Pottery is a tricky subject, there are lots of ways and techniques to making pottery and a lot has been written about it. One technique I researched was primitive throwing. To define something as primitive it must reflect a vessel of the past such as Korean Silla pedestal bowls, Japanese medieval storage jars, North American Mimbres painted bowls and English earthenware pitchers of the Middle Ages. These all share in the same aspect, purpose over aesthetic. Today pottery is moving in a more aesthetic route, aiming to visually please people into buying pieces rather than people buying pottery for a function, such as a cereal bowl or mug. Some of this lies on the consumers. The terribly wealthy prefer handmade works of art to be put on display rather than put to use. Anyway, this article opened my eyes to the fact that I like “primitive” pottery better. Not in the sense that all aesthetics aren’t paid attention too but in the sense that every piece has a purpose and is intended to be used for something. “Handmade pottery can mean different things to different people, and these contemporary potters all bring something insightful to the table.” The second article from ceramic arts daily was a huge inspiration. The artist Kenyon Hansen addressed his feelings about pottery, about the way he prefers it to feel and I agree 100% with him. “I strive to create pottery that is both considered and balanced, containing a healthy dose of spirit and care.” This is the exact way I think about my pottery. 9 times out of 10 a piece will be slightly lopsided and not perfect, but I like it that way. A beautiful piece with a little bit of character is more spectacular in my eyes than a monotonous set that is identical in every aspect and appears to have been made by a robot. I especially enjoyed this article because he divulged into his techniques and gave a step by step on how to make a thermos in which he was working on perfecting. My final influential article is one telling of history. More specifically African American slave potters. It tells of this one potter in particular, Dave, who would incise verses into his pieces in what historians believe was a form of protest. Dave was one of 8 slaves owned by Abner Landrum, a Scotsman who migrated to Edgefield, South Carolina. Unlike most slaves Landrum taught his how to read and write and used them as aid to his various interests such as his two papers, The South Carolina Republican and The Edgefield Hive, and his pottery and brickwork habits.