A conversation with a museum curator in Cleveland made me reconsider my finishing work

I was showing some of my pieces at a local craft fair, and a curator from the Cleveland Museum of Art stopped by. She said, 'The hammer marks aren't a flaw, they're the signature of the hand that made it.' It made me stop trying to grind everything to a perfect, sterile polish. Has anyone else had a moment that changed how they approach the 'finish' on a piece?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_hayden6d ago

That's a great story, but just a small thing, the Cleveland Museum of Art is actually in Ohio. I had a teacher say something similar about leaving tool marks in wood, that they show the work was done by a person, not a machine. It really does change how you see your own process.

william_torres6d ago

Totally, that idea about tool marks showing human work came up in a pottery class I took. The instructor said the little imperfections are what make each piece feel alive.

williamm826d ago

Yeah, that's a good point from your pottery teacher, @william_torres. It's true, those little marks give something a real sense of being made. Makes you appreciate the work more.