Workshop day 2
Having never worked with a translator before was an unusual situation, trying to explain that I wasn't using a hairdryer but a heat gun and it would burn you if you put it between your legs to hold it! We actually found the clay was a little soft and luckily we had brought the heat gun along. I suppose one of the interesting things is the similarities between attitudes to work, but also what things culturally are different. The students were shocked about our attitude to preciousness of work, breaking mending and reforming. I suppose some of this comes with the familiarity of the material. Even the translator, an artist in her own right was struggling with the idea of experimentation. One of the things we stipulated we didnt want to see was the use of hearts or stars in the designs they were to add to the work. This got lost in translation for one lady who did hearts anyway, when I questioned her use of hearts she told me that it was a symbol for her local Patron Saint...egg on my face then!
