Blog: Celtic Design Symbols

Beginning with my personal favorite:Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. Pablo PicassoThe only time I feel alive is when I'm painting. Vincent Van GoghA sincere artist is not one who makes a faithful attempt to put on to canvas what is in front of him, but one who tries to create something which is, in itself, a living thing. William DobellOur society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it. John LennonThere's no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there's no end to it. Henry MooreColor is my day-long obsession, joy and torment. Claude MonetI paint for myself. I don't know how to do anything else, anyway. Also I have to earn my living, and occupy myself. Francis BaconArt is not what you see, but what you make others see.Edgar DegasIf I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint. Edward HopperCreativity takes courage. Henri MatisseNature is not only all that is visible to the eye.. it also includes the inner pictures of the soul. Edvard MunchI found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way--things I had no words for. Georgia O'KeeffePainting is a means of self-enlightenment. John OlsenI begin with an idea and then it becomes something else.Pablo PicassoThe emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech. Vincent Van GoghAn artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.James McNeill WhistlerBlessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing. Camille PissarroImagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere. Carl SaganPainting is easy for those that do not know how, but very difficult for those that do! Edgar DegasNo amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination. Edward HopperArtists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything. Eugene DelacroixWhen my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college- that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget? Howard Ikemoto Lot 64 - Exceptional glazed and stamped redware jar by J. A. Lowe (John Alexander Lowe, 1833-1902), Greene County, Tennessee. A pottery site attributed to him has been located and excavated near the Harmon Cemetery. Hundreds of sherds were recovered from the site bearing the name J. A. Lowe. The 1860 census for Greene County shows Lowe as living nearby with Blue Springs as the Post Office. Lowe enlisted in the Confederate Army two days after Christopher Alexander Haun was hung by Confederate forces on December 11, 1861. Haun was a Union sympathizer who took part in burning the Lick Creek railroad bridge during the Civil War. This important event in East Tennessee’s Civil War history was initiated with a campaign by Union loyalists to burn 9 bridges. It was led by William B. Carter and strongly supported and encouraged by President Abraham Lincoln. Several potters from the Pottertown area were among the men who conspired and succeeded in burning the bridge. However, the Union loyalists allowed the guards to go free based upon their solemn promises to not reveal their identities. Union troops did not materialize as promised, and the Confederates were able to pursue and capture some of the perpetrators. The Confederate guards, who were allowed to live, were the very ones who served as witnesses to implicate the five men who were hung, four of them potters. Among those sentenced to hang was the potter Christopher Alexander Haun. His pots clearly speak for his having been a master potter. In a letter which Haun wrote to his wife in his last hours he said “have Bohanan, Hinshaw or Low to finish off that ware and do the best you can with it for your support.” It is highly probable that Haun was referring to J. A . Lowe in this letter. This decorated J. A. Lowe jar has very similar characteristics to known C. A. Haun jars. The general form of the jar, the appearance of the extruded handles with the decoration at the handle attachments and the stamp design around the shoulder of the jar with the name of the potter are all similar to marked C. A. Haun jars. J. A. Lowe was almost 29 years of age when Haun was hung. Whether Lowe apprenticed under C. A. Haun is not known at this time. Lowe’s Confederate Certificate of Disability for Discharge dated February 21, 1862 (Courtesy of Donahue Bible) records his occupation as potter. It is also not known if Lowe ever potted again after being discharged from the military. He and his family were living in Indiana by 1865. They had moved to Arkansas by 1880. He died in Arkansas. At this time this jar is the only known example of J. A. Lowe’s work. Condition - overall very good condition with a few old chips to the rim. Height 13 5/8″, circa 1860 (research and description assistance courtesy of Carole Wahler). Est.$14,000-$18,000. Realized $63,000.