To sign or not to sign – that is the question…

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to honor and cherish
the philosophy behind Mingei,
Or to sign and release one’s work
Into the wild for market or vanity’s sake.

Excuse the bastardization of Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, but his famous prose is exactly what popped into my mind after writing this post’s title.  To be honest, I really don’t give much thought to signing my work and am responding to Keith’s post.  I started signing my pots back in college ceramics 101 on the request of my professor as a way of keeping track of my beginning ceramic doorstops from those of my classmates.    I’ve signed my name on my pots ever since, even though I don’t work in a communal studio anymore.   I’m not sure that it adds value to my pot or not since most of the world doesn’t recognize my name.  And, it’s not for vanity’s sake either – maybe it’s just a western thing.  Isn’t everything signed in our culture – good, bad and neutral?  Heck, I make the kids in my clay classes sign their work too – mostly so that there is no confusion as to who made something when it comes time to glaze and/or take their work home.

I have long admired the use of chops (see definition #3) or signature stamps and have been meaning to make one for myself for quite some time.  A couple of nights ago, I actually dreamed about making a chop and when I woke up, designed one based on my dream.  Weird when that happens, don’t you think?

In the past, I have signed my full name or just my initials, and have recently started stamping my initials into heavily textured work when I find that there isn’t enough room for a full signature.

Mini letter stamps

Mini letter stamps

Stamped initials on side of mug under the handle

Stamped initials on side of mug under the handle

My chop is based on a lotus flower and after looking at the meaning behind the symbol common to many different cultures and religions, it seems to fit. The lotus is a symbol of summer, creativity, faithfulness, purity amid adversity and feminine genius.  Okay – maybe I’m identifying with creativity and faithfulness more than purity and genius.  ;)   I know when to eat a piece of humble pie.

Original Lotus Chop with Initials drawn on my Wacom Tablet

Original Lotus Chop with Initials drawn on my Wacom Tablet

At any rate, the dream was pretty powerful and as clear to me as if I had been awake.  I made a first attempt at a chop, but it needs some serious work.  I have 2 coils setting up right now that I plan to refine into chops today.  It’s tricky because it’s such a small surface area – less than 1/2″ didn’t allow enough room for my design.

Chop #1

Chop #1

Resulting impression

Resulting impression

Yesterday, I even had the kids in my clay class make their own chops.  They were a little confused by the concept, but nonetheless, they powered through.  I’ll share their chops another day.

Question for you:  Do you sign your creative work and why?

~Cynthia

P.S.  My husband was jealous of my cartoon self, so I made one for him which he is currently sporting on Facebook.

My husband, Ron

My husband, Ron

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42 comments

  • brandon phillips

    February 4, 2009 at 3:21 pm // Reply

    i use a chop, a decorative assemblage of my initials. i’ve used the same design since my first year of college. i’ve always thought that signatures were kind of ugly, they ruin that beautiful clay surface. as far as the mingei thing goes i want my customers to buy the pot, not my name. but i’m not the only “village potter” so they need to know where to come back for more. i have my ceramics students make chops along with their first assignment and use that to “sign” their work from then on.

    • Cynthia

      February 4, 2009 at 6:41 pm // Reply

      I really wish my first ceramic’s prof had us make a chop from the beginning. He was from Taiwan too and a former production potter, so I would think that he would have been aware of the practice. I saw your post on the subject and have been meaning to go read your post, so that’s where I’m headed after this….

  • Undaunted

    February 4, 2009 at 4:31 pm // Reply

    I like Brandon’s idea of getting students to make their own chop right at the beginning. I started making my own stamp ages ago using a lino cut, but I haven’t finished it. I must say, I didn’t realise signing was so important until I read Keith’s post.

    My previous tutor made a big deal about everyone signing their pieces so that they wouldn’t get mixed up with others, which I thought was strange since some of the pieces were so different that I didn’t think it would be an issue. I’m not sure yet if my new tutor will be the same. Sometimes it’s just really hard to find a suitable spot – especially if the piece can’t be turned upsidedown until it’s dry. I had this problem with my swan – or I should say, it would have been a problem if I had even thought of it.

    What about signing a piece with a glaze pencil thingy?

    My Mum keeps going on at me to make sure I sign everything in case I become a famous artist! Lol, the faith Mum’s have in their children!

    I really like your drawing Cynthia!

    • Cynthia

      February 4, 2009 at 6:39 pm // Reply

      I wish Brandon had been my instructor in the beginning – I had no idea about chops until many years after beginning my ceramic education. So, Linda – finish your chop! Chop chop….

      The kids in my clay class always tell me that they’ll recognize their work when I bring it back and argue with me about signing their work. teehee, but after a few experiences, where I had unsigned work that went unclaimed, I now insist on it because I refuse to cart their work back and forth for weeks on end (and I hate to get rid of it too). I have quite a collection of work now which isn’t a bad thing….

      I don’t use a glaze pencil because I glaze the whole pot, except for foot, so if I use an opaque glaze, the signature wouldn’t be visible anymore.

      Moms are good like that aren’t they? [Hi Mom!! - yep she reads my blog]

  • judy Shreve

    February 4, 2009 at 4:35 pm // Reply

    I just got my chop in the mail from http://www.claystamps.com. He’s busy & it takes awhile – but he does truly wonderful work. I could have made it myself . . .

    I also think a big signature on the bottom of a pot is ugly & full of burrs. I like those potters who sign in slip or underglaze. I tried that but it’s too time consuming.

    I just heard Warren Mackenzie has started ‘chopping’ his work again to stop the ridiculous bidding on ebay when a piece of his shows up signed or chopped.

    Oh we should be so sought after . . .

    Cynthia I love your dream & your creations.

    • Cynthia

      February 4, 2009 at 6:33 pm // Reply

      I bought the Bevel-O-Matic tool from Todd at Claystamps and am really happy with my purchase. I considered buying a signature stamp from him – a few Colorado Potters Guild members have purchased some from him and are really happy. A few years ago, an instructor told me to sign my pots with a dull pencil in an almost leather-hard pot and I haven’t had burrs since then.

  • Eva

    February 4, 2009 at 5:49 pm // Reply

    Yes, I think you should sign the things you create. It is pleasant for the customer. And we like to please them, don’t we? Don’t worry about feeding the ego. Artists’ egos don’t get fat.

    • Cynthia

      February 4, 2009 at 6:18 pm // Reply

      I don’t have that many “customers”, Eva, unless you count family and friends ;) There are several of my pots out in the wild that I wish I could recall nowadays or at the very minimum wish that I hadn’t signed…. But, I agree, when I buy pottery, I like having an identifying mark, whatever it is and it doesn’t matter to me whether or not the creator is famous or not.

  • Mary T.

    February 4, 2009 at 6:39 pm // Reply

    I love the idea of a chop and I do sign stuff, mostly because I want to remember when I did it. I can’t sign bead stuff, so what I do is take photos with a fairly accurate date stamp. And I could make a design for my beads of a chop and that would work for most of them. Still doesn’t do the date unless I made a new one each month. Oh, way too much work. I don’t do well with work, but I’m great at play. Guess I’ll just keep playing.

  • Judi Tavill

    February 4, 2009 at 8:56 pm // Reply

    Ok…
    1stly…did you draw him using the wacom tablet???? it’s superb!
    2ndly… I don’t sign my work… I just leave an imprint of the TIRE as I RIP AWAY ON MY HARLEY… and I don’t wear chaps… thanks for the comments! Love ya… will I see you in Beaver Creek??? huh? huh?

    • Cynthia

      February 4, 2009 at 9:03 pm // Reply

      Hahahaha – so as I’m laughing out loud, my daughter walked over and wanted to know why I was laughing. She read my post and then yours and laughed too! She thinks you look cool ;) Not sure about Beaver Creek – but will you be spending any time in Denver???

  • Lynette

    February 4, 2009 at 11:18 pm // Reply

    Cyn, I think your chop looks very nice and I would think it would add value to your lovely clay pieces. I always sign my paintings even if it’s just my two initials. Hehe, I love the cartoons, nice work!

    • Cynthia

      February 5, 2009 at 7:17 am // Reply

      I would think that people would get upset if paintings weren’t signed, unless they were prints or something, Lynette. Thanks for the comments about the cartoons – I’m having a lot of fun with the tablet!!

  • Anne Webb

    February 4, 2009 at 11:49 pm // Reply

    I think its impt to make your mark and make it *consistently*, whatever your mark may be.

    As I mentioned on Linda’s blog, I choose to sign and date (the year) the bottom every piece. On most pots I actually add the location of the studio (Magnolia Springs AL) too. Its a lot, yes, but there is no doubt left as to who made the pot or where to find me to buy more. I do it pretty much by force of habit now.

    It actually does make a difference to some collectors and buyers, especially on one of a kind pieces.

    I’m not quite sure how see how adding your signature/mark to the bottom of a pot interrupts the visual of the piece, since bottoms are usually quite inconspicuous when a pot is on display. I could see it making a diff, of course, though if your ‘mark’ were to be placed on a more visible part of the pot.
    I have seen some potters using chop marks where the placement of them is a wonderful finishing touch, using it as part of their design.

    A chop or identifying stamp/chop for students is a *great* idea. Thanks, Brandon, for mentioning it.

    • Cynthia

      February 5, 2009 at 7:16 am // Reply

      Good points Anne – I guess if you make it legible, then people can find your work again and know where they purchased it from. I have a piece of Van Briggle pottery from Colorado Springs that my mom gave me and it also has the name and city stamped on the bottom.

  • LB

    February 4, 2009 at 11:59 pm // Reply

    I prefer handmade things to be signed whenever possible, but some beaded jewelry you can’t. That’s when you have to rely on your own personal style to act as the signature. BTW, I love your stamped signature! Will you sign your earrings & pendants, too? :D

    • Cynthia

      February 5, 2009 at 7:14 am // Reply

      I’ve started signing my jewelry rather abstractly after someone complained that I didn’t. I’ve always signed my pottery, but never the ceramic jewelry – I might have to up the price now ;) The truth is I never thought about signing jewelry until this person said something. So, as a beader, do you sign your larger beaded work somewhere?

  • ang

    February 5, 2009 at 3:18 am // Reply

    i like the harley quip nice connotations ripping through clay, i also chuckled loudly…. as for signing i pretty much always have, college training and all, with a couple of different lecturers across the years came a variety of ways marking my work, i use my grandpa stamp as a motif & mark and always sign my full name, peeps here get upset if you don’t!!

    • Cynthia

      February 5, 2009 at 7:12 am // Reply

      What does your grandpa stamp look like?? I’m curious already…. Interesting about signing expectations down under. Have you seen, Judi’s new photos? She does look like she’s a potter/biker bad a** chick!

      • ang

        February 6, 2009 at 5:56 pm // Reply

        I’ll grab a shot of the stamp for you, it’s carved into a plaster stick, the bonus of mold making you always have a little bit left over and i make a few sticks for later use.. yeh the bandana shot is great…took me a second what’s a**?……. got it!…. not common lingo here….

        • Cynthia

          February 7, 2009 at 7:16 am // Reply

          I’d love to see it, Ang – I have a huge bag of plaster I need to use and have never tried carving into plaster. I thought some words were common the world over ;)

  • Mom

    February 5, 2009 at 6:09 am // Reply

    Yes, Cynthia, moms are like that!!! :-) I’m glad you got the artistic talent in the family! I may need a cartoon of me…glad you are enjoying your Wacom tablet. Love, Mom

  • Brian

    February 5, 2009 at 8:50 am // Reply

    I made a stamp pretty early on. The studio required some sort of identification in order to tell everyone’s work apart, and to know who to go to when your glaze job ran all over the shelves. ;-)
    I’m also considering starting to sign some things as well.
    As for being as sought after as Warren – you just never know, so better safe that sorry in 30 years when they want to do a retrospective of your work.

  • Michele Davis

    February 5, 2009 at 9:38 am // Reply

    I’m still very much a student and we have to sign. There would be so much confusion otherwise. I try to be creative about it and use a very small “self portrait” as my signature. If the item is small, then I’ll just use my initials.

    • Cynthia

      February 6, 2009 at 7:06 am // Reply

      I think that’s pretty common for students – otherwise there would be confusion, especially in a communal studio where the same glazes are used. It sounds like you’ve already been thinking about it though since you have a custom signature!

  • Linda Starr

    February 5, 2009 at 11:13 am // Reply

    I am guilty, guilty, guilty. I posted about this and I still haven’t gotten around to making my chop and I confess I have recently made some items I haven’t signed. I will have to sign them with one of those pencils that don’t burn out at Cone 10. I get to making several pieces at once and I forget to sign, or the piece is too delicate and I can’t turn it over after I make it to sign it, like my bark sculpture. At an art show last year, someone was purchasing one of my pieces and they saw I hadn’t signed it and they insisted I sign it with a sharpie magic marker before they would buy it. So it really is important to the purchaser. I just read Keith’s post and there are lot’s of good points there too. I guess we all should be encouraging each other to sign our work. I wish my first ceramics instructor had taught us to make a chop in our first class too – this is an excellent idea and a very good exercise for a beginning student.

    Someone who makes ceramic buttons once told me those who collect them want them to be signed, so I suspect the same would be true for jewelry pieces. Now I need a itsty, bitsy, teeny, weeny chop. I better get busy carving. Thanks Cynthia.

    • Cynthia

      February 6, 2009 at 7:04 am // Reply

      Get on it, Linda!!! A button collector told me the same thing – about signing and how much special buttons sell for. I might be in the wrong business! Once in awhile, I’ll make a few buttons when I feel like it…

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