Rough and Ready
The concept behind wabi-sabi is to find beauty in transience and imperfection. I love this concept although I have difficulty following it. When I find myself scrubbing the top of the flat files with Comet and a rough brush, or using an x-acto knife to clean crevices in a lamp, I know I am in trouble. I'd like to let the imperfections on the lamp to be just fine.
I once scrubbed all the enamel off my grandparents' kitchen sink because it still had little off white spots. That was when my family should have called for an intervention: "Sean, I love you, but you are ruining your life and ours by this incessant scrubbing of sinks," or, "I refuse to acknowledge you or support this awful habit until you stop and put the canned air and Windex down. You are sick and need help."
The point here, is that I love the nubby and organic. But I can't seem to let it be just that. Stan Bitters' work is elegant and warm, pointing to a natural world of texture and smell. The ceramic work isn't hyper glossy or smooth as a baby's bottom, and I like that. The colors are rich and unexpected. The evidence of a human hand is exposed on each creation. Perhaps I need to get some clay, a kiln, and some glazes and lock myself in a room until I can live with the bump on the rim of a vase.
