thing I don’t like to think about but it is something I do need to think about. That’s tricky. I love to hate it but social media is one way to develop a dialog of some sort. It is very one sided but inviting people into the studio and seeing what is happening. I think that is useful for people to understand the work and to develop relationships with the work. Does that translate always into sales? I don’t know. I think the most important thing is educating people about the work and what’s happening in the studio.
How do you go about pricing your work?
It is largely based on time for me. But also I look at a lot of comparables. Like real estate you have to look at what is comparable out in the market. I do have that engineering background so I do think about how long it takes me to make stuff. I always underestimate that but I know when I get to the end of a work cycle I have usually have a day or two I didn’t account for. I tend to think about how fast I can make the work. You know, how much labor is involved in the work. I am wood firing so I always have to take that into account. You have to make your own metric for how valuable your time is. How many pots can you realistically make in a month and can you sell them for the price you are asking?
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Contact:
Instagram: @jamestingey