The Pitchers' Place

To start my workshop at Shakerag on Pitchers, I took images of all the pitcher type vessels from the house we were staying in.  It is amazing how the pitcher is still very present in the American home even though it is rarely used.  All of these pitcher type vessels were scattered around the the house and on display, but the only one in use was the plastic filter pitcher.  Pointing this out to the students was a good place to start the workshop.  I wanted everyone to acknowledge the current state of pitchers and recognize the potential of the form in this realty.  Many students were frustrated by my saying pitchers aren't used.  Many of them said they did use them, Excellent!  I wanted each student to be faced with the role of function when they made their pitchers and decide if function was going to be the driving force to the idea or would the potential of the form itself drive the ideas.  Personally, I am interested in making pitchers people want to use, but I am open to learn what I can about form when I diverge from that path.