Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Tex “Richard Moonstreet” Fisher | Episode 967
Tex Fisher has always had a desire to make people happy. Tex will add expressions and smiles to his work wherever possible. Whether that’s a very literal smirk on a pea in a pod, or just throwing and handbuilding something so non-sensical and ridiculous that one can’t help but look at it and smile.
Before we go any further, if you are interested in supporting me and my family as I go through my eye restoration, then here is the link to the GoFundMe campaign that my good friend, Ben Carter of Tales of the Red Clay Rambler started for us:
gofundme.com/f/help-paul-blais-recover-from-eye-surgery
SPONSORS
You can help support the show!
GRPotteryForms.com
Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com
For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com
Is a hook critical for idea development?
I think so. It either needs to have a hook or a function. So if it’s an ornament it would need a hook that would be cute and whimsical or if it’s functional like a vase or salt and pepper shakers then a function can take over without it necessarily having a silly name.
Do you also then write down your ideas so you don’t forget them?
I’m a little bit scatter-brained about it. I keep an open notepad next to my bed so if I wake up at 3 in the morning thinking, Eureka! I think I’ve got something! I will scribble it down. But my ideas are a little bit all over the place. If a good idea is good enough you will remember it is my outlook.
Do you find that when you find a great hook for one thing that it tends to leads to other ideas, kind of like a branching tree? From one to the next to the next?
Yeah, absolutely. So I’ve mentioned that I did vases that look like ducks, the duck vases that I make…I also make ceramic geese ornaments. And then I thought, What if I make a vase that looks more like a goose? So then I will take my vase form and give it a much longer neck and slightly different beak. So yes, for example I have spun off the goose vase from them the duck vase and there’s other things that have spun off from each other. I think if an idea is good then, Yes, it can spawn many things.
When you put an idea to the test, how do you know when an idea is a good one?
If it’s something new I will occasionally just tease it on my Instagram story and a lot of the time that will be the litmus test for it. If it gets a lot of reaction or anything likes or I get a message saying, When is this coming available? If there is some kind of interest for it I will base it from there. But likewise if I think something is good enough or if I just want to see if I can make something or try something new I would probably just do it anyway and hope for the best.
How much do experimentation and play come into developing your characters?
There’s a lot of ideas which I haven’t had time to experiment into, which is a good problem to have because I am very frequently spending my pottery time replenishing stock of the things people are already ordering and buying. This does limit my experimentation time and my kind of exploring time with it. But I still try and do it which is why an idea has to be good and has to be easy enough to make relatively easy and quickly that if it goes wrong I haven’t lost any investment in it.
You are juggling two jobs, how much time are you able to devote to creative process and your making?
In total probably two solid days a week go into it. I am lucky in the sense that I have a small home studio set up so I can take forty minutes out of the day job to go and throw some pots. I can take a half hour after lunch to go and underglaze them. And then I can take a half hour in the evening to pack up some boxes and ship them out. It is a juggle. I like logistics and I like planning things and I like juggling things. There is a very good satisfying feeling once you have juggled something successfully, it’s a good feeling. But yeah, about two days a week is what I would get out of pottery at the moment.
Book
Pigeon Watching by Rosemary Mosco
Contact
Instagram: @richardmoonstreet