Conversations at a pub table
I have been trying to frame an “ethos statement” for Shakspeare Glass for longer than I care to remember, trying to concertina thoughts into a few pithy paragraphs that sum up the whole holistic making thing. And in the end I realised that I can't do it in 1, 2, or even 3 sittings.
This is roughly the conversation - minus the swearing,
My brother organised a trip round Pendennis ship yard where they build superyachts. Money no object. Basically, every bit of work carried out had to be perfect. If it wasn’t completely perfect you had to start again, scrap whatever had been done before and make sure that that the end result was absolutely spot on.
I got to thinking about this, in terms of my glass. There are days, when I go into work, when I think that all I really want to do is make something that is absolutely perfect. Some times I get close, others I can just see the imperfections in everything I’ve made.
(Surveys bowl of nuts in a profound manner).
But how do you judge this? Surely the whole point of what you make is that you make it! By its very nature, every piece you produce will be slightly different. People buy your work, and treasure it, because it’s hand made, and they don’t have to buy it. They want to buy it because it will give them that amount of pleasure, i.e. its worth it.
(Takes meaningful sip of cider).
Look at it this way. If you won the lottery you might think that you wanted a perfect set of my goblets. So you pay my salary for a year, and I spend the whole twelve months making goblets. Lets say you’d have about 1000 to choose from. We line them up, in order of quality, you take the six best ones, in my opinion, and we pile the other ones up and drive a JCB over them. That way you’ve got your “perfect” goblets and I’ve got the satisfaction of knowing I’ve made something as good as I can – for that year, or as perfect as I can get for that year.
(Swirls wine around in his glass pensively).
How the hell could I choose?! The goblets that you put at the “perfect” end of the line might look anything but to me. And even if I picked out the six that I thought were faultless, I’d still want the other 994 as well! Just because you think they’re not perfect, doesn’t mean that I (or another “fan”) would find any fault at all. I’ve seen you hurl stuff across your studio that I would have happily put on my mantelpiece! (Flips beer mat contemplatively).
Maybe that’s it.
